Unhinged (12 page)

Payton

It was a good thing
Sebastian chose an ice cream shop just a few miles away. If I’d had to spend
any more time in that car with him, I might have had a nervous breakdown.

I was pretty sure he
didn’t even know that speed limits existed.

The only positive was
that he handled the car like a professional. It was both disturbing and
strangely exciting. Watching him shift gears, admiring his big hands… Yeah,
needless to say, I needed a cold shower more than I needed ice cream.

Luckily, Sebastian came
around to open my door because, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how
to open it on my own after fumbling in the dark for a moment. From that point
on, I didn’t say anything until the cute girl behind the counter asked what ice
cream we wanted. I was surprised that she heard me, considering she was batting
her eyelashes and ogling Sebastian the entire time she was working.

Sebastian hovered close
behind me while she prepared our ice cream. When she was finished, he paid and
then took my hand again. I was still trying to get used to the idea of holding
his hand. It was oddly settling. I felt almost… cherished. Protected.

“Let’s eat outside,” he
said, carrying both paper bowls of ice cream.

I glanced around the
inside, noticing there were three perfectly good tables available, but there
was also a family sitting at one table with two little kids playing tag around
a chair. Did he not like kids?

I didn’t ask him
because we were on the move once again and I was simply trying to remember how
to walk, much less talk and walk at the same time.

“I take it you’re close
to Toby and Leif,” I commented once we were seated at a small metal table in
front of the little shop. A worn red umbrella hovering over the table flapped
in the cool night breeze.

“I’ve known Leif since
I was fourteen. Met Toby in high school.”

“Do they live with
you?” I didn’t even know where Sebastian lived, so it was a logical question.

“Nope. At least not
yet. Leif’s looking for a place. We’ve talked about him renting a room from
me.”

“Do you live in a house
or apartment?” I didn’t mean to ply him with so many questions, but I couldn’t
help myself. I wanted to know everything there was to know about him. It
probably would have been awkward if I’d just sat there and stared at him, too.

“House,” Sebastian
answered, his tone changing. I wondered if that was a sore subject. Seemed
strange that he wouldn’t want to talk about where he lived, but I took the
hint.

“What about you? House
or apartment?”

“Apartment. I live with
Chloe.” For some reason, I didn’t want to mention that I lived with Aaron as
well, which I knew wasn’t completely honest. Aaron was my roommate, my best
friend, but he was still a guy. Gay or not, I wasn’t sure how Sebastian would
take the fact that I did live with a guy so I kept my mouth shut.

A couple of family’s
made their way into the ice cream shop and I busied myself by watching the
little kids run around in circles. Sebastian seemed to be intently studying me,
and I fought the urge to squirm under his penetrating gaze.

“Why’d you let me
believe you were Mr. Trovato’s mechanic?” I asked bluntly, when it was clear
Sebastian wasn’t going to restart the conversation.

“Why’d you assume I
was?”

I stared blankly at
him, my spoon halfway to my mouth. “Because you were covered in grease?”

“If I’d been covered in
flour would you’ve thought I was the cook?”

“No.” My answer came
just a little too quickly.

Damn it. He was right.
I’d made the assumption all on my own.

“See my point yet?” Sebastian’s
glowing eyes locked with mine.

“Fine.” I shoved the
little pink plastic spoon in my mouth, accepting that he was right. The rich
chocolate flavor burst on my tongue, but the only thing I could think about was
how much better it would be if I could cover Sebastian in it and then lick it
off.

“Quit picturing me
naked,” he said smoothly, arrogantly.

I narrowed my eyes at
him. “In your dreams.”

“That’s what I’m
worried about,” he mumbled almost too softly to hear before spooning vanilla
ice cream into his mouth.

His ice cream caught my
eye and I glanced back and forth between his and mine. Chocolate and vanilla.
Total opposites. Why did I have the feeling that our choice in ice cream
probably wasn’t the only thing different between us?

I didn’t know him.
Other than the way he looked, that he lived in a house not an apartment, and
that he went out tonight with two guys he’d known for a long time anyway. I
knew he worked for Conrad Trovato. In what capacity, I wasn’t sure. I knew his
last name was Trovato, which could only mean he was related to Conrad in some
way. I mean seriously, Trovato wasn’t a common name, so what were the odds?

I scraped my ice cream
with my spoon as I met his gaze again. “Do you work for Mr. Trovato?”

“You could say that,”
he mumbled.

“What do you do for
him?” I asked, curious.

“A little of this, a
little of that.”

My anger reignited and
I stabbed my ice cream with my spoon. “Would you mind taking me home?” I was
suddenly too frustrated to sit there with him. He’d been relatively forthcoming
with my questions earlier, but they’d been significantly less personal. Seemed
that when I wanted to dig deeper, he just wanted to close himself off.

I didn’t want to play
that game with him.

His eyes widened, the
golden orbs drawing me in yet again. “Why?”

“I clearly
misunderstood your reason for wanting to get ice cream. I thought we were here
to talk, yet you won’t give me a straight answer to any of my questions.”

“Not true,” he countered.
“I answered you.”

“Yeah,” I huffed. “You
told me that you live in a house. You didn’t elaborate, didn’t share anything
more than that. And now that I want to know something more personal, you just
clam up.”

Sebastian didn’t say
anything, he turned his attention back to his ice cream, avoiding looking at me
altogether.

I sighed.

“Since I’m not
interested in anything else from you, aside from maybe some friendly
conversation, I think it’s safe to say we’re done here.”

I got to my feet,
looking down at him.

He slowly rose from his
seat and I kept my eyes locked with his until I had to look up at him.

