Page 16 of Come As You Are
I was about to roll my eyes at myself for gushing like this, when I heard Sebastian greet Festus and ask what had happened earlier. The sound was muffled—the phone was, after all, in thepocket of Sebastian’s jeans—but I was still able to make out Festus’ response.
“Just some bozo who wanted a free show. Thanks for the water.”
The sounds went back to the former patter of drink orders and teasing between Sebastian and the customers. Occasionally, Toby passed close enough that I heard him land one of his well-placed jokes, and then got the treat of listening to him and Sebastian laughing.
Something niggled at me, and I hung up feeling a vague sense of discomfort. My first thought was that it was because I’d been eavesdropping on people I considered my friends, but I didn’t think it was that. I glanced at my phone, surprised that I hadn’t listened for more than a minute or so, which was a reasonable amount of time for figuring out that a call had been a butt-dial. Or so I told myself, and hoped Sebastian wouldn’t be upset when he saw the call.
I wandered back to the couch and the TV, phone still in hand as I puzzled out what my brain was trying to tell me. For the life of me I couldn’t figure it out. It wasn’t until about half an hour later that it finally hit me: Orsino had accused me of being a “bozo trying to get a free peek” when I’d shown up at the Grotto, and Festus had used that same phrase when talking to Sebastian.
“Bozo” wasn’t exactly a word in common usage anymore. I thought my grandfather may have used it a few times when I was growing up, but surely it wasn’t common slang. Did that mean Festus was hanging out with Orsino enough to pick up the way he spoke? I couldn’t fathom it, but then again, I’d been sent to Illyria to be a spy.
I was pretty sure by now that Stormy’s story about Olivia planting a spy at the Grotto was a load of horse shit. I’d been introduced to every employee at Illyria at some point, and hadn’theard anyone mentioned that I didn’t know, nor had I seen anyone who seemed suspicious. I’d be the first to admit that I had no idea what I was looking for, and no one was looking at me and thinking spy, but everything at Illyria seemed to be on the up and up. Except for the fact that the club was losing money, and someone had greenlighted my hiring even when I so clearly wasn’t a dancer. The fact that the customers seemed to love me was just dumb luck.
Once again, I resolved to come clean with Sebastian and Olivia even if it cost me my job and a place to live, but I couldn’t go on deceiving them. I hoped they understood.
Waking up the nextmorning was incredible. For the first time since I’d left home, I was able to sleep as long as I wanted to in a soft bed with enough blankets to keep me warm all night. Although it had taken me a bit of time to fully relax, once I had, I’d fallen into a deep sleep. I couldn’t remember a time I’d been happier to open my eyes and discover the worlds I visited when I was asleep didn’t compare to what I saw when I was awake. The room might be small, but it had a door I could close, and I trusted Sebastian not to enter unless he had permission.
I stretched in bed, reveling in the thought that there was a shower with hot water next door and a kitchen with coffee and toast just down the hall. All these things I’d taken for granted when I was growing up now seemed to be worth more than anything I’d ever owned.
The apartment was silent, and a glance at my phone told me it was just after nine. I had no idea when Sebastian had gotten home, so I crept out of bed and into the bathroom as quietly as I could assuming he was still asleep. After I took care of business I made my way down the hall to the kitchen. My stealth paid off, though not in the way I’d thought it would.
Sebastian stood in the middle of the kitchen wearing only a pair of gray sweatpants slung low on his hips. I nearly swallowed my tongue at how gorgeous he was. It must have been sleep deprivation or fear that had clouded my thoughts when he’d asked me to stay in his apartment because it had completely escaped me that scenes such as this were inevitable. And though he’d seen me in far less when I danced, I had never seen him in anything but jeans and button-ups with the sleeves rolled up to reveal his muscular forearms. I was in so much trouble.
As if in agreement, my dick twitched and began to press against the front of the boxer briefs I had foolishly decided not to cover with my own sweats. I needed to get out of there fast, but as I turned to go, Sebastian greeted me.
“Sleep well?” he asked.
“Yeah.” In panic, I slid sideways into one of the chairs at the dinette and breathed a sigh of relief when the table covered my groin. Though now it looked like I expected Sebastian to serve me breakfast or something.
“You know it’s nothing I haven’t seen…or felt.” Sebastian gave me a wicked smile, and I felt my face flame as I realized I wasn’t hiding anything from him. And that he’d felt it when I got hard during our dance.
He poured me a cup of coffee and slid it across the table. “Relax, Vee,” he said. “It happens. It doesn’t mean anything.” Going back to the stove, he looked over his shoulder. “Unless you want it to.”
I gaped at him as he chuckled and turned away to finish making his own breakfast. For the life of me, I couldn’t have formed words even if someone had put a gun to my head. To distract myself, I took a sip of my coffee and nearly gagged. It was awful. Too strong. Too bitter. Too…thick. I forced myself to swallow what was in my mouth, then pushed the mug away from me.
“That’s horrible,” I said.
Still laughing, Sebastian poured me a fresh cup and brought it to me. “Try this one.”
I eyed him over the rim of the mug and took a good sniff. The liquid didn’t smell overly strong or burned. Cautiously, I took a sip. My surprise set Sebastian laughing all over again. “What did you do?” I asked.
Sebastian shook a jar of instant coffee at me. “I thought you might need a boost,” he said, that grin still playing with the corners of his mouth.
“No, thank you.” I took another sip. “I’m not really much of a coffee drinker to begin with, but that was…” I waved at the first mug. “That was disgusting.”
“True. Consider it a bit of hazing. And it did take your attention away from your dick.”
I sputtered and nearly spit out my coffee. “And now you’ve just put it right back. Thanks for that.” But I was laughing, too. “What are you doing up?”
“Couldn’t sleep.” Sebastian shrugged just as the toaster dinged, then busied himself buttering his toast. “I’ve kind of got a lot on my mind.”
“Anything you want to talk about?”
Sebastian joined me at the table with a plate of toast and a shaker jar of cinnamon sugar. “It’s nothing you haven’t heard about in general,” he said as he retrieved his mug. “Oliviatalked about it at the all-hands meeting. The club is in financial trouble.”
Nodding, all the guilt I’d been feeling the night before came rushing back, and I remembered my vow to come clean about spying for the Grotto. “Yeah, about that—”
“Someone’s also stealing liquor from the storeroom,” Sebastian went on without seeming to hear me. “That’s why I asked if you’d seen anyone while you were sleeping there.”
