Page 26 of Kill Shot

Wisdom

Seb

It had been a few weeks since Seb had last paid a visit to Caroline.

That wasn’t to say that he’d been neglecting his social work for school, but rather that the end of the term had been consumed with writing reports, synthesizing his results, and preparing for tests.

There was so much to do before graduation and so little time, but even so, he felt obligated to meet up with his dearest subject one more time before he graduated, to give thanks if nothing else.

“Oh, what a pleasant surprise!” Caroline cried out when she answered the door. “Is it just you today?”

Seb smiled as he kissed her offered cheek. “Aside from my not so friendly bodyguards, just me. No Nico this time.”

“A pity,” Caroline grumbled, already falling back into her delightfully cantankerous ways. “Come on in.”

Seb followed as she trudged her way over to her chair. Was it just his imagination or was she leaning on her cane a little more nowadays? Maybe their time apart had made him forget just how old she really was.

He felt a tightness in his chest when he imagined that she would one day be gone. There would be a time in the not particularly distant future when he would never again be able to see her smile lines or hear her good-natured complaining.

Of course, that naturally led to him wondering about who else he might suddenly lose in the near future. With every day of ceaseless worries, his fears concerning Nico grew more oppressive.

As such, even when he sat down with Caroline to catch up about all the comings and goings at her place, Seb couldn’t completely distract himself.

She told him all about how her granddaughter had placed first in her school’s spelling bee, and he appropriately commented on how adorable she was when Caroline brought out a picture that she’d had printed out. Digital photos were apparently still too much of a hassle to deal with.

However, eventually it did come time for Caroline to ask the questions that he was both dreading and eagerly awaiting.

“So are you and that Nico an item yet?” Caroline asked as she took a sip of her tea with a splash of honey.

Seb couldn’t help but blush when confronted so directly like that. Or maybe it was because his mind kept going back to the night Nico gave himself to him. Lately, it happened every time he thought of him.

“Yes. Sort of.”

That earned an inquisitive look from her. Trust Caroline to sense when blood was in the water and pounce the moment she found a juicy little tidbit.

“Do I sense a little hesitation on your part?” she probed. “Things not turning out quite the way you expected?”

“No, nothing like that,” Seb said quickly.

Maybe even too quickly. “It’s just… I keep worrying whenever we’re apart.

As long as we’re together, I can just lose myself and have the time of my life, but as soon as we separate, I start to think about all sorts of terrible things.

I start to wonder if maybe he doesn’t really like me and if this is all just a game to him. ”

Caroline steepled her fingers together and watched him. “And why would it be a game? He seemed like a rather serious young man when we met.”

“Young man,” Seb laughed. “To you, yes, but to me, he’s impossibly older and more experienced. He knows so much about the world, so why would he just settle for me?”

He considered explaining the entire pretend boyfriend situation—if Seb could even call it that with all the intimate stuff he and Nico have been doing behind closed doors—but that felt too embarrassing to reveal.

He knew that she would call him foolish, and that would cut deeper than all the chastising his father could ever manage.

“Why indeed,” Caroline said blandly. “I don’t want your head to get too big, but you must know what a beautiful boy you are.”

If Seb had thought his cheeks were warm before, they were positively burning now.

“No, that’s not what I… I mean besides that. If he’s only with me because of the way I look, then I would feel terrible.”

“Well, that’s only natural,” Caroline replied easily. “Nobody would want that, but do you have any reason to think that Nico might just be with you for superficial reasons?”

Seb didn’t want to reveal too much to Caroline, partially because it embarrassed him and partially because he didn’t really want her to understand just how wealthy and powerful his father was.

If she found that out, then he felt like it would be impossible for them to connect and talk again.

Even if she already had some inkling about his background and status, it felt like an unspoken agreement between them not to discuss it explicitly.

“My father has suggested something like that,” Seb said carefully. “It makes me wonder if maybe this is all just a game to Nico, that he’s using me for fun. And the problem is that my father is often right.”

Caroline frowned. “Your father really came out and said that your boyfriend didn’t love you? Is he the sort to do that?”

“No, and that’s what makes it even worse,” Seb groaned, burying his face in his hands.

“He kept voicing his suspicions before I officially started dating Nico, but once I told him that we were together, he stopped. However, he hasn’t said he was wrong or anything, and when I tell him that I’m going out to see Nico, I can see it in his eyes.

He’s still got all the same concerns as before, but he’s just bottling them up now because he doesn’t want to hurt me.

” It wasn’t like the man to be silent at all.

Seb couldn’t shake off the feeling that his father might be up to something.

Caroline took another drink of her tea. “You really have a problem with assuming what other people are thinking, don’t you?”

Seb opened his mouth to disagree, but he really couldn’t.

“But I know that can be hard,” Caroline said, her voice much gentler now.

“We’re all afraid of getting hurt, so sometimes it’s easier to assume that people will let you down.

But let me tell you this: your dad isn’t the only one who often gets things right.

You don’t live to be as old as me without having an eye for good and bad apples, and after having as many kids and grandkids I’ve had, I think I know how to spot a rotten boyfriend.

Based on everything I know about Nico, both from meeting him and what you’ve told me, I think he really is into you.

You should see how he looks at you when you’re not looking. ”

Seb had thought that his cheeks couldn’t get any hotter. He had been wrong.

But Caroline did have a shred of mercy in her, so she dropped the subject there.

“Now, did I already tell you about the time my fool of a son went out and won the lottery?”