He really was. So good, in fact, that Seb wondered if his son might be as interested in architecture as he’d been at one point.

“Great. I have to finish dinner, but I’ll get you started.”

“I’ll help,” Mary chirped, her eyes on Via, obviously just about as charmed by her as Seb was.

Who am I kidding? No one is as charmed by her as I am.

It was half an hour later that everyone sat on the floor of Via’s living room with plates of homemade pasta in their laps and a pillow fort precariously towering over them. Crabby hovered, semi-obediently, at the edge of the fort, licking the air at the scent of the sauce and windmilling his tail at anyone who glanced his way. Fin had lit some candles and dimmed the lights. The room twinkled a golden orange, and all of them had instinctively lowered their voices to match the mood.

The conversation flowed much more casually than the other time the group had spent together. Tyler still sat as far from Fin as he possibly could have and alternated between looking anywhere but at her and staring her down.

Seb could only hope he looked a little more casual. But he probably blew that when he choked on his wine when Mary opened her big mouth.

“Where’s Evan tonight, Via?” Mary asked.

“Oh.” Via looked up quickly, wiping her pretty mouth with a napkin. “He’s still upstate with his family.”

Upstate.

She’d said she had stuff to do upstate and then had spent the next week crying. Seb forced the traitorous wine down his throat and crammed a bite of pasta in his mouth, avoiding everyone’s eyes. He could swear that both Mary and Fin were looking at him.

His mind raced as his stomach tightened down like a tank preparing for battle. Seb figured there were a few different things that could have happened here. Either she’d gone upstate to visit her boyfriend and then cried her eyes out because she had to come back to Brooklyn and just missed him so badly. Or maybe going upstate had nothing to do with Evan and it was all a coincidence? Or. Or. Or. She’d gone upstate, and things had gone badly. I mean, he’s not here on her birthday, a little, asshole-ish voice whispered in Seb’s ear. What if they’d broken up?

When he finally looked up again, the conversation had flowed on, and it was past 7:30. Matty pushed his bowl of pasta aside and laid his head on Seb’s crossed knee. Seb absently pushed his son’s hair from one side to the other. The candlelight flickered as Fin rose to clear everyone’s plates and Seb’s eyes lifted to Via’s naturally. She was looking at him. At his hand on Matty’s head. But then she was looking directly in Sebastian’s eyes. Unwavering. Her eyes were a dizzying color, somewhere between gold and brown. And for a minute, all they did was just look at one another.