Page 53 of The Arrangement
“And?” Sebastian prompted.
“What do you mean ‘and’? This is a big deal!”
Byron scooted to the edge of the sofa cushion. He was dressed in a cream-colored cashmere sweater and a pair of camel-brown slacks, looking very relaxed and handsome next to his boyfriend, who’d opted to dress in contrasting dark grays and blacks. As if that could conceal any of Sebastian’s golden retriever energy.
“I think we all suspected that you had developed feelings for Liam when we met him at Music Hall,” Byron explained.
“What? No!” That couldn’t be possible. Not that soon.
Sebastian shook his head. “A month ago, you told us about this childhood friend you had a falling-out with and how you wanted to torment him. If you hated this guy, you would never have introduced him to the rest of your friends.”
Okay, so maybe Sebastian had a point.
“Plus, you stayed very close to him during the performance,” Byron added.
“Wouldn’t take your eyes off him,” Sebastian commented.
Byron nodded. “Constantly whispering in his ear or touching him.”
“All right!” I snapped, cutting them off because it was clear they were determined to bury me under a mountain of evidence that I’d been too unwilling to see. Leaning forward, I balanced my elbows on my knees and dropped my head into my hands. “All right. I thought it was just about getting my old friend back. But…it’s…things have gotten more complicated.”
“Did you sleep with him?” Sebastian inquired.
“Yes,” I mumbled, only to jerk upright and correct myself. “No! I mean…no.” Sort of.
“Rome, what the fuck?” Sebastian asked, but Byron smacked him in the center of his chest and gave him a warning look.
“How about you start from the beginning? You’re not making sense, and we can’t help until you do.”
Byron was right.
So, I rewound all the way to the night of the symphony performance and told them about how I’d nearly fucking kissed him. I moved on to last night’s revelation of why shit had gone sideways when we’d been kids and how Liam’s parents had royally fucked him over.
“And then…I kissed him.”
Those words hung in the silent room like an overripe storm cloud waiting to dump its icy rain on my head.
Byron opened his mouth, but Wilkins cleared his throat on the other side of the room.
“Forgive me, sirs, but brunch is now served.”
I jumped to my feet. “Shit. Sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude on your meal.” Even as I gave my apologies, my stomach growled because it was more faithful to Carol’s cooking than I was.
Sebastian chuckled and tossed an arm around my shoulder. “As if we wouldn’t include you.”
“A place setting has been prepared for you, Mr. Ashbridge,” Wilkin confirmed.
Byron sighed as he pushed to his feet and led the way out of the room. “We opted for brunch today becausesomebodydidn’t want to get out of bed this morning.”
“Yeah, but your chef also makes a great brunch,” I added.
The conversation was put on pause as we settled at the dining room table and filled our plates with sausage, waffles, quiche, fresh fruit, and other delicate concoctions that were going to make me ten pounds heavier, but I didn’t care. Carol was an amazing cook. The one person who might beat her was Declan’s Chef, Donovan.
“So,” Byron prodded as he speared a strawberry. “You kissed Liam. I’m assuming you’re not talking a peck on the cheek.”
“No. It was a kiss. Not all-out crazy, but it was a romantic kiss. I spent the night—notsex. We had a sleepover like we were kids. Video games and junk food. Dragged his mattress to the living room and slept on it together in front of the TV.”
Sebastian shrugged. “Okay, everything is pretty innocent. You’re in the clear.”
