Look After Me (47 page)

I can hear the distinct sounds of my sister sniffling and I know without a doubt that she’s crying. “When did my big brother get so grown up?”

I give a trembling smile. “I don’t know. I guess going to two different rehabs in one year is finally paying off.”

The line goes quiet for a moment before Grace says in a soft meaningful voice, “I’m proud of you.”

“Are you really? Because you were about ready to kick my ass.”

She laughs. “I was but that doesn’t mean I was any less proud of you.”

“Thank you. That means a lot.”

“You know, if you want, I can fly to California and kick Addison’s ass for hurting you.”

I manage yet another smile while shaking my head at her protectiveness over me. “I’m laughing on the inside, really I am, but the scary thing is, I don’t even think you’re joking.”

“I’m not. I may be small, but I can kick ass when needed.”

“I know, you learned from the best, but honestly, it’s not needed. She didn’t hurt me. I only hurt myself by realizing too late how I felt about her. And now I have to live with the consequences. This one is all on me.”

Once the taxi finally pulls up outside my apartment complex, I hand the driver a fifty and exit. As I’m still talking idly to my sister on the phone, I make my way inside and drag my tiresome body towards the elevators. Once the elevator stops at my floor, I step out and freeze.

I can hear Grace chattering away down the phone, but I don’t hear a single word that is said as my eyes take in the perfection that is Addison.

“Hi,” she greets and I almost drop to my knees at the impact of the one single word. I can’t believe she’s here, in Seattle, in front of my apartment, looking as beautiful as ever.

“Um, Grace, I need to call you back.”

“Is everything okay?”

I smile as I keep my eyes trained on Addison, who stays seated on the floor looking up at me with a matching smile. “Everything is, um . . .” I heavily gulp. “Everything is perfect. I—” I laugh lightly. “Addison is here. So yeah, I’ve got to go.” I don’t give Grace a chance to answer before I hang up.

I step towards Addison, helping her up to her feet. “What are you doing here? And more importantly, how did you get here before me?”

“I used one of my dad’s jets.”

I laugh. “Of course you did.” My smile turns serious. “You didn’t turn up.”

“That’s because I was on my way back to Seattle. I quit my job.”

I blink harshly as I take in her words. “You quit your job?”

She nods gently before taking a closer step towards me. “Yes. I didn’t even have to think about it. It was instinct. I was given the choice of a life with you or a life without you and there could only ever be one choice, and that choice is you. It’s not even a contest. You win hands down.”

“And what about Devin?”

“You want to know who I was thinking about moments before you came into my office yesterday? You. I was thinking about you because there isn’t a moment since I’ve met you that I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you. Devin was just a distraction. A distraction to help me from missing you but obviously it seems the only person who could help me from missing you, was
you.
” Her petite fingers rest against my cheek. “Sebastian, he’s nothing. At least nothing compared to you.” Then with a knowing smile she says, “When I look at my future, you’re the only one I see standing beside me holding my hand—the one I grow old and gray with. I want to experience my life with you. I want
you
until my last dying breath. You, Sebastian, are my fucking
everything.
”

I smile at my words being recited from her beautiful mouth. Who knew I could be so good with words?

“You’re the only person who matters to
me
—the only person who will ever matter to me. I quit my job because I don’t want to live the rest of my life without you. I can get a counseling job anywhere in the world, but I can only have one
you,
and a job isn’t worth the sacrifice.”

I laugh breathlessly as I take in every inch of her pretty face, still marveled to find her standing in front of my door when two minutes earlier I’d thought she didn’t want to be with me. It’s surprising how a couple of minutes can change your life in an instant.

“Couldn’t you have said all this last night? I thought you’d given up on us. You just about broke my heart.”

