The Cuddle Pact

15

Girlfriend.

In which Sebastian pretends Mira is his girlfriend.

ALSO 200K READS WHATTTT TYSM.

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QOTC: What are your nicknames? What do you prefer to be called?

People have honestly given me so much loool, but the one my family call me is JJ because of my intitials lmao. Friends have given me jami, jams, jammy, jammy dodgers. I don't mind what people call me by, but I love my actual name :).

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IN THAT MOMENT, SEBASTIAN CUPPED MY face and smoothly moulded his lips to mine. It was a gentle kiss, one that made me doubt he was really kissing me until he brought my arms around his neck and wrapped his around my waist. My lips were still against him until he squeezed my hips and closed any distance between us.

"Pumpkin," he muttered loud enough for only me to hear. "You have to kiss me back for this to work."

Doing what he asked, I couldn't help when my mind strayed from the kiss. Sebastian Harrington was kissing me in front of hundreds of people, and especially in front of my philandering ex-boyfriend. If that didn't scream that we were more than friends, Sebastian would have a lot of explaining to do.

"Mira?" Weston's voice sounded over the relatively loud music, causing me to slightly pull away from Sebastian.

But, it seemed like he had a different idea because he pulled me back in, ignoring his presence. I couldn't refrain from laughing as Sebastian took his lips from mine and took my hand.

"Hi, Weston." Sebastian greeted with a saccharine smile, meeting James' intrigued eyes before turning back to my ex. "Fancy seeing you here."

A grim expression passed over Weston's features and he made eye contact with me, the hazel eyes that I once used to love staring into mine. "It's been so long since I last saw you, you're beautiful."

Ada nudged me and gave me a glance of approval. I guessed she understood what Sebastian was doing. Momentarily looking at Lena, she decided to pull her away to get her what I presumed would be something to sober her up a little.

"She's always been beautiful, what's your point, Caldwell?"

Weston was finally getting irritated and rolled his eyes. "I was talking to her. Are you her boyfriend as well as her keeper?"

I tightened my grip on his hand, which lead him to glance down at me with a supportive smile. "No," he replied, noticing as well as I the relieved expression that climbed on Weston's face. "She's my girlfriend, I'm just not her keeper."

It's all pretend, Mira.

His jaw clenched and he gave a smile that looked a lot more like a wince than it did a happy expression. "I'm going to find my friends, it was nice seeing you, James."

And with that, I could breathe better without Weston in my sight. James laughed and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What was that?"

"That was confirmation that Weston is one slimy son of a—." I clapped my hand onto his mouth, smiling sheepishly at James when he caught on.

His lips formed in an 'o' shape. "Weston is your ex-boyfriend. I'm guessing you're the ex he never wants to talk about." He raised his eyebrows. "Wow—I'm going to go find Ada and Lena."

Sebastian moved my hand from his face, a small smirk pulling the corner of his lip when linked our hands once again. Silence drifted between us despite the loud music surrounding us and I couldn't stop the silly grin that made its way onto my face.

My lips felt like electricity was lightly coursing through them and I was unable to get the feeling of his soft lips against mine out of my head. If that was the reaction he got out of me when he wasn't my boyfriend, then I hoped he would just make the decision to be with me, the right way.

His large hand warmed mine until he released it to hand me a drink. "You say the word and we can get out of here."

Sipping on the fruity drink that was in the glass, I acknowledged his words and rendered him with a small smile and eyes filled with gratitude. He continued to surprise me in ways I never expected, which meant I had only one word to describe myself.

Whipped.

Laughing quietly to myself, my eyes scanned the room for my three other friends and upon seeing them dancing together, Sebastian suggested that we join them. Downing my drink, I placed it back on the tray as I nodded.

"I'm going to the bathroom, don't have too much fun without me." My hand flattened against his chest momentarily and he peered down at me with his signature grin.

Heading towards the bathroom after asking a waiter, I lightly tugged on my figure-hugging dress and shook my head in a futile attempt to rid myself of the buzzed feeling that coursed through me.

"What happened, Mira?" he quietly spoke. "What happened to finding our way back to each other?"

What the hell?

He held up his phone to show me a picture, and once I saw it was an engagement ring, my eyebrows furrowed in utter confusion. For the entire three years we had been dating, Weston promised that one day he would propose to me. That was until I found out that, in the last few months of our relationship, he was sleeping around.

"I messed up with you. I should never have betrayed you, but I thought our love was stronger than that. That we could overcome anything."

"Anything but that." I swiftly interrupted him and glared at him. "I gave you everything I had, West. We should've lasted, but you made damn sure that we didn't."

Sliding his phone back into his pocket, he pushed himself off the wall and advanced towards me, keeping a comfortable distance between us. His familiar cologne invaded my senses and I was hit with all the times he was the sweet, caring and amazing man I fell in love with.

"Look at me, Mira." He cracked a smile and I remembered the times where he would mention my name meant to look in Spanish. "Look at me."

