"I like you."
Sebastian went still.
Not shocked, exactly. That would have implied surprise. This was something else. The expression of a man who had known a door was there and still hoped it wouldn't open.
The silence that followed was not long, but it was enough for Nero to see the understanding settle fully into him.
Enough for the cold on the balcony to suddenly feel very far away.
Then Sebastian exhaled once, and his face changed. The way beautiful men closed themselves when people wanted things from them that they had no intention of carrying.
"Nero," he said with a tone that he used when people made him problematic declarations. Warm and polite at the surface, but dismissive.
Nero felt something in himself harden before Sebastian even finished.
"This would be a mistake."
Nero said nothing
