Page 73 of Brighter Shades of Light

“You could’ve called. I don’t need anything.” His distant tone sounded robotic.

“Whose truck is out front?” she asked.

I sucked in a breath.

“That is none of your concern,” Sebastian said coolly. “You should leave before the weather worsens. It was foolish to come here.”

“I heard from Claudia that you were seeing someone. Is that true?”

Who the hell was Claudia?

“I can’t fathom what would possess her to say such a thing,” Sebastian said with a growl. “She knows nothing about me or my life.”

“Well, she said she made a move on you, and you rejected her. I almost pulled her hair out when she told me. She was convinced you were seeing someone else.”

“Emily, this isn’t the time to—”

“There’sneverthe time with you, Sebastian! You’re busy grading papers, researching, or working on experiments that don’t mean half as much as the people in your life do. As much as I do. You chose all of that over me.”

“Stop acting like a child,” he snapped. I wasn’t used to hearing him lose his temper. Strong bursts of emotion were uncommon for him. “Who I date and who I fuck means nothing to you anymore. You lost that right when the divorce papers were signed.”

Divorce papers?

“So youarefucking someone? I wonder if she knows how big of an ass you are.” Emily slammed her palm against the door and shoved it open before barging into the house.

Her eyes went wide when she saw me. I was sure I mirrored her expression.

The already-awkward situation became even worse when I realized she was a professor at the university. I had never taken her classes, but I had seen her around campus. Red hair, brown eyes, porcelain skin, and a petite build, she was beautiful. And fucking pissed, judging by the glare she aimed my way.

“Who are you?” she asked.

“Um.”

Sebastian closed the door and walked over to me, placing his hand at my lower back. “Emily, you need to leave.”

Her eyes widened. “You…you’re dating a man?”

Sebastian never told her about Leon, then.

“Yes,” he said.

“Is that the real reason our marriage failed? Because you’re gay?”

“No. Our marriage failed because we weren’t meant to be together.”

My head buzzed with so many questions. How long were they married? When did they divorce? Shit, did he have a kid I didn’t know about?

This morning, I thought I knew Sebastian. I knew the exact way to ride him to make his toes curl and the place on his neck that made him suck in a breath between his teeth. But not just the physical things. I knew how to make him laugh when he struggled to do so. I knew how he liked his coffee and what side of the bed he preferred to sleep on. And with a single knock on the door, everything had changed.

I felt like I barely knew him now.

As my eyes filled with tears, I stepped away from him and walked down the hall.

“Cody!” Sebastian called after me.

I kept walking.

“Isn’t he a student?” Emily asked.