“Why?” Sebastian asked as he watched her sit up.
“I told my mom that I was just running downstairs to find my history book,” Mikey said as she headed back to the window.
“And your history book is where exactly?” Jonathan asked.
“I don’t know. Probably at school,” she said, shrugging it off and making them both chuckle as Sebastian climbed off the bed and followed her to the window.
“That’s going to make it difficult to find,” Sebastian said as he reached past her and pushed the window open.
“It really is,” Mikey agreed only to turn around and place her hand on his chest, stopping him. “I’m afraid that’s as far as you go.”
“You really expect me to stay out of trouble?” he asked with a teasing smile.
She seemed to think it over for a moment before she said, “No, but I feel like we should at least pretend that you’re going to behave.”
“You’re probably right,” Sebastian said, nodding in agreement.
“I usually am,” Mikey said with a helpless shrug.
“Goodnight, brat,” he said, chuckling as he watched her climb out the window.
“Goodnight, Sebastian,” Mikey said with a teasing smile.
He started to close the window only to stop when she suddenly turned around. “What’s wrong?” Sebastian asked as he watched her begin toying with the strings on the sweatshirt that he was probably never getting back.
“It’s just that…” she began only to let her words trail off with a heartfelt sigh.
“It’s just that, what?” Sebastian asked, watching as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth as she watched her fingers absently wind themselve
s around the strings.
“You know, right?” Mikey asked as she glanced up at him.
“Know what?” he asked only to frown when Mikey reached over and grabbed hold of his shirt. Before he could say anything, she slowly pulled him closer as she leaned in and whispered, “That you’re my favorite,” only to turn her head and kiss his cheek.
With a satisfied sigh, Mikey released his shirt and disappeared out of sight, leaving Sebastian standing there, unable to help but smile as he watched her go.
“You do realize that kiss was meant for me, don’t you?” Jonathan asked as Sebastian reluctantly closed their bedroom window.
“Absolutely,” Sebastian murmured in agreement as he grabbed a book off their desk and–
“Why are you so mean to me?” Jonathan asked with a heartfelt sigh as Sebastian dropped back down on his bed, a slow smile tugging at his lips as he wondered if Mikey had any idea what was in store for her.
Epilogue
“Wait! That’s it?” Jamie asked in disbelief as she sat there, watching helplessly as Sebastian headed to his desk.
“I’m afraid so,” he murmured absently as he sat down behind the large desk and opened his laptop, putting an end to their interview and–
“You’ve gotta tell me what happened with Mikey. And Braxton, what did his family do to him? Was Mrs. Blaine able to save him? Did Mikey end up killing Jonathan? And Cole? Why does your mother’s food send people to the hospital? What happened with Chloe? Please, you can’t leave it like that!” Jamie said, not really caring that she was begging the man that was the key to her future, not when she had so many unanswered questions.
“I’m afraid that I don’t have any choice,” Sebastian said with a heartfelt sigh.
“But…” Jamie said only to let her shoulders sag in defeat when Sebastian shifted his focus to whatever he was doing and it became clear that this interview was over.
Resigning herself to spending the rest of her life wondering what happened, Jamie grabbed her bag and headed for the door. She should probably be concerned that this wasn’t going to be enough to win that job, but…
She wanted to know what happened with Mikey, damn it. Telling herself that she’d forget about them in a few days, she headed for the door and–