“Look.” Sebastian took
my hand, watching me as though he thought I was going to run.

What was it with this
guy and holding my hand? It wasn’t that it didn’t feel good, I was quite fond
of the way he touched me, the spark that sizzled along my skin from the
connection, but it disarmed me at the same time. And I had a feeling that I
needed as much armor as possible when it came to Sebastian Trovato.

His thumb brushed over
my knuckles a couple of times before he spoke. The sweet touch made my knees
and
my anger weaken.

“You’re right,” he
finally said, closing his eyes briefly. “I’ll take you home.”

Leaving the ice cream
to melt on the table, Sebastian motioned toward the car and then followed me
without saying another word.

The most awkward car
ride ensued, the only words spoken between us were when I had to give him
directions on how to get to my apartment.

I was trying to figure
out what to say, if anything, when Sebastian stopped in front of my building. I
peeked over at him to find him staring down at his hand on the gear shift.

“Uhh…” I knew I at
least needed to say thank you. That was the polite thing to do, right?

“Where’s your
boyfriend?” His words were spoken so softly, they were hard to make out.

“What?” I was confused.

He looked up, meeting
my gaze in the darkness. “The guy you were with at the party. Your boyfriend.
Why aren’t you with him tonight?”

Oh, crap. I’d let him
believe that Aaron was my boyfriend.

I looked away quickly,
choosing to stare out the windshield while I tried to gather my thoughts.

“He’s not your
boyfriend, is he?” Sebastian questioned.

“No,” I admitted,
hating the fact that he’d caught me in a lie. Aaron had been my excuse, the
only logical excuse I had to stay far, far away from Sebastian.

“Then who is he?”

I closed my eyes,
trying to come up with an answer that wouldn’t make me sound like I had lied to
him or led him to believe something that wasn’t true. The way he had done to
me.

Before I could get the
words out, Sebastian surprised me by reaching over and sliding his hand behind
my neck, pulling me to him. One minute he was sitting still, the next he was
pulling me toward him, his mouth meeting mine. He wasn’t rough, but he wasn’t
gentle either. And when our lips touched, all of my air escaped in a pathetic
little sigh.

His tongue slid over my
bottom lip before coaxing its way into my mouth. I reached for him, unable to
resist the opportunity to touch him. His shoulders were hard, the muscles tense
beneath the navy T-shirt he wore. The short hair on the back of his head
sensually scraped against my palm as my tongue slid against his. To my utter
embarrassment, I moaned. And that only spurred Sebastian on. He pulled me
closer, our lips crushed together as he devoured me. That was the only
description for what was happening between us.

And holy crap! It was a
good thing I was sitting down because my legs had turned to jelly, my entire
body quaking from the intensity of his kiss.

I slid my hands higher,
pulling his hair gently, sinking my fingers into the longer locks on the top.
Oh, God. What was I doing?

I knew absolutely
nothing about this man other than he was a shitty conversationalist and the
world’s greatest kisser and though my brain was screaming for me to pull away,
to jump out of the car and run far and fast, I couldn’t do it. I was scared if
he kept kissing me, I was going to figure out a way to climb his body and that
would be a devastation that I’d never survive.

But then he was pulling
away, nibbling at my lips briefly before his eyes met mine. His hand was still
cupping my nape, his thumb rasping over my cheek. We were both breathless, and
I still wasn’t trying to get away from him.

“So, no boyfriend?”

I shook my head.

“Then we’re even.”

I knew what he was
referring to. He had led me to believe he was Conrad’s mechanic, and I had led
him to believe Aaron was my boyfriend. So, yes, we were even.

“Let me see you again,
Angel,” Sebastian whispered, resting his forehead against mine. “I…” He paused,
his eyes still peering into mine. “I just need to see you again.”

“Why?” I asked, wanting
to know.

It was clear he didn’t
want to tell me anything about himself, and I’d been honest when I said that
was what I wanted from him. I was quite capable of controlling my own hormones,
although you might not be able to tell it by the way I’d kissed him as though
my life depended on it.

“I can’t explain it.”

I couldn’t either. And
none of it made sense.

I’d met guys like
Sebastian. They were the bad boys that good girls like me stayed away from, the
ones that were looking for fast and dirty sex
—
something I was pretty sure I
couldn’t even offer, thank you very much.

With every intention of
telling him that we’d be better off just moving along, I was shocked to the
roots of my hair when I whispered, “Why don’t I give you my phone number and
we’ll see how it goes?”

Sebastian pulled away
and I immediately missed the warmth of his hand on my neck. “Let me see your
phone,” he stated gently, his eyes never leaving mine.

I grabbed my phone from
my purse and handed it to him as though there wasn’t anything weird about
giving it to a complete stranger.

He’s not too much of a
stranger, you know what his lips feel like.

I ignored that little
voice in my head while I watched him dial a number. A second later, his cell
phone rang. He hung up and then did the opposite, calling my phone from his
number.

“Done.”

Yes, I guess we were.
“Okay, then.” I twisted in my seat, ready to reach for the door handle.

Once again, Sebastian
caught me off guard when he reached for me. This time his lips brushed mine
ever so gently and I breathed him in. He smelled good. Something spicy and rich
and I wanted to inhale him until the scent was embedded in my brain.

“I need to see you
again,” he whispered against my lips, and this time, I heard the desperation in
his tone. Or was that just lust?

It was strange. It
didn’t sound like he was trying to push me to invite him in, but that he truly
wanted to see me again in the future. And as upset as I was at him for duping
me earlier in the day, I couldn’t lie and say that I didn’t want the same
thing.