Page 20 of The Chance
He climbed out and rounded the car, pulling open my door. When I came to a stand, his brow was creased, and his mouth pressed into a firm line. I would've given anything, right that moment, to know what he was thinking.
"Do you eat turkey?" he asked randomly.
I cleared my throat. That was not what I expected to come out of that tempting mouth. "I do. Why, do you need one plucked?" I joked.
"Monica is making Sunday dinner at three o’clock."
"Oh, I see."
"I'll pick you up at half past two," he ordered without giving me the chance to say no. As if I would say no anyway.
"Sex and dinner. I must've done something right last night?" My belly flipped.
The callused pad of his fingers traced an electric path along my jaw until his thumb and forefinger held my chin. "Dress casual, so I can eat my dinner without thinking about fucking you over the table."
A soaring heat spread over my body, burning my cheeks in a wave. I gasped into his mouth as his lips crashed down onto mine. He tasted like everything I wanted. I’d been hooked from the second the warning signs turned into butterflies and he kissed me for the first time in my kitchen.
Seb left me standing in a quivering mess as he climbed into the taxi without saying another word, and just like that, he was gone. How had 'just sex' morphed into just sex and dinner? I didn't care. Perhaps he could work north of the border and video call his partner. That would make perfect sense. He wanted me, and I wanted him - simple.
Running into the house, I avoided the kitchen because I knew my father would be reading the Sunday paper with his jumbo mug of coffee. I’d have to tell him I stayed over at Linda's, which he’d be fine with, but I didn't want him to see me because he’d detect the lie glowing on my skin in, the wake of sex with Seb.
Skipping up the stairs, my phone beeped inside my jacket pocket. Linda had left me two messages. Hitting dial, I waited for her to answer. After a few seconds she picked up.
"Hey, Lexi." She sounded like her best teddy bear had been lost at the picnic.
"What's up, Linda? You were acting weirder than usual last night."
I heard a soft sigh like remorse whisper down the connection. "You met my BSE."
"What?" My heart stopped. "Sebastian?"
"Who?"
"Who are you talking about?"
"Jack. The same guy who wandered over to our table last night and didn't recognise me. The same guy who I labelled the ‘best sex ever’ for nearly a year. He had no idea who I was at the start, Lexi. Do you know how gut wrenching that was?"
"Shit, Linda. I had no idea. You never told me his name. You always called him BSE." My heart burst into little compassionate pieces of mush. She didn't deserve that, not after putting the guy on a pedestal and honouring him with such a monumental title. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, you know what, Iamokay. I'm glad I met him again because now I know that sex isn't everything. Brody is good to me. He actually cares about the small stuff."
"Are you trying to convince yourself, Linda?"
"I'm being serious. I talked to Brody about our sex life, and he told me a few things he likes. Things he wasn't sure I'd be into. So now we're on a new journey, and I can totally say that I'm happy with him."
An odd feeling cinched my ribs. I wanted her to be happy, of course I did. But I knew my journey to happiness wasn't with Sebastian. He'd already made it clear that we were just about the moment.
"What about that dreamy guy you left with?"
I let my cheeks puff out while I flicked on the shower, ready to wash his touch down the plug hole. "He was my BSE."
"Oh, honey." Linda gasped. "Really?"
"Yip. And that's all it was. Sex."
"How do you feel about that?"
"Wrecked. I have messed up feelings for him. The kind of feelings that I shouldn't talk about unless I'm in a relationship, or even committed. I'm neither. He lives in Dublin and made it perfectly clear that we were just fucking. He doesn't want anything more."
