“I’m nervous,” Jade proclaimed, sitting on the edge of the guest bed. “Why am I so nervous to meet Sebastian’s parents? They’re not even Dek’s parents.” She sighed heavily and flopped back onto the firm mattress with a thump. “This mattress is really firm.” She jammed against it with her elbow.

“Yeah.” I sat down next to her, folding a leg underneath me. “I slept in here when I first met him.” I looked around at the warm surroundings. “When I first stayed here, I had no idea that one day I would be back here and this would be my house. Life has a funny way of playing out, doesn’t it,” I declared, not so much as a question but more of an observation.

Jade placed her hand on my arm and rubbed up and down, knowing all too well the places where my head had been known to drift off to. “I don’t know, Brooke. Life may have thrown you a pretty nasty curve ball, but I think you’ve still managed to knock it out of the park. You have a man out there who looks at you with the kind of love that most people only dream about. You’re not second-guessing your decision to move out here, are you?”

“Oh no, not at all. But now that I’m out here, everything just seems so final, you know? Like I find myself wondering what just happened. I don’t know.” I dropped down next to her, twisting sideways to face her. “I’ve just never lived with a guy before; it’s going to be different.”

“Well, it won’t be anything like living with me, I’ll tell you that. Look at this place,”—she swept a hand over the room—“it’s practically spotless. Everything is a little too perfect for my taste. But I suppose you’ll fit right in. You always were a bit of a neat freak,” she teased.

“Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I couldn’t wait to leave. You’re a slob and I got tired of cleaning up after you.” I jabbed her in the side, and soon we were in an all out pillow fight, screaming hysterically. Dek and Sebastian appeared in the doorway, staring at us as if we had just sprouted two heads.

“Dude, it’s a catfight!” Dek howled, grinning from ear to ear.

“My money’s on Brooke,” Sebastian replied quickly.

“Why’s that? You think my girl can’t handle herself?”

“I didn’t say that, but I know my kitten. She’s a real tiger in the bedroom.” He smirked. Dek and Jade both turned to stare at me, neither one believing what they had just heard. I turned seven shades of red while they just laughed. Jade took that opportunity to pummel me with her pillow, catching me off guard and knocking me back onto the bed.

“One, two, three,”—Dek pounded the mattress—“my girl takes the title!” he yelled out, holding Jade’s arm over her head.

Sebastian leaned over and offered a hand to help me up, but instead of letting him pull me up, I yanked hard on his arm and pulled him down next to me. I raised up on one elbow and placed a kiss on the tip of his nose.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence, babe, but next time keep quiet.” I kissed him again. “You cost me that win. I think you and I ought to go a round or two with the pillows.”

He raised a hand and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “You’re on, but it’s going to have to wait until later.”

“And why is that? Are you chicken?” I nipped at his bottom lip, rolling the tender flesh loosely between my teeth.

“No, my mom’s expecting us.” He pulled me down, resting his mouth against my ear, whispering softly. “Besides, the only pillow fighting I intend to do is going to take place in our bedroom, and it doesn’t involve an audience.” My mouth fell open, and he pecked it once more, giving me a jaunty wink and hopping off the bed, barely managing to dodge my foot as it kicked out after him.

* * *

SEBASTIAN

It’s taken no time at all for Brooke to settle into a routine at the house. The first week seemed to fly by, what with all of her unpacking and Jade keeping us company. Dek practically lived with us while Jade was in town. Hell, I couldn’t blame him. I remembered all too well how I had felt after spending that first week with Brooke. My entire focus had been getting the most out of the time we still had together. Dek took her out every day, sparing no expense, but her favorite thing to do had been to lay with him on the beach, just like Brooke and I had found ourselves doing not six months ago.

The day Jade left for the airport was pretty emotional, for both Brooke and Dek. We rode with them to the airport, and it had taken every ounce of strength I had to force Dek back into the car and leave. He moped the entire ride back to the house, mumbling something about his heart no longer belonging to him, and once we pulled into the drive, he hopped out and immediately got into his car and peeled out, leaving Brooke and me to shake our heads.

“I remember that hurt all too well. Poor guy.” I sighed heavily, wishing like hell that I could convince him it would get easier, but knowing I couldn’t. Hell, it hadn’t gotten any easier for me until the day I arrived at her door to load up her stuff and bring her home with me.

“Oh, baby, I’m sorry it was hard for you. It was hard for me too, but we survived.” She laced her hands with mine and gave me a wet kiss, trying her best to draw me back into the here and now.

“Barely.” I shuddered, recalling that empty feeling I had pulling away from the airport, knowing that in a few hours she would be more than a thousand miles away. She kissed me again, and I smiled, grateful we had survived those long months of a long distance relationship.

