Chapter 46

CHAPTER46

“Wait,” Jonathan said, licking his lips nervously as he watched Sebastian grab another roll of masking tape and shoved it in his backpack, “I think we should talk about this.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Sebastian said as he reached for the rope, only to decide against it and grabbed the flashlight instead.

“I feel like there’s a lot to talk about,” Jonathan said, sending another panicked look back towards their house.

Shaking his head, Sebastian said, “I’m done playing this game,” as he double-checked to make sure the flashlight still worked.

“Look, I can help you,” Jonathan said with a helpless gesture towards the house, “let’s just go back inside and figure out another plan that doesn’t consist of you listening to the voices in your head.”

“I like this plan better,” Sebastian said, shrugging it off as he shoved the flashlight in his bag to join the rest of the supplies that he was going to need to pull this off.

Licking his lips nervously, Jonathan glanced back at the house again before he looked at him and shook his head as he said, “I can’t let you do this.”

Nodding, Sebastian dropped his bag on the floor and reached for a roll of duct tape. “I had a feeling that you were going to say that.”

* * *

“The hell with him,”Mikey said while she lay there glaring at her alarm clock, noting that it was now officially two o’clock in the morning and the boy who should be here making everything better was nowhere to be found.

But that was fine.

More than fine.

In fact, Mikey didn’t want him here because if he was here, then she wouldn’t be able to seethe in peace. After the day she had, she deserved to be able to seethe in peace and having Sebastian here holding her and kissing the back of her head would only ruin that. She didn’t want him here and if he crawled through her window to do all those things that she liked when she was upset, she would tell him that.

Nodding to herself because that’s how much she didn’t want Sebastian to hold her, Mikey intensified her glare as she lay there, praying for his sake that he didn’t sneak into her room. It wouldn’t end well for him.

Not at all.

She’d have to kick him out, which, of course, would end with him crying and she really didn’t want to have to do that to him. So, really, it was in his best interest not to come here tonight, Mikey decided with a firm nod as she grabbed hold of her covers and shoved them away so that she could go march over there and tell him that she didn’t want him here.

Decision made, Mikey moved to do just that when she saw it, the crazed teenage boy standing in the corner and-

“Why are you pointing a flashlight at your face?” Mikey found herself wondering as she watched Sebastian Bradford, her best friend, neighbor, and the teenage boy who’d clearly lost his mind, push away from the wall and-

“Is that a roll of masking tape in your hand?” Mikey asked, swallowing hard as she watched Sebastian absently nod as he tossed the flashlight on her bed, making it light up the room so that she could watch as he took his time ripping a piece of masking tape off the roll.

“That’s what it looks like,” Sebastian said, shrugging it off while Mikey sat there, really struggling not to panic as her gaze darted to her bedroom door and-

“You’ll never make it,” Sebastian said, sounding bored as he tossed his bag on the bed to join the flashlight.

“I know,” Mikey mumbled weakly, swallowing hard as she slowly, ever so slowly, moved closer to the edge of the bed, never taking her eyes off the teenage boy who had clearly lost his mind since the last time that she saw him and-

“I didn’t want to have to do it this way, but honestly, I think it’s for the best,” Sebastian said conversationally as though he wasn’t currently slapping a piece of masking tape over her mouth.

Keeping her legs gently pinned beneath his, Sebastian tossed the roll of masking tape on her bed and grabbed his bag while she lay there seething in ways that she’d never seethed before. “I actually saw this playing out in my head differently, but I think this is better, don’t you?”

When she frantically shook her head, Sebastian nodded as though she’d happily agreed with him. “I considered using zip ties, but that seemed a bit much to me,” he murmured absently, making her eyes widen as they shot to his bag in time to watch him pull out several strips of what she was guessing had once been a sheet and began securing her wrists together.

“I could have used rope, I suppose, but I think this works,” Sebastian said conversationally as he finished securing her hands together before he shifted his attention to her legs.

For a moment, he debated his options as her gaze flickered to her door, willing Reese to come back in here with another excuse simply so that she could call him ‘Daddy,’ which she had to admit pleased her greatly. He’d really taken the news that she didn’t want to be adopted better than she’d thought he would, Mikey thought only to frown when some slight jostling drew her attention back to the problem at hand.

The psychotic boy who would be forced to live in fear after this day, wondering if this was the day that she hunted him down and-

Tore a grunt from her once he finished securing her ankles together and sliding her feet into her bunny slippers before he pulled her off the bed so that he could throw her over his shoulder like she didn’t weigh anything. She was definitely going to hobble him, Mikey decided, nodding against his back as he carried her to the window and after some jostling, he shifted her off his back and handed her off to-

Braxton?

“Everything’s there,” Braxton said, shifting her in his arms as he stepped back so that Sebastian could finish climbing out of the window.

“Jonathan?” Sebastian asked, taking her from the teenage boy ignoring her glare.

“Still chewing through his gag, but Elizabeth’s keeping an eye on him,” Braxton explained as he shrugged it off like it was the most normal thing in the world.

