What Will You Do, Novalyn?

My heart stops.

Did I hear him correctly?

“You’re joking,” I blurt out, and I can already feel the heat flooding up my neck. “I—I can’t do that. Sebastian, seriously. I’ve never done anything like that.”

"But you know what it is, don't you?" His voice is sinful, and it does something dangerous to my insides.

Of course I know what a lap dance is. I'm not completely sheltered. It’s the thing girls in music videos do. Rolling their hips and flipping their hair and grinding like their lives depend on it while some guy sits there looking like he’s about to ascend into heaven.

But me?

Doing that to him?

"Come on, sweetheart," he murmurs, and the endearment sends a shiver down my spine. "No need to be shy."

Sweetheart?

“You don’t understand,” I rush out, shaking my head so hard a strand of hair hits my lip. I reach up to brush it away with trembling fingers. "I don’t… I don’t do stuff like this. I’ve never even been to a club before.”

Which is pathetic, really. I'm twenty-six years old and this is my first time in a nightclub.

He leans back, stretching those stupid long legs in front of him and I desperately pray he'll drop the topic, let it go and move on to something else.

Because I can't grind on the twin brother of the man I love.

I won't.

It would be shameless and cheap. Wrong on about seventeen different levels.

I came here to forget Rowan for a little while, not to... slut around on Sebastian freaking Oberon.

You know the rules,” he leans into his chair. “Every dare you skip costs you two glasses."

"What?" My eyes widen and I lean forward without meaning to. "Two what? I thought you didn't want me getting drunk. You literally said—"

"Relax." He chuckles darkly. "I'm not actually going to make you do it. The look on your face was entertaining enough."

"You're cruel," I breathe out, but there's no real bite to it.

"So I've been told." He picks up his glass, swirling the dark liquid. "Aren't you curious about something, Novalyn?"

"About what?"

"Why I bothered to spend my Saturday night with you." He pauses deliberately. "A girl I've never cared about."

He's... He's right. That is a good question. Actually, it's an excellent question, and I feel monumentally stupid for not asking it sooner. For not wondering about it the second he gave me the card. I was so desperate to escape my heartbreak, so eager to get away from watching Rowan and Jane be perfect together that I didn't stop to think about the logistics. About why Sebastian of all people, Sebastian who has never shown the slightest interest in me would offer to help me. Why he would waste his time on someone he barely knows.

"I..." My voice cracks. I clear my throat, forcing myself to meet his gaze. "I don't know, so tell me. Why did you?"

Sebastian leans forward, eliminating the space between us. His elbow finds the table, and suddenly he's close enough that I can smell his cologne.

"What if I told you..." He pauses, letting the silence stretch taut between us. "I could help you get Rowan?"

The world stops.

I can feel my pulse pounding in my ears.

"You..." I can barely form the words. "What did you just say?"

Did I hear that right? Did he really just say he could help me get Rowan? As in, make Rowan fall for me? Make Rowan see me as something other than his little sister figure?

That's not possible. That's not... People can't just make someone fall in love. That's not how it works.

"But in return," Sebastian says, his dark eyes never leaving mine, "you help me with something."

The offer is so unexpected that I can't quite wrap my mind around it. It feels like something out of a movie. A bad teen romcom where the protagonist makes a deal with the devil and learns a valuable lesson about being careful what you wish for.

I should stand up and walk away.

But my legs remain frozen.

"He has..." I finally manage to say, and my voice is shaky. "I mean, Rowan has a girlfriend now. How can you possibly help me with something I couldn't help myself with? If I couldn't make him see me that way after all these years, what makes you think you can?"

"Because unlike you," Sebastian says sharply, "I'm not a coward."

My eyebrows shoot up.

Did he just call me a coward?

"You loved him for so long but couldn't tell him."

"I was waiting for the right moment," I protest weakly, my chest tightening like someone just stuck a needle directly into my heart.

"Was there ever going to be a right moment, Novalyn?" His gaze pins me in place. "Or were you always going to find another excuse?"

I can't answer. I can't defend myself. Because he's right, and we both know it.

Anyone looking at my situation from the outside would see exactly what he's seeing. Would call me exactly what he's calling me. A coward. Someone who let the perfect moment slip through her fingers again and again and again because she was too scared to take the risk.

I can't blame him for seeing what's obvious.

I drag in a long breath through my nose and let it out slowly through my mouth, feeling some of the fight drain out of me.

"I was going to tell him," I admit quietly. "The night he introduced me to Jane. That was supposed to be the night."

For the first time this evening, Sebastian looks genuinely surprised. His eyebrows lift slightly.

"That's twisted," he says, but there's something almost impressed in his tone. "The universe really said fuck you, didn't it?"

A bitter laugh escapes me. "Yeah. It did."

"I'm saying now, Novalyn," Sebastian continues, and his voice takes on a more serious tone. "I can make Rowan fall for you. I can make him finally notice you. The way you want him to."

I stare at him, trying to figure out if he's messing with me. If this is some elaborate joke at my expense.

"How?" I ask, and I can hear the skepticism in my voice. "Not long ago you were daring me to give you a lap dance. Now you're saying you can make him love me?"

"I have a plan," Sebastian says, and that dangerous smile returns. "A very specific plan. But you have to help me first."

I take a moment to let his words sink in. To really consider what he's saying.

"You don't understand," I respond, shaking my head. "Rowan still sees me as a sister. As family. What kind of crazy scheme could you even have that's giving you the confidence to think you can change years of history between us?"

"Let me worry about that," he replies smoothly.

Frustration bubbles up inside me.

"Fine. Then what do you need my help for?" I ask, deciding to approach this from a different angle. "What could I possibly do for you?"

"You're the only person who's close to Rowan," Sebastian explains. "I need a concrete piece of information from him. And only you can get it for me."

My stomach drops.

"What information?" The question comes out cautious.

"I'm not letting it out now," he says firmly, his jaw setting. "Not until you agree to the deal. That's how this works."

He pauses.

"And before you agree blindly, before you shake my hand and seal this thing, know this. What I’m asking isn’t small. You’d be betraying Rowan’s trust. If he ever finds out… he’ll never forgive you.”

B‑betray Rowan? My pulse hammers in my ears. I can’t… I can’t think straight. I can’t even form words. I just stare.

"So… Novalyn, what will it be?" He tilts his head, his dark eyes piercing mine. "Are you going to do it… or are you going to watch him slip away forever?"