The Other Side of Someday (32 page)

I craned my head to look at the tall buildings surrounding me. They kept going up and up, almost disappearing into the clouds. I felt claustrophobic staring at these skyscrapers and enclosed city streets. I had no idea why anyone would want to live here. I needed space, air to breathe. People scurried along the sidewalks, covering almost every square inch of space. It was overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. This was nowhere for Sebby to live. I was completely uninspired. For someone as creative and imaginative as Sebby, I was sure he felt it, too.

Deep in thought, I was in a world all my own when my driver came to a stop. At first, I simply thought it was more traffic. Then he got out and came around to the rear passenger side and opened my door, helping me out. I tilted my head back, soaking in the enormous building in front of me as snowflakes began to fall.

“Welcome to the Waldorf Astoria.” A voice cut through my observations. I snapped back to reality and looked at the doorman in front of me.

“Thank you.” I headed toward the front doors with slow steps. Golden light escaped through large windows and doors, illuminating the sidewalk and everything else around the magnificent building.

My eyes wide in awe, I walked into the hotel, trying to soak everything in. The lobby was pristine, that golden light even brighter inside. A lavish crystal chandelier was the centerpiece, successfully announcing to everyone who stepped foot in the hotel that this was
the
place to stay in New York City. I had never seen anything so grandiose.

Mesmerized by the chandelier, I forgot where I was and what I was doing…until I stumbled over the leg of a table, which probably cost more than my college education, and fell into a tall, dark suit. Thankfully, Mr. Tall Dark Suit was quick on his feet, wrapping his arms around my waist before I could break my own fall…and probably my ass, too.

“Whoa, there.” He steadied me, helping me back on my feet.

Once I had my footing, I brushed myself off, trying to hide my embarrassment. “Thanks. I wasn’t really paying atten—”

“Baylee?”

I shot my head up at the sound of that familiar voice.

“Sebby?” My eyes widened. I had come here to see him, but I didn’t think I’d run into him in the lobby. I expected to have to sell my soul to bribe the front desk staff for his room number. Maybe this was a sign. Maybe I had just been ignoring all the signs for too long. Maybe all our random chance encounters throughout our friendship had happened for a reason.

It had been nearly a month since I had seen him. He looked the same, although his hair had grown out and he was sporting a bit more scruff than usual. He wore a dark suit that was perfectly tailored to his body. I had become so used to seeing him in his normal attire of a t-shirt and cargo shorts, I barely recognized him.

“How have you been?” he finally asked. His eyes were warm. The way he looked at me made me feel as if I were the only woman in the room. And I had a feeling I was in Sebby’s eyes, even after everything that had transpired between us.

“Good,” I replied. “You?”

“Good.”

Another awkward silence passed.

“Listen, I—” I began.

“Baylee, I—” Sebby said at the same time. We both laughed nervously. “You go first.”

I took a small breath, trying to sort through what I wanted to say. I had the perfect speech planned, but now that I was standing in front of him, I was tongue-tied. I envisioned doing this somewhere private, not in the lobby where anyone passing by could overhear.

“Sophia told me where you were staying while you looked for an apartment in the city.”

Sebby looked down, avoiding my eyes.

“Congratulations on the NFL job. You must be thrilled.”

“I am,” he answered reluctantly, giving me a small, forced smile. He looked pained, not like someone who had just landed his dream job.

“Really looks like it.” I rolled my eyes, laughing nervously.

Running his hand through his hair, he shifted from foot to foot. “I wanted to tell you about it, but…” He trailed off.

“I get it,” I said. “I acted like a complete idiot, but you could have called, Sebby. I stopped by your condo the Sunday after Thanksgiving and Mercedes answered the door.”

“She what?” His shoulders tensed.

“I thought you were back together. I texted and called that same day, but never got an answer. Sophia said you got pretty drunk the night before, so we just figured Mercedes deleted my text and voicemail.”

He shook his head, his jaw clenching.

