Page 59 of A Cold Hard Truth

“I don’t want to talk at all.” Sebastian shoved a bite of gyro into his mouth, glaring at the table as he chewed.

“Does he have anything to do with why you’re questioning yourself?”

Sebastian swallowed and shot a cutting smile across the table. “There’s never a time that I’m not questioning myself, Remington. It’s how I was raised.”

“To feel less than?”

Sebastian dragged his tongue across the front of his teeth. “To compete.”

“And your brother has made a game out of it?” he hedged.

“I’m sure you’ve heard about Rhys from Callahan and Jace.”

Remington had heard about Sebastian’s older brother. He’d heard Rhys St. George was a miserable human who only engaged other people if it served him. He couldn’t imagine what it must have been like to grow up with a man like that as a brother.

“I have,” he agreed. “You’re not him.”

“Oh,” Sebastian scoffed. “I know.”

“What did he say to you that caused all the self-doubt I heard from you earlier when we were on the phone? When you came for me.”

Sebastian’s entire face flushed red and he licked his lips, looking away.

“Tell me,” Remington coaxed.

Sebastian shifted in his chair, his breath coming louder and with heavier exhalations.

“I think he’s sleeping with my ex-wife,” Sebastian muttered.

Of all the things Remington had expected Sebastian to say, that wasn’t on the short list. It wasn’t even on the long list. He wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he said nothing. He let Sebastian sit with the discomfort of the admission, which must have been the right thing to do because, after a minute, Sebastian started talking again.

“I don’t even know why, though, and I think that bothers me the most. It’s not like he can get anything from her, and Rhys doesn’t do anything if it doesn’t benefit him somehow.”

“Is he doing it to hurt you?” Remington tried.

“Honestly, I don’t think so.” Sebastian slumped in his chair and stared down at his lap.

“Let’s eat,” he suggested, picking up his gyro. “We can talk about the rest afterward.”

The two men ate in a quiet and companionable silence, working their way through the juicy lamb and sides until the table was clear. The nerves Sebastian had showed when Remington arrived were back in full force, and Remington cursed his lack of real world knowledge. He wanted to be able to make things easier for Sebastian, and he excelled at doing it online with his lists and his commands, and he could even do it over the phone like he’d done earlier. But something about doing it face to face, about being in person…

Sure, they’d had that earlier exchange where Sebastian had kneeled for him and they’d jerked off together, and that had been…utterly astounding, but…there had to be more to whatever this thing between them was than that. Remington watched Sebastian battle his emotions about his brother, and at the same time, Remington had his own battles to fight. His own fears and worries he needed to best in order to be best.

“What else is wrong?” Remington asked after Sebastian had cleared the table…unprompted. “Let’s go sit someplace more comfortable.”

Sebastian turned without a word and went into the living room. He shifted his weight around like he didn’t know where to sit, and when Remington sat on the couch, Sebastian collapsed on the floor beside him. He looped his arms around Remington’s leg and rested his chin on his thigh.

“You don’t need to sit on the floor,” Remington said.

“I want to.”

“Okay.” He stroked his fingers through Sebastian’s fine blond hair. “What else is wrong?”

“This can’t be normal,” Sebastian muttered.

“What part?”

“I got hard thinking about disappointing you.”