Pretend You're Mine (The Protectors 12.50)

Sebastian received a standing ovation when he was done. He smiled and thanked everyone, but I didn’t miss the pain in his eyes. As he exited the stage, the lights came back on and people began talking excitedly amongst themselves. Several of the guests at our table began praising Rick for his ingenuity in getting Sebastian to give a private performance for the benefit. The asshole preened under the attention.

It took about ten minutes for Sebastian to appear in the main room. He was once again dressed in his tux. His eyes met mine through the crowd and I swore I saw relief in them when he saw me, but the emotion was shuttered so quickly I started to second-guess myself. I made small talk with the people at the table we were at for a few minutes before I excused myself to go to the other side of the room where Sebastian was signing autographs. The first thing I heard when I reached him was a woman telling him what a shame it was that he’d decided to retire from dancing. The pity in her voice was cloying and I remembered how he’d told me not to feel sorry for him right before I’d kissed him.

Sebastian kept a smile on his face and made some kind of polite comment in response, but I could see in his eyes that he was on edge.

“Excuse me, do you mind if I steal him away for a few minutes?” I said to the lady as I eased between her and a gaggle of people surrounding Sebastian. “I’d like to congratulate my man on his amazing performance,” I added as charmingly as I could.

“Oh yes, of course,” the woman said. “What a handsome pair you two make,” she continued as she patted Sebastian’s arm. I put my arm around Sebastian, but he remained stiff and that fake smile never left his lips. It wasn’t until the woman’s husband shooed her off and the other guests gave Sebastian some space that he pulled away from me and turned so his back was to the room. I saw him pull a prescription bottle from his pocket. He downed one of the pills.

“What are those?” I asked as I motioned to the bottle.

“Nothing,” he responded curtly.

Okay, so he was definitely pissed at me. “Listen, Sebastian, I’m sorry if I overstepped—”

“You didn’t. You were great.”

“Great? Great at what exactly?”

Sebastian turned back around so he was facing the room, then grabbed a champagne glass from a passing waiter. He took several long sips before saying, “Darren totally bought it and Rick is so jealous he looks like he’s going to break his own teeth.”

I followed the direction of Sebastian’s gaze and saw that Rick was watching us from across the room. If looks could kill, I’d be dead and buried for sure. Not that I gave a shit.

“That boyfriend stuff hit the spot and that kiss… genius,” Sebastian murmured. He downed the rest of his champagne and quickly grabbed another one.

“Bastian, if you’re taking something for pain, you shouldn’t be mixing it with alcohol.”

“Nuh-uh-uh,” he said as he started swallowing the champagne like it was water. “You only get to pretend to be all possessive and caring when they can hear you. And cut out the Bastian stuff unless they’re around, ’kay?”

“Sebastian,” I began, but he ignored me and wandered off. By the time he reached Rick and Darren, he was on his third glass of champagne. I wanted to grab him and ask if he actually believed everything I’d done had been an act, but I didn’t really have a leg to stand on. There’d been no reason to introduce myself as his boyfriend. I’d done it because I had wanted to punish the fucker who’d hurt Sebastian so badly with his selfishness. Even if I’d liked the way it’d sounded, it hadn’t been right to do that to Sebastian without making sure it was okay with him. This night was supposed to have been a pretend date and nothing more. I’d taken it to a whole new level by leading people to believe we were together. And Sebastian was a celebrity of sorts… what had I been thinking?

I hadn’t been.

That was the problem.

I’d been on a high from kissing Sebastian and I’d wanted to somehow mark him as mine so that asshole would know it.

God, I wasn’t much better than the selfish son of a bitch.

I made my way back to the table and sat down. Sebastian was making small talk with Darren and a few of the other guests at the table. Rick kept sneaking covert looks at Sebastian, but luckily, I didn’t see Sebastian returning any of them. If I had, I probably would have lost my shit altogether.

As dinner was served, Rick suddenly said, “I hope you guys don’t mind Darren and me stealing a bit of Sebastian’s thunder, but we have an announcement we just can’t wait to share.”