Page 38 of The Rebound (Close Quarters 3)

“What happened?” he growls, not even waiting for me to say anything.

Do I lookthatbad? I’m gaping like a stunned fish. Shit. Iespeciallydidn’t want him to see me like this—doing my best Bridget Jones impression. To my complete and utter horror, a tear slides down my cheek. A single freaking tear. The cliché of all tears!

“Presley.” He doesn’t wait to be invited in and I back up as he steps toward me. “Tell me you’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” I croak. “I’m fine.”

But my eyes don’t want to listen and they’re brimming no matter how hard I try to tamp my emotions down. I’m about to drown in hot, watery betrayal. No, I willnotcry in front of him. I’ve suffered enough humiliation for one lifetime.

“Come here.” Sebastian’s arms are suddenly around me and my face is muffled against the soft fabric of his jumper.

I close my eyes and allow myself a brief moment of respite, letting him comfort me in the exact way that I need—without questions, without expectations. Just physical touch.

I shouldn’t be so upset over Mike. And I guess I’m not, really. I walked away today knowing I made the right choice the day of the wedding, even if all the choices leading up to that point hadn’t been quite so good. We were in a relationship, but we were never really in love.

I got myself out of a bad situation and I’m proud of that.

Sebastian’s hand cradles the back of my head, stroking in a soothing, repetitive motion. His fingers tangle in my hair and his chin rests on top of my head like this is a pose we’ve created many times before. I’mnotthat woman who gets comfortable with a guy too quickly.

But around Sebastian, I feel like I could do anything and he wouldn’t judge me.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” he asks.

“I don’t reallywantto talk about it, but I feel like I need to provide some kind of explanation for why I look like a sad post-breakup romantic comedy cliché right now.”

Sebastian pulls back and narrows his eyes at me. “You don’t have any food stains on you and I don’t see any half-eaten boxes of chocolates around here. I’m not sure you can fully class yourself as a post-breakup romantic comedy cliché until you have at leastoneof those things.”

In spite of feeling like absolute crap, I laugh. “There’s a tub of ice cream melting on the counter right now.”

“Not good enough. It’s bonbons or bust.” When he smiles, I feel it through my whole body. Is it possible for a man to liquefy a woman with sheer hotness? Because I’m pretty sure that’s what’s happening right now.

“And what is your experience with romantic comedies, exactly?”

“An ex forced me to watchLegally Blondeonce.” He wrinkles his nose. “I enjoyed it a surprising amount.”

For some reason, the thought of this uber-manly guy watching Elle Woods in all her Barbie-coloured glory and slightly hating himself for enjoying it made me laugh so hard my eyes watered.

“I feel like you finding itthisfunny is why guys say they hate those kinds of movies, even if they don’t.” He sniffed. “It’s a little sexist, don’t you think?”

“I think it’s brilliant.”

Sebastian pushes back the hair from my face with both hands and looks at me so deeply and so intensely that my knees actually go weak. Like wobbly jelly.

“He’s not worth it. No man who makes you feel like that is worth your energy.”

“He tried to convince me to come back to him.” Even just thinking about it makes my stomach turn. “Said we could start over.”

Sebastian’s jaw ticks and his muscles tense beneath my grip. “What did you say?”

There’s fire in his eyes—it shimmers, radiant and angry. His emotions are powerful, even if they don’t break the surface.

“I don’t want to,” I whisper, shaking my head. “I won’t be with someone who wants to use me. I know I’m not perfect, but I think I deserve more than that.”

“Presley...” Sebastian shakes his head. “You’re a good person and you have ahugeheart. You’re funny, smart—you’re so sexy I’m pretty sure you should be an illegal substance. Youabsolutelydeserve more than that.”

I laugh. My face must be about a billion degrees right now, but I’m basking. “I only feel sexy around you. I think you bring that out of me.”

“Bullshit. That’s a natural talent, if I ever saw one.”

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