Husband With Benefits

"Hey babe? Are you free this weekend?" Seb’s casual question caught Isabella’s attention, and she shot him a questioning look while Ian shot a grim look to his brother in the rearview mirror.

Seb, flashing a mischievous grin, continued, "Ian and I are heading to a fantastic party for the weekend, and I was thinking it would be a crime not to have you join us. You’ve recently returned to the country, right? It’s the perfect way to kick off some good times!"

Isabella paused, her smile fading slightly as she considered Seb’s invitation. After a moment, she replied, "Thanks for the offer, Seb, but I think I’ll have to pass this time."

Seb, undeterred, gave her a playful pout. "Come on, Bella! It’s going to be epic. You can’t miss it."

Ian, who had been silently observing, shot Seb a warning look. Seb, however, chose to ignore it, maintaining his charm offensive. "Ian’s practically dragging me along. You can’t let me suffer alone, can you?"

Isabella chuckled at that. She knew from the tabloids that both Ian and Seb were always ’dragging’ each other along. "I’ll have to rain-check this one. I have things to do."

"What kind of things?" Ian asked sharply, earning himself a surprised look from Isabella and a knowing look from Seb who sat back to enjoy the live show. He toyed with the idea of taking a leaf from Nora’s book and recording Ian to share it in the group, but then Nora would probably kill him. She was quite protective of Isabella. So, he could only keep the thrill of this ongoing saga to himself... unfortunately of course.

"I... Its nothing. I’m going to be meeting my parents over the weekend."

"Oh.. Then next time, you can join us." Ian added awkwardly making Seb’s grin widen even further. Just now, he could have sworn that Ian was ready to kill him for extending the invitation to ’that’ party and now he was inviting her for the future. Tsk tsk. Double standards.