Closing my eyes for a moment, I inwardly cursed at myself when I stared into his greenish-brown eyes. His hand slowly travelled up the length of my arm before his hand cupped the side of my face. I was frozen in place, my heart pounding so loud I could feel the blood rushing in my ears.

"Can he make you feel like this?" he whispered, his words caressing my skin as he leaned in. "Is he everything you could wish for?"

Stopping him in his track, my hand curled against his wrist roughly. "Everything and more." Stepping back and dropping his arm, I stared at him with an emotion I hadn't felt since I left him.

Heartbreak.

"What I felt for you isn't even an inch of what I feel for him. He is everything to me and you are nothing. That's what happened, Weston. I'm not in love with you anymore because I finally realised my worth and that you did not deserve me in any way, shape or form. So don't you dare try to pull me back in with your charm because I know you don't want anyone that doesn't want you back." The frown on his face filled me with pride that I was no longer a crying mess in front of him and that I could say what I wanted without caring.

"I know you, Mira." He continued with wide eyes. "You could never love him as much as you loved me."

With that, he turned on his heel and left me alone in the hallway. My fingers shook as I pressed it against my chest and released a bitter sigh. Weston always knew how to get to me and what I hated the most was that he was right.

He was my first real love and the sole reason I hated dating. I was so invested in our relationship and was ready to spend the rest of my life with him. He had me doubting everything I felt for Sebastian, but at least I felt something.

Nevertheless, questions began swarming my mind. Was I wasting my time? The only way Sebastian and I could be together was if he did it right, but how long would that take? And how could I ever love him if I had nothing left to give?

Composing myself, I returned to the bathroom and touched up my makeup before proceeding to find Sebastian. He was dancing with Lena and cheered when he saw me. I didn't know how long I took in the bathroom with Weston, but Sebastian seemed slightly drunk.

His hands held mine as he tugged me into his chest, moving his arms to wrap them around my waist. Lips brushed against my jaw when he spoke into my ear. "Have I ever told you how magnificent you are?"

Thankful that he couldn't see my face, I was unable to smile at his compliment and felt him squeeze my hips. Pulling back, dark chocolate bored into mine with intensity.

"You're upset." He stated surely. "What happened, pumpkin?"

Of course, at that moment, I made eye contact with Weston a small distance away from us. He simply stared at me, which caused Sebastian to place his fingers under my chin to guide my eyes back to his.

Linking our hands, he weaved his way through the people around us and lead us up the stairs in an attempt to find a quiet place to talk. Upon finding an empty room, he pulled me with him and shut the door behind us.

"Tell me what's wrong." He took a seat on the edge of the bed, looking up at me in concern.

"Weston was going to propose to me," I mumbled after a solid minute of silence, leaning against the wall. "He showed me the ring he was going to give to me."

Sebastian blinked slowly and tightened his jaw as he allowed me to continue.

"When I left him last year, I convinced myself that I would be fine and ever since then I can't love like I used to. I tried with Nate," at the mention of my old roommate, Sebastian's eyebrows lowered in confusion. "But our relationship ended up being purely sex, and after a while, he didn't like that. I hate Weston for what he did to me."

Sebastian was silent, absorbing what I told him before clearing his throat. "He broke you."

"He broke me."

Rising from the bed, he stepped towards me and brought me into a warm hug. He simply held me in his arms for what felt like minutes and pressed his lips to my temple. My skin felt electric and I realised one thing.

Sebastian made me feel alive.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

He dipped his chips into his milkshake as we sat in the backseat of his car. It had been two hours since the Weston incident and we had all left the party since everyone decided that Lena was getting a bit too drunk. Ada drove us back since she only had half a glass of wine to drink but then left to meet up with a guy she was seeing.

Smiling softly at me, he held up a chip and ate the remainder after I bit some off. I had a cheeseburger, but I seemed to have got Sebastian hooked on chips and milkshake.

As he was distracted eating, I took the time to stare at him. He was a work of art and I couldn't help but smile at the realisation that it was his birthday soon. Birthdays were always exciting, and I wanted to find out if James and his family were planning anything.

"You seem to stare at me a lot."

My cheeks heated and I narrowed my eyes playfully. "How would you know if you weren't staring back at me?"

He shrugged with an endearing grin. "I didn't say I don't stare at you. I'm just attracted to you as much as you are to me."

Crossing my legs, I leaned my head on the seat and huffed out a laugh as he looked up and caught me in my fidgety state. Guffawing, he placed his milkshake in the cup holder and finished the remains of his chips.

"I think I'm going to return the kiss I borrowed on the night we met."

I held my breath in anticipation, watching him move closer to me and slide his hand on my bare thigh, gripping it softly. Alluring eyes never wavered from mine in the seconds leading up to the kiss, but as soon as his soft lips gently touched mine, his phone rang and startled me.

Sighing, he rested his forehead on mine and positioned his phone on his ear as he listened to what the person was saying on the other side of the line. Watching his face pale, I touched his hand in concern.

"What's going on?"

He licked his lips and worry overtook his features. "It's Avery."