“But we can’t change that,” I said, not wanting to dwell on it. “The last time we spoke, we didn’t exactly leave on the best of terms—”

“You could say that,” he interrupted.

“And I realized I was just scared.” I grabbed his hands in mine, pulling him close to me. “When I thought you were off limits, it was safer to love you because I knew we would only be friends, nothing more. Then when I found out the truth, it hurt…”

He stepped back, pulling his hands from my grasp. “Baylee, I’m—”

“Sorry. I know. But I get it now. We got to know each other as friends first, without bringing in all that relationship stuff. I fell in love with you as a friend, and then…” I looked away, swallowing hard.

“And then what?”

I drew a long breath. “And then I fell in love with you as more than a friend. You opened my eyes to so much that I had been happy to ignore for years. You showed me what real love should be like.”

“And how’s that?”

Smiling, I peered into his eyes. “Real love is jumping out of a plane when you’re scared to death, but you do it anyway. Real love is spending time with that person and being happy in the silence. But mostly, real love is sharing parts of yourself with each other, pieces of you no one else gets to have. I always pushed to just stay friends, but I can’t do that anymore, Sebby. I’m not happy with just being friends. I want more than that from you.”

On edge, I gauged his reaction to my confession. I finally took a risk. I was ready to get my ass kicked by love. It was what my mother would have done.

“Baylee…” He let out a long sigh, running his hands through his hair. My heart dropped to my stomach. Sebby had the look that said “thanks for pouring your heart out to me, Baylee, but you should have just saved your breath”. He had the look of someone who had fallen out of love, someone who had moved on. “After I told you everything and you shut me out, I didn’t know what to do. I would walk around my condo and feel you everywhere. No matter what I did, no matter where I went, it brought back memories of time I spent with you. The way we left things, I just couldn’t be around any of that, so I decided to finally listen to Mercedes and move back to New York.”

My shoulders dropped at the mention of that name. I wondered if they were back together now that he was living here.

“I tried to forget about you. I tried to forget about dog walks, farmer’s markets, and throwing pizza dough. Over the past month, I did everything I could to let go of those memories.”

Nodding, I closed my eyes, fighting the urge to cry.

“But then I realized from the moment you gave me that bloody nose all those months ago, I gave you a piece of myself. I fought it at first, trying to convince myself that Mercedes was the perfect woman for me, but I knew I was wrong.”

I opened my eyes, staring into his. He stepped toward me, pulling my body close to his. His musky aroma met my senses, transporting me back to that fateful day when I was the new girl in town and made a complete fool of myself in front of a handsome man with a dog named Gidget.

He cupped my face and brushed away the lone tear that had escaped. “You’re the first person I think of when I wake up. When I go about my day, I’m constantly wondering what you’re doing at that precise moment. When I go to sleep, I can’t help but hope that I’m one day closer to convincing you I’m worth the risk.”

Raising my eyebrows, I smirked. “That
we’re
worth the risk?”

A brilliant smile crossed his lips. “Yes, Baylee Grace,” he crooned. “That we’re worth the risk.”

Tilting my head, I met his eyes. Time stood still as I lost myself in his arms, in his presence, in his everything. Licking his lips, he lowered his mouth to mine, and I finally felt what a real kiss should feel like. It was the perfect combination of forceful and reserved. In that one moment, his tongue exploring my mouth, I felt how much he needed and revered me. In that one kiss, I finally felt what I had been yearning to feel for years…

I felt magic.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY
-S
EVEN

S
UN
STREAMING
THROUGH
LARGE
windows woke me from the most wonderful dream I could remember. I had hopped on a plane to New York and confronted Sebby. I stopped being stubborn and told him my true feelings. I took a risk. Jumping out of a plane had nothing on traveling three thousand miles and pouring my heart out to the one person whom I couldn’t imagine life without. So it was understandable how I would want to curse the sun for waking me up from that dream.

I stirred, knowing Sport would want to go out. When a strong arm wrapped around my stomach, I stilled. My eyes flung open and I rolled over, yelping when I saw Sebby lying next to me.

