Page 67 of The Temptation
“I wanted to talk about…Sawyer.” I closed my eyes and tried not to clench my teeth. “And what happened that day. I feel like I owe you an explanation.”
“Let me call Rome. He should know too,” Sebastian said. I opened my eyes to see him pull his phone out of his pocket.
“I thought he was working,” I murmured.
“He is, but he doesn’t have a story-time reading at the library until one.”
A ghost of a smile crossed my lips. It was still strange to think that bubbly, outgoing, foul-mouthed Rome was a librarian, let alone one who regularly read books to kids. But the man who hadn’t known what he wanted to do with his life had really found his niche in the library.
Seconds later, Rome’s voice was coming through the speaker on Sebastian’s phone.
“All right, whose ass do I need to kick?” Rome demanded as Sebastian set the phone on the coffee table in front of us.
“Mine. And maybe Sawyer’s.” I took one final steadying breath and launched into the same tale I’d told Simon a couple of hours earlier. It was a little easier considering I’d had some practice already from telling Simon, but I was even less sure ofhow they would react. They adored Sawyer as much as I did. Would they even believe me?
When I ran out of words, I wondered if I should have taken Sebastian up on his offer of a drink. A glass of whiskey sounded so very good at that moment.
Silence dominated the room for far too long. My skin had begun to crawl, and my heart hammered until it was practically the only thing I could hear in my ears. Cold crept into my fingers and dug into my joints, sapping away what courage I had cobbled together since leaving the house. I wished Simon were there to hold my hand, to whisper that it was all going to be okay. Battling his demons and protecting him made me strong. Facing my own left me scared and wanting to cling to him.
“I’m gonna fucking kick his ass,” Rome muttered.
“Who? Me or Sawyer?”
“Both.” Rome paused, and I swore I could see him nodding in my mind. “Yes, both. Sawyer for accusing you of such a thing and you for not telling us what the asshole said.”
“I’m inclined to agree with Rome,” Declan stated, looking put out that he agreed with Rome.
“Ha! I knew we were more alike than you claimed.” Rome cackled, breaking the last of the tension in the room.
Sebastian reached across the coffee table that separated us and placed his hand on my wrist, squeezing lightly. I lifted my gaze to meet his sad eyes. “Sawyer was wrong to say what he did, and I truly think he would have apologized if he’d had the chance.”
I flashed him a weak smile that fell away almost as soon as it formed. The fear had subsided, but there were old worries and dark thoughts that still plagued me. “Simon said the same thing.”
“Well, Simon is Sawyer’s brother. He would probably know best,” Rome chimed in.
“But what about now? I promised Sawyer that I would always keep Simon safe. There’s no way he’d be okay with me dating his brother.”
“You don’t know that!” Rome snapped. “Oh, shit. Sorry. Sorry.” That was said in a whisper, and we snickered at him. Rome must have forgotten that he was at the library, and he’d disturbed some people with his outburst.
“He’s right. Sawyer had trouble with the idea of a twenty-one-year-old you with his thirteen-year-old brother. That makes sense. Simon is…what? Twenty-five? Twenty-six now?”
“Twenty-seven.”
“And you’re thirty-five,” Sebastian continued. “You’re both more than old enough to figure out your relationship stuff on your own. You don’t need a dead guy meddling in your life.”
“That’s our job,” Declan cut in.
There was a long second of silence as Sebastian and I stared at Declan after his unexpected statement. Rome burst out laughing like a hyena only to murmur more apologies.
“He’s right. We want you to be happy. Worrying about what Sawyer would want or think so many years later doesn’t make any sense,” Sebastian said.
“I know. I know. It’s just…it’s hard to shake off. It was literally the last conversation we had before he died. To date Simon now feels like I’m betraying him.”
“There’s one way to settle this,” Declan mumbled as he pushed to his feet. He strode across the office and jerked open one of the doors. “Kaylan!” he called out, to our surprise.
“What’s going on? I can’t see or hear anything? How is Declan going to settle things?”
Sebastian didn’t have a chance to answer him. Kaylan seemed to appear magically at the doorway. “What can I do for you, Mr. Foster?”
