Wild Nights With My Brother's Ex-Best Friend novel Chapter 60

NICOLE

Sebastian and I stare at each other for a handful of beats.

I get over my surprise and stand up. I start to say something, but he interjects, "Katie didn't mention that you'd be here."

"She didn't tell me you'd be coming, either."

For some reason, he looks nervous and uncomfortable, and it's starting to affect me. He's my boss, so I should be the awkward one. In any case, I didn't think that the dynamic between us would leave space for so much awkwardness. We talk normally. We've never been uncomfortable around each other.

So, why now?

Because Katie isn't here, I offer to pour him some tea and he accepts. The cup of tea warms my hands. Occasionally, my eyes will meet his, and he's always the first to look away. I feel a twinge of worry inside of me, but I brush it aside.

"So," I begin, "what brings you here?"

A small smile tugs at the corners of his lips, and he becomes the Sebastian I'm so used to. "Katie asked me to come here today, no questions asked. I thought that maybe she'd want to talk to me about something, but now you're here."

Cold washes over me like he just dumped a bucket of ice-cold water on my head. "I didn't mean to pry at all. I wouldn't have come here if she hadn't—"

"No, no," he says quickly, putting a hand up since the other one is holding the cup of tea. "That's not what I meant at all. I'm sorry if you misunderstood it."

Something is off about him. About this whole situation, really. I turn my head to look at the stairs, but Katie is nowhere to be found. Where is she? Why would she take so long to put some flowers in a vase?

What's going on here?

Silence falls upon us. I sip my tea and try not to think about how awkward things are between us. I don't know how this happened, but I definitely don't want to overthink it.

Five minutes pass and Katie still hasn't come down. I'm starting to get worried, so I'm looking over my shoulder nonstop to the point where Sebastian notices it and says, "I doubt she'll come down any time soon."

The look I give him is one of surprise. "Why do you say that?"

Though I'm alarmed by what he said, he's smiling like he knows something I don't, which is probably the case. "I know what she's up to."

I find myself smiling a little, too. "Why don't you let me in on the joke?"

"It's no joke," he proclaims before looking over at me. Something passes between us, I'm sure of it, and his look intensifies. There's no playfulness to his demeanor anymore. "I told her something, and no, she wants me to go through with it."

"But is everything alright?" I ask naïvely.

"That depends."

At this point, I'm completely lost. Sebastian puts his empty cup of tea down, scratches the back of his neck—which is something he always does when he's nervous—and turns to me. "Nicole...I think we need to talk, and this conversation is long overdue."

Panic takes over me and a million thoughts and possibilities race through my mind in a matter of seconds.

"It's nothing for you to be alarmed about," he claims when he takes note of my expression. "Or, at least, I think you don't have to be alarmed."

"You're scaring me," I admit.

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