Page 163 of When We Ignite

“Got cocky,” I lied, rubbing my knuckles under my nose.

He gave me a scrutinizing look.

“You got him, E,” Henry said with an encouraging grin.

I glanced at Sebastian, who studied me.

He leaned in slightly, his voice low. “You know he has a weak left—throw him off.”

My dad and Henry both turned to him, surprised, but I nodded briskly.

The chair umpire called me back, and they left while Sebastian lingered for a second.

“Hey,” he said softly. “Stop worrying about us, pet. We’ve been talking about the stock market,” he added, his lips twitching into a smirk. “Win for me, and I’ll make it worth your while later.” He winked before walking off.

I couldn’t help but smile to myself as I headed back to the court.

The final set was tight, but I managed to pull out a win. My dad and Charlotte insisted on taking me out for a celebratory lunch, and I watched the Langley brothers leave, feeling a pang of disappointment at parting with Sebastian.

At the restaurant, my dad asked about them—how well I knew them, if I got along with them. I tried to keep my answers vague, especially when the subject drifted to my future, as it so often did.

When I returned to Sebastian’s place around four, I showered to wash away the exhaustion of the day. As I stepped out of the bathroom, towel slung low on my hips, I found him sitting on the bed, waiting.

I opened my mouth to ask why he was home so early, but he crossed the room in two strides, his lips capturing mine before I could get the words out. There was a strange urgency to the kiss, but I didn’t mind—it only pulled me deeper into him.

Later, when we were spent, Sebastian didn’t let me pull away. He kept his hands on me, tracing slow, languid patterns over my skin, his lips brushing kisses wherever they landed. When he finally had to move, he asked me to sit with him outside.

I sat with my back against his chest, sharing his cigarettes under the fading light of day.

It was quickly becoming a habit, one I knew I’d miss when this was over. That lingering scent of his cigarettes on my skin, the roughness of his beard as he pressed a kiss to my cheek. It was bittersweet, knowing these moments were short-lived. But for now, I let myself sink into them, feeling his warmth against my back and his steady breaths at my ear.

* * *

By Monday night, Sebastian had barely left for work the past few days, choosing to stay with me instead. But as our flight approached, I grew nervous—not because I wasn’t used to being alone with him, but because I could sense the weight he was carrying. Something was off. He wouldn’t talk about it, brushing off my questions with a tight smile, but the telltale tension in his jaw and the hard set of his brow told a different story.

Earlier that day, he’d come back to the apartment hours before he was supposed to, gone straight to the bar, and poured himself an oversized glass of whiskey.

Without saying a word, he stepped out to the terrace and chain-smoked five cigarettes in a row. I hesitated, giving him time to decompress, fully aware that if I interrupted too soon, we might end up fighting over nothing. When I finally joined him, he seemed slightly more relaxed. I sat beside him in silence until he pulled me close by his side.

On the plane, though, his silence returned.

He stared out the window, lost in thought, and I decided to give him space, wandering over to Aria instead.

“Are you working on something?” I asked, sliding into the seat next to her.

“Always am,” she replied, but she set her tablet down and leaned back.

At first, I’d thought she hated me—her texts had been polite, her demeanor cool—but over time, she’d softened. Now, it felt like we were slipping into friendship zone.

“You have a terrible boss,” I said with mock seriousness.

She chuckled. “Actually, I might be worse than him in that aspect.”

I glanced over at Sebastian. His brow was still furrowed, his fingers pressed against his lips as though mimicking the cigarettes he’d been holding earlier.

“You’re being smart about it,” Aria said, her voice low.

“What do you mean?”