“You’ll have to keep encouraging him. She’s crazy about him. I hope he knows that.”

“It’s not always easy, being apart from someone you love.”

“I know.” She placed her cheek against my chest and wrapped her delicate arms around my middle. “But she saw how we were able to make it work, so there is reason for her to have hope.”

“You’re just about the best thing I could have every hoped for, you know that?” I ran my knuckles along her cheek before I lifted her chin so her eyes met mine. “I love you so much, Brooke Caldwell. Thank you for turning your life upside down for me.”

“Didn’t I ever tell you,”—she grinned wickedly—“I spent most of my formative years hanging upside down on the monkey bars. I’ve got this.” She winked, and the only response I could muster was to laugh. I could tell right away that we were going to have a lot of fun together, now that the stress of having to part again was out of the way.

“Seriously, though.”—he pressed her palm to my chest—“we need to make sure to invite him over often. I don’t like the thought of him being alone.”

“Do you think Jade will be okay? Not only did she walk away from him today, but she lost you too. That can’t have been easy for her.”

“I’m sure it wasn’t, but Jade is tough. Hell, she and I are both tough, a lot tougher than you sappy rock stars.” She poked me in the stomach and, after tolerating it the first few times, I jerked back out of her reach and bent down to scoop her up.

“Put me down,” she gasped as I ran out the back door toward the water. “No way, Sebastian, do not throw me into that water!” she screamed, just as I sank both of us beneath the surface. When we both came up for air with her still in my arms, I pushed the wet tangles off her face and smiled innocently.

“What was that you were saying about sappy rock stars?” Her response cut short as my mouth covered hers, and together we became a tongue-tangled, dripping wet mess. Which, in my honest opinion, was the best kind of mess there was.

* * *

A few weeks later were hanging out in the man cave, watching a movie and just chilling. Brooke had made spaghetti Carbonara, making sure to throw in a little extra bacon since we both have a deep affection for it, and homemade vanilla ice cream for dessert. I joked and told her that if she kept cooking that way for me, I would gain twenty pounds and wouldn’t be able to perform on stage. In her quick wit, she responded by telling me to intensify my jogging routine, meaning that I should get used to it. I guess that could be considered both a positive and negative to living with a chef. The movie plot had begun to get intriguing, and she had just settled comfortably in the crook of my arm when her phone rang.

“I have to take this. It’s Max.” She looked up from the screen, patted me on the hand, and stood up to head away from the noise of the action packed movie. “Hey, Max, it’s good to hear your voice too.” Her voice trailed off as she made her way down the hall and out of earshot. She came back thirty minutes later and stood before me, wringing her hands together, with a strange look on her face.

“Babe, what’s up?” I tilted my head, acutely aware that her mood had shifted.

“He wants me to go to London with him this week.” Her voice was shaky and very un-Brooke like. Normally, she was rock solid and completely confident, and I loved that about her. But this, this Brooke reminded me of the way she was when we first met, a touch wary and very much in need of encouragement.

“That sounds exciting.” I smiled, trying my best to remain positive. “London is beautiful. Have you ever been?” She shook her head. “Did he say why he wanted you to join him?” Brooke had only been working with him for two weeks, but in that time she had proven herself worthy of his trust. Not only had she been able to come in and garner her staff’s trust, but she had also suggested a few changes that had been implemented and received positive results. At one time, Max Wolf had been a commanding presence in the kitchen of his Los Angeles establishment. As with most accomplished chefs who decide to branch out and open more locations, he became less and less of a permanent fixture in L.A. and was required to spend a lot more time traveling between sites. There were currently five locations where Lardon’s had expanded to Los Angeles, Seattle, New York, Atlanta, and London. The location in London had only been open for four months, but the launch had been rocky, and the concept hadn’t been received as well as Max had hoped. These challenges had required Max to spend a great deal of time over there.

“I’ll only be gone a week,” she said encouragingly, more for her own benefit. “When do you leave?”

“The tour kicks off in three weeks, but we leave a few days before that.” I opened up the calendar app on my phone and checked my schedule. “We fly out on the nineteenth.”

“And your birthday party is on the fifteenth,” she reminded me.

“Oh, yeah, I forgot about that,” I said, jokingly.

“Sebastian Miles!” She punched me playfully in the arm. “I’ve been planning this for two weeks. Everyone’s going to be there.”

“Easy there, Brooklyn,” I grunted, dodging her tiny fist. “I promise I’ll be there too. Now, come over here. I think you could use one of my special hugs.” I lifted her up, drawing her closer to me. A sigh escaped her lips as my arms encircled her, pulling us closer together, chest to chest, where our hearts beat together as one. “Everything’s going to be fine, baby.”