Page 81 of The Sun & Her Burn

“How do you give someone a heart that has already been claimed and broken?” he asked with raw sincerity. “How do you know if the pieces left inside your chest are even good enough to share?”

“Is this about Adam or Savannah?” I asked baldly because even though I wanted to fixate on the “me” part of the equation, his eyes were too haunted to focus on that.

“Both,” he admitted with a truncated shrug. “I spoke with Savannah a few days ago. After so many years, I think…I think the hope I harbored is finally dead.”

I nodded slowly, processing the tangible grief in the room. “Okay. I’m so sorry, Seb. I won’t lie and say I think she was ever good enough for you, but I hate that you’re hurting.”

Absently, he rubbed at his chest as if to soothe the ache behind his breastbone. “Me, too, I think.”

I chewed on my lower lip, twirled a silver ring around my finger, and took the plunge. “Take your time to mourn. But remember, losing someone can mean you have room in your heart for someone new. Someone who might love you better than she ever did or the ghost she became for so many years.”

“I hope that’s true,” he murmured, finally stalking forward like a runner off the starting line to haul me into his arms.

It was just a hug. His strong arms wrapped around me so tight I couldn’t quite breathe, his nose against my neck, his mouth hot on my collarbone. But it was the most intimate embrace I’d ever had. I held him close, hands shifting through the crisp waves of his raven-black hair.

Incrementally, he relaxed into my hold.

It reminded me of hugging Adam, how on guard he’d been at first, how hard it must have been to trust me enough to hold him.

Sebastian and Adam were two very different men, but they shared one vital characteristic. They both felt so much that they often didn’t know what to do with it or who to trust with it.

I decided then and there that it would be my life’s mission to be that person for them both.

The door banged open suddenly, Rozhin stepping through and coming to a sudden stop at the sight of me tangled up with a man who was decidedly not the blond-haired Adonis known as Adam Meyers.

My supposed boyfriend.

We locked eyes over Sebastian’s back, and her jaw flopped open.

Seb stepped back casually and turned to face her, his charming smile spreading smoothly across his features.

“Hello,” he said in that rich, sexy accent. “You must be Rozhin.”

Ro, who had never been dumbstruck a day in her life, blinked back at him.

“Linnea has told me a lot about you,” he continued easily, stepping forward to offer his hand. “It’s good to know she’s had a friend in her corner while she’s been in town. It’s lovely to meet you.”

“Lovely,” she echoed, swaying to the side to meet my eyes and widen hers comically before she extended her hand to him. “Lovely to meet you too, Sebastian Lombardi.”

Seb chuckled. “Sebastian is fine.”

“Sure, sure,” Ro agreed, still holding his hand. “Uh, what are you doing back here with Lins?”

He moved slightly to angle his body so he could shoot me a wink. “I haven’t seen my best friend in a few days, and I missed her. I’m sorry to intrude on your workspace.”

My best friend.

Even though that wasn’t exactly what I wanted from him, hearing Seb call me something so intimate made my blood warm as if I’d swallowed distilled sunshine.

“Any time,” Ro said, finally recovering enough to bat her lashes at him. “In fact, you should come by more often.”

“Ro,” I murmured, a flash of possessiveness clutching my chest. “Behave.”

Ro stuck her tongue out at me, making Sebastian laugh.

“I should get back to my family, anyways,” he said. “But I was hoping you might join us for a drink,trottolina? I would like to introduce you to my family.”

It was my turn to blink dumbly back at him.