Everything

XXIX

I had a soft spot for Sebastian Haywood.

Having met the cheeky Brit for the first time when he came to visit Spencer at Columbia, I remember him walking down the corridor of our dorms, all rough around the edges, tattooed arms and blonde beard next to his clean cut brother.

No way could these guys be related. I remember thinking. But they both had that spark in their crystal clear blue eyes and that charming smile – they were brothers alright, and close at that.

Something else I remember was Sebastian's smart mouth.

From the very moment we met, he had always been playful and flirty. Spencer never liked it, and always gave his brother hell for it, but I'd always presumed it was out of some kind of over-protection for me as a friend. Spencer always assured me that it was all part of Seb's personality, a characteristic to be ignored.

But I liked it. I liked him. And I considered him a friend.

Now, he sat in our kitchen, slurping his vanilla milkshake, pausing every once in a while to dip his fries into it.

Having touched down in NYC this morning, Sebastian had rocked up on the front doorstep of the penthouse about three hours ago. It was Friday, and I'd taken the day to work from home on some case files that just wouldn't let up. That was the luxury of being a senior partner, I suppose.

As always, he was a whirlwind, abandoning his suitcase to engulf me in a huge bear hug, whispering a joke into my ear and then kissing my cheek hard. Still the same old funny, flirtatious Seb Haywood he'd always been.

Soon enough, he was sat at the breakfast bar, managing to twist my arm to order us in Shake Shack. And now we were sat next to each other, eating and drinking.

Of course, there was the huge elephant in the room – my relationship with Spencer.

He knew about our relationship. I knew about our relationship. I knew he knew about our relationship.

But neither of us had said anything.

"Sweetheart, you look stressed as hell. Did I say anything wrong?"

Sebastian's quizzical expression brought a smile to my face. Whatever opinion I'd had about the tattooed Brit, he'd always proved me wrong with his sensitive disposition. He was even more of a teddy bear than my Spencer.

"I'm just worried about Spencer." I murmured, unable to meet his gaze.

"I have a right mind to slap my little brother into next week when I next see him." He said, putting down his handful of fries, and wiping his mouth.

I couldn't help but pout, "Seb, it doesn't matter."

"Whatever he's done to you, you need to tell me." He fixed me with the trademark Haywood glare that made me sink down in my seat.

"Seb." I repeated, "It doesn't matter."

"Fine, Adriana," he nodded, "He's your boyfriend. So whatever relationship shit you've got going on, count me out. I just...I don't like seeing you upset, love. And I don't think my brother would either."

I shifted uncomfortably, he'd finally got down to it.

"I don't know whether he's my boyfriend anymore," I sighed, "We got in a fight. A big fight. Over my ex."

Seb's blue eyes widened, evidently surprised at this new information I was so liberally presenting him with, "You're kidding."

"Nope." My lips thinned, "I'd seen my ex, and not told him. It was business, Seb, you know how I have to do things, he's a District Attorney for goodness sake. But Spencer was pissed. Real pissed. And he won't talk to me. At least, not before he left. And the one time I tried to call him, it went to answerphone."