Addison smoothes her hands up against my chest and rests her right hand lightly over my heart, which beats heavier at her touch. “I’m sorry but all I could think about was coming home to you. I could have come to the hotel room, but I guess . . .” She gives me a playful smile. “I had this
romantic notion
of turning up at your door and seeing the shocked look on your face when I told you I loved you. But it seems I got here too early.” I grin, not missing the irony of her words.

“Well, tell me now.”

“What, that I love you?” She smiles with a hint of confusion.

“Yes, tell me that you love me. Because I’m barely hanging on by a thread here, and I need to hear you say it. There is only so much I can cope with. I need you to put me out of my misery before I lose my mind,” I say, my voice straining with trembling vulnerability.

“Sebastian,” Addison begins, her eyes piercing mine with a look of love that’s almost spell bounding. “I love you.”

Through tear filled eyes, I take her face in my hands and tilt her head up to look at me. My thumbs gently caress over her flushed cheeks. “I love you too.” I lean forward and press my lips to hers. We momentarily lose ourselves within the kiss, a kiss that makes everything else disappear into the distance.

Addison is the first to pull away, and I chuckle when the words, “Oh wow,” whimper from her mouth.

“That good, huh?”

“Oh definitely. It’s probably, by far, the best kiss I’ve ever had.”

“Probably the best?” I ask, one eyebrow raised.

“
The
best,” she confirms

“So, are we really doing this?”

She nods, smiling lightly. “We’re really doing this. But I should tell you one thing.”

My heart drops. “And what’s that?” I ask hesitantly.

“Well, since I up and left my job, and abandoned my condo, I’m kind of homeless right now. Would you mind if I stayed with you for a little while until I find a new place?”

I breathe a sigh of relief. “Yes, but on one condition. You move in with me instead.”

Her mouth gapes open, and it takes her a full minute of opening and closing her mouth, and stuttering incoherent babble before she manages to find her tongue. “Move in with you? Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious. I’ve already lost two months without you. I can’t bear to lose anymore. Move in with me. I want you to be the first person I see when I wake, and the last person I see before I sleep. I want the place to be filled with your girly crap. I want to spend every night snuggled up on the couch, watching crap films on Netflix—even though I’ll probably end up watching you instead.” I chuckle. “I want to share the same toothbrush holder and shower in the same shower. I want you in my bed, and in my arms every night. Watching you walk away from me almost killed me, and to witness you walk away every single night will just be torture. I don’t want goodnights to be the thing that separates us or the reason why I miss you. I want you here, with me, all of the time. Please say yes. Please just say yes.”

Everything switches to slow motion as she leaves me hanging on the edge, waiting for the answer that has my heart nearing towards cardiac arrest. After a few more seconds of excruciating waiting, she finally puts me out of my misery and says in a sob filled voice, “Yes. I’ll move in with you.”

Sliding my hands through the soft strands of her brunette hair, I slam my lips onto hers. The moment our lips connect, the missing puzzle piece of my life seemingly slides back into place and for the first time in my life, I finally feel complete. And it’s down to this one woman here.

My
lifeline.

My
counselor.

My
everything.

Four Months Later

IT HASN’T BEEN AN easy year with its constant battles and temptation after temptation. But somehow, through my strength and courage, I’ve managed to curb my addiction and I’m now officially one year sober.

I suffered through a lot of pain this year, pain that I almost didn’t survive. Cocaine was the bane of my life. It took away every essence of my humanity and changed me into a drug-fueled monster who was careless and reckless. It was a darkness I never thought I’d be able to rise above.

Addison is my strength and courage. Without her, my beautiful and wonderful guardian angel, I wouldn’t be the man I am today. She is the reason I’m able to celebrate such an incredible landmark. I’d hate to think where my life would be if it weren’t for Addison. Without her guidance and unconditional love, I’d probably be six feet under by now. But thankfully, she appeared when I needed somebody the most and helped me turn my life around. Addison was the person who was able to look after me when I wasn’t able to look after myself. She also made me believe in love again, something I never thought I would feel after Ava. But miraculously, this love is even stronger. That’s not to say I didn’t love Ava because I did; it was a love that almost destroyed me. But Addison . . .