“Morning,” he crooned lazily, running his fingers through my hair in an attempt to pull me back into his arms. The previous day came racing back to me. Coming to New York. Falling into Sebby when I tripped over my own feet in the lobby of the Waldorf. Kissing Sebby. Having pastrami on rye with Sebby. Skating in Rockefeller Center with Sebby. Then coming up to his suite and doing lots of other things with Sebby. I had the sore legs to prove it.

Smiling, I settled back into his arms, pulling the sheet up to cover my mouth. I wasn’t sure if we were at that point in our relationship where it was appropriate for him to smell my morning breath. I didn’t want to scare him off.

“Morning,” I repeated.

He chuckled, the low rumble sexy and raspy. “Baylee, I love you, morning breath and all. Hell, if that snoring didn’t scare me off, I don’t think anything will.”

I shot up from the bed, bringing the sheet with me to cover myself. “I was
snoring
?”

Grinning, he shook his head and pulled me back down beside him. “No. But even if you were, I’d still love you.”

I sighed, melting into him. “Say it again.”

“I love you, Baylee Grace Morgan.”

“And I love you, Sebastian…” I scowled. “I don’t even know your middle name.”

He cringed. “That’s not important.”

“Tell me!” I pinched his sides and he struggled against me. I wasn’t going to let this one go.

“Nope. Not going to happen.”

A mischievous look crossing my face, I eyed the nightstand on his side of the bed…where his wallet was conveniently placed. With one quick motion, I rolled on top of him and reached for the wallet, flipping it open to reveal his driver’s license before he could react.

“Bernard?!” I exclaimed, turning to him, beaming.

He shook his head, burying it in his hands. “I really didn’t want you to find that out.”

“I don’t blame you, Bernard.” I chuckled, falling back onto the bed beside him.

“You’re never going to let me live this down, are you?”

I snuggled into his arms and hovered my lips over his. “Your name could be Asshole and I’d still love you.”

His lips met mine for a quick exchange before I pulled back, furrowing my brow.

“You don’t have another middle name I don’t know about, do you? It’s not Asshole, right?”

“Well, now that you bring it up…,” he joked, his eyes bright.

Giggling, I returned to Sebby’s arms, where I was meant to be. He brushed his hand through my hair, planting soft kisses on my head.

“Someday begins today.”

E
PILOGUE

One Year Later

S
NOW
FELL
AROUND
US
as Sebby led me from our cab toward Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. The city was bustling with New Year’s Eve festivities, but the park was calm, apart from the occasional tourist strolling through. It almost seemed fitting that this would be the last item I had to cross off my mother’s bucket list.

The past year had been the happiest of my life. Sebby returned to California and started his job producing for the NFL. I had been in the control booth for a few games and finally understood why he loved doing this, as opposed to working on movies. It was heart-thumping to watch everything fall together during a live broadcast.

Earlier in the year, I finally finished my book. After a few offers from publishing houses, thanks to Sebby’s contacts, I decided to self-publish instead. This story was the result of months and months of doubt and sleepless nights. I wanted to stay true to myself. While it wasn’t an instant bestseller, I didn’t care. I did something most people would never have the tenacity to do. Better yet, I finally had someone who supported me through it every step of the way, never uttering one discouraging word.

Unzipping the backpack he had slung over his shoulder, Sebby grabbed a large blanket and laid it on the ground. He helped lower me onto it and I stared at the fountain, the lights surrounding it bringing attention to the tiny snowflakes falling around us. Most people would want to watch the ball drop in Times Square to bring in the New Year. Not my mother. Now I understood why. There was something romantic about this setting and I hated that she never got to bring in the New Year this way. Still, I hoped she was watching over me and was able to experience it through me.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Sebby commented, handing me a glass of champagne.

“It is,” I responded, pulling my jacket tighter. He wrapped his arm around me as I continued to stare at the falling snow blanketing the ground with a soft cloak.

“Now what?” he asked after several comfortable moments passed.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, now that you’re done with your mother’s list, what are you going to do?”