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It’s been an hour and I’m still not any closer to figuring out what the sculpture is supposed to be, which is strange for Sebas—the medium is his style, but nothing else matches his usual results.

“You’ve told me plenty,” I mutter drily .

“And you still haven’t told me what Liam wrote back,” he snaps.

I look back just so he doesn’t miss my eye roll. “You haven’t told me what this is.” I gesture to the metal shape that could be anything from a giraffe to a futuristic car. “And Liam hasn’t replied,” I state more quietly.

I’m hoping he’s just taking some time to process like me, but the worry that he’s going to ghost me and forget about me is very real.

“He’ll answer. He’s a good person, and he’s probably just reeling and trying to figure out how to absorb what happened,” Sebas tells me, sounding alarmingly rational. “And this is my blob.”

“Blob?” I demand, stepping back so we’re shoulder to shoulder. I’m not going to focus on the other thing.

“Yes, I had a bunch of leftovers and I just started welding them together wherever I felt like it, and this is the end result.”

“It’s beautiful in its own way,” I admit. “And it’ll definitely get people talking, but if you want to sell it then you need to assign it some type of meaning.”

“The meaning is happiness, dummy,” he drawls and slaps at my shoulder.

“I made this to make myself happy while Dani was fussy last week and wouldn’t fall asleep unless she could see me, so I brought her up to my studio, put her in her playpen, and just got to work.

She was as fascinated as me,” he adds proudly, then promptly deflates.

“Until the sleep won over and she practically fell on her face.”

I look at the... blob again, and seeing it with that in mind, I notice the detailed welding with new eyes .

“Then the name is blob of happiness?” I ask, not angry at the prospect.

“No!” Sebas shouts and stomps his foot like he’s trying to teach Dani. “The name is peaceful happiness, thank you very much.”

I think about it while staring some more, then nod. “I guess that’s just as well. Let’s price it and get another stand from the back.”

After that, our workday becomes a lot more efficient, and we even get some good foot traffic at noon. When Sebas says goodbye to the group of five women, one of whom purchased a painting of a beautiful meadow in bloom, I’m surprised when the door opens again less than a minute later.

Then I’m not.

“What do you want?” I growl at Dirk.

“Why so hostile?” he asks with his evil smirk. “Did my presence make things difficult for you?”

It did and it didn’t.

It made me respect Liam more for how he stood up for himself, and it brought us closer, but I hate the way this arsehole hurt him and used him for years.

He used love against Liam, and that’s unforgivable in my eyes.

His attitude doesn’t help in any way.

“The stupid act suits you,” I tell him more calmly. “But you’re not welcome here, so why don’t you run along and go back to your irrelevant life?” I flick my fingers at the door.

Just like last night, his face begins to flush an unattractive dark red .

“You’re no one,” he snaps at me. “You don’t have the authority to say I’m not welcome here.”

“Oh, he does,” Sebas says from behind me, and I wonder briefly if it’s wrong to enjoy how much anticipation there is in his eyes.

He’s been dealing with people throwing themselves at Adam for eight years now, and he’s never been afraid to cut a bitch.

“But I’m the owner if that makes you feel better, and I can confirm that you, grave robber, are not welcome here. ”

Dirk’s mouth drops open at Sebas, and I can’t hold the snicker in.

“What?” he hisses at me then. “You’ve been talking about me to your boss?” He tries to pull off a pitying look, but he’s not that great an actor.

“I’ve been talking about you to any influential person I know?—”

“Which is a lot,” Sebas interrupts helpfully.

“And Sebas also happens to be a very good friend.” I thoroughly enjoy how my words hit him, and he’s not looking so good then.

Then the glass doors open.

“Oh, the grave robber,” CJ says, calm as a lake as he walks through the door. We’re all surprised to see him—I have no clue what he’s doing here since he’s supposed to be spending the day with Wolf and his aunt’s family—but I can’t think about it more because I have to enjoy the show.

More specifically, the way Dirk’s face reddens again.

“Will you stop calling me that?” he hisses, turning to look at each of us .

“You literally brought this on yourself,” Sebas says, no compassion in his words.

“What do you want?” CJ asks, and then doesn’t give him time to answer. “Is he here to buy something?” he asks, looking at Sebas.

I roll my eyes at them.

“No,” Sebas starts, but Dirk interrupts him.

“What do you care?” he snaps at CJ.

I can’t help how my eyebrows rise when CJ puts on his ruthless socialite mask.

I recognize it well since I went to school with about a hundred boys who were raised with the same privilege as him—not as much money, but aristocrats like to believe they’re untouchable, and they are more than often not.

“I care very much when scum decides they have any right to talk to my best friend, especially when they’re not kind.”

Damn, I do wish I could use my voice as a lethal weapon to people’s pride.

“Especially when the scum decides it’s also a good idea to be unnecessarily vicious and vindictive to the kindest man my boyfriend has ever known.”

Recognition hits Dirk’s eyes then; I see the second it happens. He realizes who he’s talking to now, and he can do nothing but stutter as CJ takes a slow step closer and leans down.

“You’ve shown us who you are, Dick, so there’s no changing your tune now. Run along, and you better pray you never meet me again.”

I love my friends.

Dirk leaves just a few seconds later, and then CJ brings up last night’s conversation and my reprieve from feeling like an asshole is over.

For the rest of the day all I can think about is Liam’s silence and I barely get to process any of my feelings.

If I want to be able to have an honest and productive conversation with Liam in a few days, then I have to actually know what I’m going to tell him. What I feel. What I want.

I know one thing I want, and that’s him in my life.

So whatever I decide regarding that kiss, I at least know I’m going to do everything in my power to be his friend.

That is . . . if he’ll have me.