She’s the
one.

Just as Ashton is Ava’s.

I’ve come a long way to see their love for what it is. It’s a love that is as natural as breathing. I’m
almost
thankful Ava cheated on me because if she hadn’t then I wouldn’t have met Addison, and a life without Addison isn’t even worth thinking about.

Twelve months ago I was convinced I was destined for a life of darkness and loneliness, but Addison is the proof that in order to get to the rainbow, you have to deal with a little rain. And only now can I be grateful for the rain because, without it, I would never have been graced with the Holy Grail that came in the form of my counselor.

They say things happen for a reason, and I believe Ava’s infidelity was inevitable in order for Addison to come into my life. Hell, I thought I knew what love was, but it seems the love I had for Ava was just a drop in the ocean compared to what I feel for Addison.

Addison.

We’ve been living together for four months now and I couldn’t be happier. When I first rented this place, I was a bachelor trying to get adjusted to the single life, but it was always missing something. Something I wasn’t able to put my finger on until the moment Addison first walked over the threshold of
our
home. Then I felt my entire world shift.

She
was what was missing.

My sweet, sexy, and beautiful Addison.

Immediately the place was filled with love and it was mind-blowing. She turned my bachelor pad into a home. When Addison walked inside my Seattle apartment, I was engulfed with a déjà vu sensation of being back in my childhood home; a home where I spent the first eighteen years of my life. That’s when I realized that it wasn’t the house that made it into the home, but it was my family. Materialistic things simply don’t matter when you have a family that love you, and Lily and Addison are my family. They’re all that matter. And now that I have Lily for three nights a week, it makes my life feel even more complete. I no longer feel like a part-time dad. I finally feel like the father that my daughter truly deserves.

Lily.

She’s incredible. She’s happy and healthy.

Perfect.

Lily absolutely adores Addison. The moment I introduced them, they were best friends. I’d been worried since Lily can be a little fussy with new people, but Addison has a natural aura that makes it impossible not to like her. I’d felt it the moment I’d laid eyes on her—well, more specifically, on
her ass.

I find it amusing how I spent months telling Addison that she could never have my heart, that it was broken beyond repair, when all along she was stitching it up, repairing it bit by bit. My heart was always destined to be hers, it just took me a while to figure it out. And now that I have, I’m well and truly whipped—but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

My eyes are currently fucking the hell out of her as I watch her making breakfast while wearing my t-shirt.
Only
my t-shirt. Damn she’s sexy. She’s at the stove, making her incredible French toast, with her peachy ass on show. Her
bare
peachy ass.

“Are you perving on me again?” I hear Addison ask without turning and I chuckle.

“No. I’m just admiring the view,” I say, leaning my elbows on the breakfast bar and shifting forward to get a better look. My eyes take in her toned legs until they’re traveling upwards, stopping on her ass again. She looks over her shoulder, her eyes smiling.

“Do you like what you see?” she questions flirtatiously, and the mere words have my cock standing to attention.

Biting back a groan, I say, “I love what I see. But you want to know what I love more?”

She turns the stove off. “What’s that?” She smiles.

“You. In my t-shirt. Making breakfast. It makes me want to eat
you
for breakfast.”

Her breath hitches and I can see the way her nipples pebble through my t-shirt at the sound of my seductive words. She bites down on her bottom lip as I get to my feet and stalk over to her. I swoop my arms around her waist, my lips on her neck and pull her into me, thrusting my erection against her ass. Her entire body trembles at my touch, and through a breathless exhale her bare ass pushes further onto my cock, causing my length to jerk at the sensation. My tongue traces over the sweet spot along her neck before I suckle against her, marking her skin with my lips. She lets out a shuddering moan and I smile against her scorching hot skin, enjoying the way she reacts to the feel of my lips against her body.