Page 151 of Cheap Shot

“No!” Sebastian protested. “I mean, probably we’ll have sex, yeah, but Luke and I?—”

“Luke, huh?” he could hear the disbelief in her voice.

“Yeah. It’s …” Sebastian sighed.Whoops. This wasn’t how he’d planned to tell Brie. “He and I are well, we’re … dating now.”

“Thefuck?” Brie said. “When did that happen?”

“It’s been slowly evolving,” Sebastian admitted.

“Ha! I knew there had to be more to it when he volunteered to fix my kitchen!”

“He can’t just be a nice guy?”

Brie hooted. “Since when haveyouever thought Luke Crawford was nice?”

“Well, that’s evolving too.”

“Apparently.” Brie’s voice softened, turning worried. “What about Nicky?”

“I have plans to tell him,” Sebastian said firmly. “I’m taking a trip to New York soon anyway, so we’re going to meet up while I’m there.”

Sebastian’s New York shops seemed to be humming along fine, but he still felt like he needed to drop by every so often and check on them in person. He figured he might as well kill two birds with one stone and all that. Even if it made his stomach twist with anxiety every time he thought about it.

“Good luck with that.” Brie’s tone was dubious. “Anyway, my lunchtime is winding down. So can you watch Harper tomorrow evening or not? If you can’t, that’s fine. I just want to let Krista know. You’re right, she seems great.”

“Uhh,” Sebastian said slowly. “Yeah, Luke will probably be willing to reschedule. What time were you thinking you’d get back?”

“Nine? Nine-thirty at the very latest.”

“Ugh. Okay.”

“Look, you don’t have to,” Brie protested. “You deserve to have a life too. You don’t always have to drop everything to help us out. I just know you’ve been hoping I’d make some more mom friends and you keep pushing me toward making friends with people from the Harriers and, well Krista really does seem nice and …”

“No, no I’ll make it work,” Sebastian assured her. “Maybe I’ll see if Luke is up for babysitting with me if you’re cool with that.”

Brie was—understandably—cautious about who she allowed around her daughter.

“Yeah, that’s fine. As long as you’re there the whole time, I’m okay with it.”

“Of course,” Sebastian assured her.

“I am sure Harper would be thrilled to see him.”

“Yes,” Sebastian agreed with a laugh. “I’m a little miffed that I’ve been replaced as Harper’s favorite, but whether Luke can come or not, I’ll watch her tomorrow. I am sure he’ll understand if I have to reschedule.”

“I’m planning to head straight from work to meet up with Krista but I’ll throw something in the slow cooker in the morning for you guys to have for dinner,” Brie said. “White chicken chili, okay?”

Sebastian considered it. It was one of his favorites. Chicken, beans, salsa verde, corn … yeah that should fit well enough with Luke’s nutrition plan too. “Sounds great.”

“Okay, gotta go,” Brie said, her tone turning brisk. “Keep me updated.”

“I will,” Sebastian promised. “Hey! Just one thing, don’t say anything to Krista about me dating Luke. He isn’t out to the team yet.”

“Is he going to come out?” Brie’s tone was pointed.

“Uhh, yeah, at some point. We haven’t discussed specifics yet.”

“Mmm,” Brie said, which meant she was skeptical but didn’t want to get into it at the moment.