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Chapter 28

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Tilly

I weave my fingers into his hair to deepen the kiss. He groans into my mouth in response and all I want to do is crawl into his lap.

At this moment I don’t care about Maya or Julian, any of the people around us, or what happens tomorrow.

Nothing exists but this man and me.

His kiss is everything I imagined it would be. It’s tender yet demanding, soft and sensual and the way his tongue flicks over my bottom lip to tempt me to let him in makes my entire body weak.

A loud crash breaks us apart but not before Sebastian trails his lips over my cheek.

I catch his eye for a brief second and I see the same lust I feel reflected back in his gaze.

“For fuck’s sake,” he says under his breath as he looks over at the bar.

Another even louder crash draws many of the bar’s patrons to their feet, including Sebastian. It’s obvious from the drunken cheers and litany of curse words filling the air that there’s either a fight in progress or one is about to happen.

“You both need to calm the hell down, or I’m going to call the cops.” An angry woman’s voice rises above the noise.

“I fucking dare you.” A man’s gruff voice responds.

“I should do something.” Sebastian reaches for my hand to draw my knuckles to his mouth. He kisses them softly. “Don’t move. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

I sit in place for a total of ten seconds before I follow behind him. The crowd that’s gathered near the bar parts as he pushes his way through.

I watch as he grabs the shirt collar of a man half his size. “What the hell is going on here?”

“I was...I was...I wanted to help her,” he stutters as he looks up at Sebastian, his thumb jerking toward the bartender.

“This is none of your business, asshole.” Another much larger man steps closer to Sebastian as the smaller man scurries away.  The crowd let’s out a collective “hell yeah” in response.

“I’m NYPD, so it is my business.” Sebastian’s hand dips into his pants pocket to tug something out. I assume it’s his badge since I saw him slide it in there after Cooper handed it back to him.

“I have one of those too.” The obviously drunk man spits out as he runs a hand over his shaved head. “I got it for five bucks from a guy in Times Square. It’s a pussy magnet, isn’t it?”

Sebastian shakes his head as he pockets his badge and turns to face the man directly. They’re the same height, likely the same weight but the man’s arms are crossed over his chest in a stance that says he’s itching to fight whoever gets in his way.

“Leave now, or I’ll arrest you.” Sebastian’s tone is laced with frustration.

“For what?” The man laughs. “Trying to pick up a woman?”

Sebastian eyes the crowd. “I doubt like hell any woman in here wants anything to do with you so get lost.”

A sharp poke to his shoulder sends Sebastian’s hands in the air. “Do not touch me.”

“Or what?” The man slurs as he jabs his index finger into Sebastian’s shoulder again.

“Do you want to spend the night in lockup?”

“I want to beat the shit out of you, pretty boy.”

That lures a round of whistles from the crowd. Several people step back giving Sebastian and the man more room.

“I’m giving you one last chance to walk out of here now.” Sebastian turns to the bartender. “What’s the damage? Did he break anything?”

“A couple of beer bottles and a glass.” She shrugs it off from where she’s standing behind the bar. “I just want him gone.”

“Get out.” Sebastian grabs the man by the bicep. “Go home and sleep it off.”

My breath catches in my chest when the man spins around and pushes Sebastian back.

His hand lands on the corner of the bar to anchor his stance but not before the man attempts to punch him.

Sebastian darts out of the way warning the man to step back. He does and stumbles. 

He recovers quickly and I have to close my eyes the second I see his fist connect with Sebastian’s face.

I hear the crowd cheer and when I open my eyes again, the man is pinned to the floor on his chest. His left arm is twisted behind him in Sebastian’s grasp as he reads the drunken bastard his rights. 

I catch a glimpse of Sebastian’s face when he volleys a gaze in my direction.

Blood is trailing from his nose onto his pristine white shirt. He smiles at me and I feel my breath catch in my throat.

There’s no way in hell I’m ever going to forget our first kiss.