*****
They finished dinner slowly, neither wanting the evening to end. Sebastian ordered dessert tiramisu to share and they took their time with it, feeding each other bites and laughing when Sebastian got whipped cream on his nose.
"You're a mess," Chai teased, wiping it off with her napkin.
"You're beautiful," Sebastian countered.
Chai's breath caught. "Sebastian..."
"I mean it," Sebastian said seriously. "You're beautiful. Inside and out. Smart, kind, patient, funny. I don't know what I did to deserve your attention, but I'm grateful for it every day."
"You're yourself," Chai said softly. "That's what you did. You're genuine, Sebastian. In a world full of people pretending to be something they're not, you're just... you. Complicated and intense and overprotective, yes. But real. That's what I like about you."
Sebastian wanted to kiss her. Right there in the restaurant, in front of everyone. But he held back, wanting their first kiss to be somewhere private, meaningful.
