Pretend We're Over (Pretend 2)

I gathered the rest of my things from the apartment that I shared with Oaklee, which wasn’t much. I left my bed at Oaklee’s, so it was mainly just a bit more clothes and toiletries. I select a pair of jeans and stretchy top and put them on before combing my wet hair, but I don’t bother blow-drying it. Then I head back out to the kitchen.

I assume Sebastian will order takeout for us, or he has a chef who cooks for him, so I’m surprised to find him standing in his expansive kitchen behind his large stainless stovetop cooking.

“You cook?” I ask.

“Yes,” he says, offering nothing more than a one-word answer.

“I thought we were going to talk. That means you have to say more than one-word answers.”

“We will.”

Great, now we are onto two-word sentences. We are never going to get through this night.

Sebastian continues to face the stovetop as he cooks. We are going to need some alcohol to get through this night. I’m going to need it to tell him about my past and keep my desire for him at bay. And he’s going to need it to loosen him up and stop making him such a giant prick.

I glance around the room but don’t spot a bar or place where he keeps his alcohol. I head to the fridge, hoping he has some white wine or champagne chilled as both are my favorite.

His fridge is perfectly organized. It looks like a celeb’s fridge who his giving a house tour for Architecture Digest. Like it’s been organized and cleaned for a special occasion. But there is no way it is; he didn’t know that he’d be bringing back a wife when he went to his friend’s wedding.

I easily scan the fridge filled with lean meats, vegetables, fruit, and water. There is nothing unhealthy in his fridge. But then I spot what I’m looking for. There is a single bottle of white wine chilling in the fridge. I remove it and then go in search of wine glasses. I open almost every cabinet before finding two wine glasses pushed far into the back of a cabinet.

Seems strange for a bachelor. Most men I know who live alone have their alcohol on display or in the easiest cabinet. He must just not be a wine drinker.

I pour us both a glass, and I take a sip as I watch him work at the stove in his jeans and T-shirt that says something about healing on the front. It’s not what I expected. I expected him to be wearing a suit when he returned to work. Instead, he’s wearing casual clothes. Not that I’m complaining, his ass looks great in his dark jeans, but it just goes to show how much we need to have a conversation. I have no idea how he made the millions he obviously has to own an apartment like this.

Sebastian plates the food he’s been hard at work at and then finally turns to see what I’ve been doing. He frowns when he sees the wine glasses I’m holding.

“I’m sorry if you were saving this bottle for something, I’ll buy you a new one,” I say as a vein pops out on his forehead.

“It’s fine, I just don’t usually drink wine on a Monday.”

“Oh, I just thought the alcohol was needed for us to get through this conversation.”

I follow Sebastian to the small two-seater dining table that I doubt he ever eats at. That is until he pulls his chair back, and I see the scuff marks on the floor where he’s obviously pulled out his chair on a regular basis. When I pull my chair out, I see no such marks.

“Do you usually have dinner at this table by yourself?”

“Yes.”

Back to one-word answers.

I sigh, deciding we both need some food in our systems and definitely lots of wine. The food Sebastian cooked is delicious and simple—grilled chicken, asparagus, and a green salad.

“You’re a good cook.”

“Thank you.” And then he looks up as if he knew what he was going to see when he did. “Look.” He nods in the direction of the skyline behind him.

I turn, and my breath is taken away by the view of the sun setting behind the skyline.

“Wow.”

“This is why I sit here to eat my dinner every night. It’s peaceful and reminds me that life is precious an

d beautiful. That I deserve to live a life that is full of wondrous things. And I should protect my body so I’m able to enjoy such wonders.”

I turn back, realizing what Sebastian just did was more incredible than the view. He let me into a part of his soul. And he did it without a drop of alcohol needed. He was brave.

Maybe this conversation will be easier than I think.