Page 159 of Cheap Shot

While Sebastian had never thought of himself as a small person, he felt oddly safe and protected like this.

He closed his eyes and held on, his nose filled with the woodsy scent of Luke’s cologne, the leather of his jacket. He could feel the slow, steady thump of Luke’s heart against his chest and for a few moments, he just stood there, letting the fear and worry ebb away. With Luke’s arms around him he felt like maybe he could be strong for Brie and for Harper.

Maybe he could be enough.

Eventually, Sebastian let out a shuddering sigh and straightened, meeting Luke’s gaze.

He reached out, dragging his thumb under Sebastian’s eye and wiping away what Sebastian only now realized was tears.

“Sorry, I …” he rasped and looked away.

“Hey, you’re okay,” Luke said. “And Harper’s gonna be too. She’s a fighter, right?”

“Yeah,” Sebastian said. “Yeah, she’s always been really tough. I just hate this. She’s been through so much already.”

“I know. Tell me what they said?”

Sebastian pulled back but Luke didn’t let go. “So, you know what a pacemaker is?”

“If it’s the same as what old people have, yeah. The little device that they put in your chest to keep your heart beating. Right?”

“Yeah, it’s the same,” Sebastian said. “Her body is rejecting hers.”

“What does that mean?”

“Her body is treating it like a foreign object. So they’re going to have to remove it and replace it with a different one.”

Luke frowned. “Won’t the same thing happen again?”

“It could. Sometimes they use different materials that the body is less likely to respond badly to.”

“But she’ll be okay?”

“She should be.” Sebastian let out a long sigh. “It’s just so hard. She’s only five, Luke, and if this hadn’t been caught in time …”

“But it was. We got her to the hospital in time.”

“I know. I was just scared shitless …”

“Hey, me too,” Luke said quietly.

“You? You’re not scared of anything,” Sebastian said, glancing back at him.

Now Crawford was the one to look away. “Not sure that’s true.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Their gazes met and held and this time, neither of them looked away. “I’m scared for Harper,” Luke said quietly. “Scared of losing you. But that’s shit we should talk about another time.”

Sebastian blinked. “No, I want to know what you mean.”

Luke let out a shuddering sigh. “I’m fuckin’ scared I’m not gonna be enough for you. Scared I don’t fucking know how to be somebody’s boyfriend or partner. Scared I’ll screw this up so bad you’ll tell me to take a hike.”

“Luke …” Sebastian whispered. He closed his eyes and hung on, letting himself sink into the feeling of being cared for as Luke pressed his lips to his forehead.

Was this really the man he’d met for hate-sex on the regular, the one he’d spent so many hours arguing with, the one he couldn’t wait to chirp at every Harriers home game?

Was this the man he’d sworn he hated for so long?