Page 155 of When We Ignite

When Sebastian came home, he found us laughing and passing a joint on the terrace.

“I should’ve been more specific, shouldn’t I?” he said dryly, stopping in the doorway.

Henry and I both burst into laughter.

Sebastian shook his head and walked over to me.

“Hey.” I tugged on his tie to pull him down for a kiss.

His lips brushed mine slowly, his hand lingering at my waist. Sebastian sat down in another chair, his expression tighter than usual.

“How was work?” Henry asked, taking a lazy drag from the joint.

Sebastian shrugged, lighting a cigarette.

I glanced at my watch—quarter to six. “You’re really early,” I pointed out, rather stupidly. He probably knew that already. I pressed my lips together to stifle a laugh.

“I wasn’t in the mood to stay,” he said flatly.

Then I saw it—the taut line of his shoulders, the slight downward pull at the corners of his mouth. He was in a bad mood. Without thinking, I pushed up from my chair and climbed into his lap.

Sebastian’s eyebrows shot up, surprised, but I ignored it, leaning in to press a kiss to his jaw. His arms instinctively wrapped around my waist, holding me close.

“Do you want a smoke?” I offered.

Henry immediately snorted. “That’s one of Ash’s big no-nos,” he explained with a knowing smirk.

“What?”

“No drugs,” Sebastian said simply, taking a drag from his cigarette.

“Seriously? But the smoking, the drinking, the shopping…” I trailed off, genuinely confused.

Henry burst out laughing, and even Sebastian chuckled softly.

“That’sexactlywhy, darling. I don’t need to add to the list.”

“Shit. Are you mad I did?”

Sebastian shook his head and pressed a quick kiss to my cheek. “Not mad. You’re free to do as you like.”

“Well, I’m off,” Henry announced, slapping his thighs and standing. “I have an early flight, and you two are gettingveryclose,veryfast.”

He left with a wink, and I stayed curled up on Sebastian’s lap while he smoked quietly.

“Do you like Henry?”

“Yeah, I do. You know I do,” I replied, smiling to myself.

“You know what I mean.”

“I don’t like him like that. We’re friends. Why would you even think that?” I asked, sitting up to look at him properly.

“You seem really relaxed around him. You’ve known each other practically the same amount of time, and you have private jokes,” he said, his voice tinged with something I couldn’t quite place.

“Yeah, because we’re friends.” His bad mood was still lingering, and I didn’t want to stir it up further. “You and I have private jokes too. They’re just dirtier,” I added, flashing him a grin.

Sebastian chuckled, some of the tension easing. “Speaking of which,” he said, crushing his cigarette in the ashtray, “I have a surprise for you. Get up.”