Snow Job by Tara Wyatt (best large ereader .txt) 📗

“Lost in thought,” he admitted with a small smile.

“What were you thinking about?”

“You, mostly.”

Her lips turned up in a way that made him want to kiss her. “Good things, I hope.”

“Always, baby.”

She started to say something, but then got distracted as Theo and Lauren finally arrived at their table. Given that Theo’s hair was a little messy and Lauren’s cheeks and neck were flushed, Sebastian could make a pretty good guess as to why they were almost twenty minutes late. Instead of giving them shit like he normally would’ve, he just smirked because he fully understood.

“Sorry, traffic,” said Theo, winking at Lauren when he thought no one was looking. He pulled Max in for a hug, and then Lauren did the same, wishing Max a happy birthday. The rest of the table was taken up with Lucian, Kayla and Lauren’s friend Willa, and a couple of Max’s friends from his fitness club. Frankly, Sebastian was surprised the grumpy bastard had any friends at all, but Jack and Miles seemed cool.

Once everyone was settled, the waiter came to take their drink orders. Scotch for Lucian, whiskey for Theo and Max, wine for Lauren and Willa. Sebastian ordered a ginger ale, and then the waiter turned to Kayla.

“Sparkling water, please,” she said, handing over the drink menu. As the conversation buzzed around the table, he leaned in close to her, his chest tight with guilt.

“It doesn’t bother me if you’d rather have a glass of wine or a cocktail, baby. It’s okay.”

She turned to him and smiled, her hand squeezing his knee under the table. “Solidarity. I truly don’t mind.”

Unable to help himself, he dipped his head and planted a soft kiss on her mouth. The table’s conversation dropped away and Kayla pulled back, her cheeks red. Everyone was staring at them, amused expressions on their faces.

“I have to admit,” said Lauren, leaning forward on her elbows, “that when Kayla first told me you guys were dating, I was, um…shocked, I guess? Just given how things had been when you worked together. But now that I see you together, I get it. You guys make a really good couple. You seem happy.”

“We are,” they said in unison and then laughed. Max rolled his eyes.

“Everyone’s happy at first,” he said, taking a sip of his drink. “It’s called infatuation and lots of sex.”

“That’s awfully cynical for someone about to start beta testing a dating app,” said Kayla with a teasing smile.

“You know, I said something almost identical to him not that long ago,” said Sebastian, eyeing his brother.

“I can be cynical about something and still want to make money from it.”

Sebastian and Theo both laughed, and their eyes met over the table. Something unspoken passed between them, and Sebastian knew that it was the smugness of two men in love with amazing women, knowing that their cynical, grumpy brother would eventually fall hard and not know what hit him when he did. Max had been in love once, a long time ago, but then everything had changed in the blink of an eye.

As the conversation flowed around the table, Sebastian found that his gaze kept returning to Lauren’s sparkling engagement ring. She talked with her hands as she updated everyone on the progress she was making on her debut album, and as she did, the big diamond caught the light, flashing at him. He could only imagine how good it must’ve felt for Theo to put that ring on her. For the entire world to know she belonged to him.

He glanced down at Kayla’s hand, laying possessively on his thigh, and an intense emotion rocked him as he wondered what it would be like to put a ring just like that on her finger. He sucked in a deep breath, his heart picking up its pace. Adrenaline surged through him, immediately making him antsy.

Slow down. You don’t need to do anything crazy or impulsive. She’s not going anywhere.

He breathed through the feeling of wanting to do something big and risky and crazy—it was a feeling he knew well but hadn’t had to face over the past few months. His skin felt tight and itchy, sweat prickling along his hairline. He took a long sip of his drink, focusing on his breathing and on the feel of Kayla’s small hand on his leg, anchoring him until the feeling started to pass.

Now that he had her, he wasn’t going to do anything to fuck this up.

“Hey, you okay?” she whispered, the conversation dropping away as a team of waiters arrived with their meals.

He met her eyes, some of the adrenaline ebbing away at the concern shining out at him. “Yeah. I’m just not used to being back in the city, I think.”

She squeezed his thigh. “You’re doing great, Bastian. Whatever you’re feeling, breathe through it and I’m right here.”

He didn’t know what he’d done to deserve this woman, but it must’ve been something pretty big given how amazing she was.

After they’d all finished eating, stuffed full of steak and prime rib, twice baked potatoes and Caesar salad, everyone played musical chairs, the women gravitating to one side of the table and the men the other. Since Kayla and Willa were both friends with Lauren, Sebastian knew they probably had lots to catch up on. Still, he was sorry to see her go as she sat down beside Lauren and Theo plunked down into her vacated seat.

“You look really good, Bastian,” said Theo, clapping him on the shoulder. “The mountains clearly agree with you.”

He shrugged off his brother’s compliment while trying to disguise the burst of pride at his words. “The mountains, not being an impulsive asshole, doing something I love. Kayla. Life is good.”

“I’m happy for you,” said Lucian, sipping his scotch, his eyes roving over the restaurant. Every single table was full. “Truly.”

They fell into an easy conversation, talking about Max’s upcoming app launch, about Sebastian coaching Chase, about how much Theo was enjoying the west coast life.