Page 130 of Arianna

She loved to offer curious facts, too.

“I did not know that,” I whisper back. The screen changes again to a different angle of the moon. “Is it called the cold moon because December is when it starts to get really cold?”

Sebastian smiles at the screen. “Precisely.”

“It is truly beautiful…” I whisper in awe.

“It is…” Sebastian remains looking up while I watch his side profile. So handsome. So perfect. So irresistibly. “The sky is infinite and holds many secrets we’ve yet to discover. It is truly one of the best things I’ve ever seen.” Right now, he looks the most relaxed I've ever seen him. As if this isn't anything new for him.

As if it's home.

The fake sky above is indeed beautiful, but it doesn’t come close to him.

His mind and his beauty.

“I think you’re the best thing I’ve ever seen.” I can’t keep it in. This feeling swelling in my chest sweeps through me like a warm spring breeze. Something that promised better things were to come.

Sebastian looks over at me, holding my gaze captive. Staring so intensely as if he is staring through me, seeing all the secrets that I hide inside my soul. “You got it all wrong, darling. I’m nothing special. Now, you… Arianna.” He stares intensely back at me. Wonder and lust swirling in his eyes. “You are right up there with the moon, the stars, and the whole damn galaxy.” He says roughly, stealing the air from my lungs.

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

It’s official… my heart has fully transitioned into this man’s bitch.

There is no other way to put it.

When he looks at me I feel things inside of me clench.

Things that only clenched when he was around.

Then Sebastian winks, igniting my imagination.

Smiling softly, I say, “Let’s agree to disagree then.” Because he is something special, and he knows it. “Humbleness doesn’t look good on you, Sebastian.” It’s true. As much as a sweet Sebastian makes my heart stutter… his cocky and condescending side makes other parts of me come alive.

Laughing, he replies. “It doesn’t look good on you either.”

We’re hopeless.

Contentment is lapped in the bare space between us, familiarity and serenity wrapping us in a warm blanket of comfort as we sit back and watch the screen above. I listen closely as Sebastian narrates all he knows about the sky and all that is part of it.

As much as I enjoy learning new things, listening to him blab about it like a gorgeous nerd fills me with joy. Then a question comes to mind, so I ask. “How do you know so much about this stuff anyway?” I put my glass of wine down and pop a green grape into my mouth. “I thought you were a lawyer.”

Sebastian looks back at me, his entire demeanor changing from calm to rigid. “My mother was an astronomer, and she made it her mission to teach me all she knew. I never found a love for it as she did, of course, but it made her happy to share her passion with me, so I sucked it up.” It makes sense why he knows about the subject so much and why his entire face lit up while he shared what he knew about the moon.

His mother…

“You never talk about them. Your parents.” I whisper, watching him closely. “Will you tell me about them?”

“You mean to tell me you haven't googled me, darling?” He grins cockily at me.

I could lighten the mood a little with a sassy reply, but instead, I tell him. “I could have, but I didn’t. It didn’t feel right to look you up on the internet and read about you from the media’s point of view,” I whisper almost timidly. I notice Sebastian’s eyes turning soft. “I want your truths. Not their lies.”

He sucks in a breath. “How do you figure that what they report are lies?”

I don’t hesitate when I answer. “Because they don’t know you. Not the real you, at least.” Not like I do, I want to say, but stop myself. And I do. He doesn’t need to tell me his life story for me to know his heart. Yeah, he’s a condescending jerk with a huge ego, but he’s so much more. His heart is gold. At least to me. To his daughter. I’m not so sure about the rest of humanity.

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