“I owe you one,” Sebastian said as he made his way to the edge of the roof and-

Tore a muffled scream from her when he suddenly released her. Willing her heart to stop slamming against her chest, Mikey shot a terrified look at Mathew as he adjusted her in his arms and-

“It never would have worked out between us,” he said with a sad shake of his head, making her frown in confusion as he handed her back to Sebastian as soon as his feet hit the ground.

“She does seem devastated by the news,” Sebastian said as he threw her over his shoulder.

“She does, doesn’t she?” Mathew murmured as she glared at Sebastian’s back.

He was going to pay for this, Mikey decided with a firm nod, only to end up swallowing hard when he started moving. Really wishing that he hadn’t gagged her so that she could talk him out of doing whatever it was that he was doing, she began debating her escape plans.

She could wiggle her way to freedom, but since that would end with her falling face-first on the driveway that he was currently carrying her over, Mikey decided that it would probably be in her best interest if she waited for him to set her down before she made her move. She-

“Now, where were we?” Sebastian asked as he made his way to the road.

“Ew er ettin ee oh,” Mikey mumbled against the tape currently covering her mouth.

“Jonathan said that I should just tell you, but I really didn’t want to take that risk and since there was a chance that his follow-up advice would have ended with you breaking my nose, I decided to bide my time, which is why I’ve been working my ass off so much,” Sebastian explained, somehow managing to confuse her even more.

“For the past few months, I’ve been debating how I was going to pull this off. It probably wouldn’t have taken me this long, but I know how much you like to be spoiled,” Sebastian continued, leaving her with no choice but to nod in agreement since being spoiled was her weakness.

“I considered asking you to the gala, but that just didn’t work for me,” Sebastian said, making her swallow hard. “I also considered paying for your training camp and telling you over dinner, but your parents already paid for it. That’s when I figured out the perfect plan, which, unfortunately, left me with no choice but to grab more hours wherever I could,” he explained as she turned her head and spotted signs for the park.

“It took some time, but I managed to get my hands on tickets for a Yankees-Red Sox game at Fenway,” Sebastian said, instantly making her perk up at the promise of a baseball game, that is, until he followed that up with, “But that’s really not going to work for me since the game’s in September.”

And just like that, she was back to glaring again.

“I was going to drag this on until then, but after today, I decided that this has gone on for long enough,” Sebastian said with a heavy sigh, and with that, he carefully placed her down on a bench and had her swallowing hard as she took in the scene before her. While he pulled the cloth strips off her ankles and wrists, Mikey took in the candles forming a circle around the pitcher’s mound, the white rose petals sprinkled over the mound and-

“What are we doing here?” Mikey asked as soon as the tape was pulled off her mouth.

“To get that dance that you owe me,” Sebastian said as he took her hand in his and gave it a gentle tug that had her standing up so that he could lead her to the mound.

“And what dance is that exactly?” Mikey asked as she watched him place his phone on the ground seconds before her favorite song began playing.

“This one,” Sebastian said as he pulled her into his arms.

“You hate dancing,” she felt obligated to point out.

“Not with you,” Sebastian said, making her smile as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

Leaning down, he kissed her forehead and-

“I still want those tickets.”

-felt his lips pull up into a smile against her forehead.

“Of course you do,” Sebastian said, sighing heavily as he pulled her closer. “You really are a pain in my ass.”

“And you adore me,” Mikey said, closing her eyes as she felt herself relax in his arms, only to swallow hard when he murmured, “More than you’ll ever know.”

For a long time, neither one of them spoke as song after song played while she let herself enjoy this moment. When she felt him pull away from her sometime later, Mikey opened her eyes to find him watching her, his gaze softening as he ran the back of his knuckles gently along her jaw and-

“We should get you home before your parents realize you’re gone,” Sebastian said softly, his gaze dropping to her lips before he cleared his throat and stepped away, leaving her biting back a disappointed sigh.

Neither one of them said a word as they took care of the candles and started making their way home. While they walked, Mikey found herself thinking about training camp and how excited she was to go, only to realize just how much she was going to miss him. As he walked her to the back of her house, Mikey thought about the way that he looked at her right before he stepped away and told herself that some things just weren’t meant to be.

“Goodnight, Mikey,” Sebastian said as Mikey opened her mouth only to mumble, “Goodnight,” as she forced herself to turn around, repeating all the lies that she’d been telling herself for a while now only to swallow hard when she felt Sebastian’s hand wrap around hers and give it a gentle tug that had her turning around and-

“God, you’re beautiful,” Sebastian whispered reverently as he cupped her face in his hands, his eyes searching hers as he leaned down and tore a soft sigh from her as he brushed his lips against hers, giving her the perfect first kiss.

He brushed his lips against hers once, twice, and then, he was pulling away with a murmured, “Goodnight, Mikey,” as he stepped away, leaving Mikey standing there, trying to remember how to breathe as she watched him walk away.