quietly. His thumb rubbed over the tail of one that made up the handle. “He was late—like half an hour. He kept texting me and asking me to just start without him, and I did. I was so fucking stupid. I made both mugs, and he showed up fifteen minutes before the class was over. It was one of those wine nights—BYOB, but I was too young to drink, so I was single and sober and sculpting these dumbass mugs. He strolled in with a hickey, and he told me it was from a straightening iron. I knew he was lying.”
Sebastion laid his hand on Xan’s shoulder. “I know what it’s like when believing the lie is kinder than letting yourself feel unworthy of their attention.”
Xan breathed out, then pulled the mugs to his chest. “He showed up in time to carve his initials on the bottom and hand them off to be fired and sealed. When we picked them up a couple days later, he told me he always hated sloths, but that we weren’t allowed to throw them away because they were our first couples thing.”
Sebastion stepped back as Xan turned and put them in the small box he’d put together of what was left. A couple of books, a stack of post-its, and some mail.
“I’m sure I’ll have to come back here,” he said as they hovered in the door. “We’re both on the lease.”
“I have a friend who can help you with that,” Sebastion said. An acquaintance—a patient, actually, who was in real estate law, but he didn’t want to say that just yet.
Xan just smiled at him, then cocked his hip up. “Can you grab my keys? They’re in my pocket.”
Sebastion pinched them with two fingers, then locked up and followed the younger man down to the street where Luca was waiting. It was raining again, a gentle mist, and he was standing in it next to the open window where Ivy was waiting with her head out. Her tail thumped hard as Xan got closer, and Luca took the box from him.
“All set?” he asked as he moved around the back to open the trunk.
“Almost.” Sebastion waved at him to put the box away, and when he was done, he beckoned him over with one hand, reaching for Xan with the other. “We just have one more thing.”
Xan glanced up, then let out a soft oh as he was dragged between both men. Luca didn’t need prompting to get with the program, and his longer, larger arms engulfed them both, proving that Sebastion’s theory was right.
This wasn’t perfect now, but it most certainly could be.
Chapter Fifteen
Luca was calm enough to drive by the time they got to the hotel, so Sebastion helped Xan cart everything upstairs as his husband and their dog went in search of the best tasting ‘eat your feelings’ burritos. The mood was definitely more subdued than before, and Sebastion didn’t feel the need to break the silence between them.
He perched on the edge of the bed that hadn’t been slept in, and he watched Xan unpack and repack the boxes until his hands started to shake. It was only then that he got up and gently tugged him away.
“I have something for you,” he said.
Xan looked up with red-rimmed, dry eyes. “Another hug?”
Sebastion laughed then opened his arms, and Xan slipped into them easily. “This wasn’t what I meant, but these are here whenever you need them.”
Letting out a breath, Xan eased his arms away, then stepped back. “Sorry.”
Sebastion gave him a stern look. “No more sorry tonight.” He walked over to the table where they’d dumped most of the stuff, then grabbed the big shopping bag Luca had packed up. The journals and pens were at the bottom, and he could already smell the sachet permeating the blanket that was folded on top.
He gestured for Xan to sit on the bed, so the younger man shuffled up to the headboard and propped himself up, curling his knees to his chest. Sebastion watched him dig his socked toes into the sheet for a second, then force his gaze back up.
“This,” he said, pulling the blanket out, “was a gift from Luca’s mom. Every winter she goes on these knitting and crochet sprees and sends us care packages.” He leaned over and draped it along Xan’s bent knees, and his heart did a little flutter when Xan’s head dipped, and he took a deep breath of the scent.