Chapter 15
Indy
Dinner with Ryan, Hope, and Felicity had been a blast. Ryan was funny in a self-deprecating kinda way.
Felicity was crazy cute and had the most delicious giggle.
And I felt like I was finally making a friend with Hope.
We had so much in common—our love of all things T Swift, our taste in books, and our taste in men.
She whispered as much as I helped her gather some of Felicity’s things as they were getting ready to leave.
“You guys are so cute together.”
The words made me freeze. I whipped a quick glance over my shoulder to make sure the guys hadn’t overheard that. Since they were both blowing raspberries on Fliss’ shoulders, I think I was in the clear.
Felicity’s burbles of laughter made me smile even as my heart felt heavy.
I shook my head. “I’m afraid he doesn’t feel the same way.”
“I knew it!” Hope crowed—so freaking loudly.
“Oh my god.” I hissed, waving a hand. “Put it on a billboard, why don’t you?”
“You girls okay over there?” Ryan asked. “Need a hand?”
I didn’t have to look at him to know that both the guys were looking at us curiously. I gave Hope a death glare. Really?
She winced. “We’re good!” she yelled back at her fiancé before wiggling closer to me and lowering her voice. “Sorry.”
I widened my eyes at her and handed her a Doctor Seuss board book.
“But really,” she hunched down next to me and whispered, “I think he might be open to it. I’ve seen the way he watches you when you aren’t looking. That’s an interested guy, I’m telling you.”
“He calls me kid or kiddo. He does not see me in a romantic way whatsoever.”
She sucked in a breath. “That is a problem. What could we do to make him see you as the adult you clearly are? What to do, what to do…”
“Yeah, I’m not the scheming type. He either likes me or he doesn’t. It’s as simple as that.”
“Usually I’d agree with you, but in this case I think you’re wrong.
Dylan’s developed such a rigid moral code he’s trying to live by now that he’s not letting any room in for fun.
And that’s not healthy. Sabrina, Maddie, Rachel, and I have been talking about it.
We think you might be just the thing to bring him back to life. ”
I snorted a short laugh. “I can verify that this is no fairytale. True love’s kiss ain’t gonna do shit. And there are no fairy godmothers coming to fix it all.”
“Some might argue Dylan’s been a bit like a fairy godfather for you.”
Her words landed like a blow, sucking all the air out of me.
“The fact that the two of you were in that diner at the same time, that you met him when you were at your lowest, and he was dying to do something to make up for all his mistakes…that’s kinda magical in my opinion.”
I tipped my head, acknowledging her point. She wasn’t wrong. Well, aside from how we met because we weren’t telling anyone that I was the tagger.
“And if you’re looking for a fairy godmother, I wouldn’t mind setting you up for success for the birthday party next week.”
I tossed a quick glance over my shoulder to where the guys were currently trying to coax Fliss into walking. She was so close since she could stand up on her own. She didn’t seem to be interested in actually taking that next step, though. Literally.
I could relate.
I sighed. “What do you mean?”
“Well…” Hope screwed her eyebrows into an innocent pout. “Like maybe some clothes that would show off your gorgeous body? And I could send over a makeup artist to help you get ready.”
I cast a look down my skinny frame. I don’t think it had ever been called gorgeous.
Not even with the guy I’d lost my virginity to in high school before my whole world had imploded junior year.
I didn’t have much to work with. My boobs weren’t much to speak of, and my hips were more boyish than Kardashian.
My only hope was that maybe Dylan was a leg man because I definitely… had those.
It was hopeless.
I covered my face with my hands and mumbled as much.
“Hey. Hey.” Hope brushed some of my hair away then ran a reassuring hand down my back. “Nothing is hopeless. I mean, sure you can’t make a guy like you, but I don’t think you’ll have a problem there.”
“Everything all right?” Dylan asked from the other side of the room.
I scrubbed my hands over my eyes, trying in vain to rub away the evidence of my meltdown.
“Just girl stuff,” Hope called out reassuringly. “Nothing to worry about.”
“Indy?” Dylan asked, not taking Hope’s word for it.
She gave me a look, like Dylan had proved her point.
“I’m fine.” I cleared my throat. “Really,” I affirmed when Dylan didn’t appear convinced. Or maybe it was the evidence of tears that no doubt still darkened my eyes.
He sat back down on the sofa but didn’t take his eyes off me. Like he was ready and willing to fight Hope for me.
I couldn’t remember a time when anyone had worried about me like Dylan did. My grandmother was from a more of a learn-from-your-mistakes school of thinking. And my dad had been so awkward.
I tried to ignore the flash of pain I felt when I thought about Dad.
Back to Dylan. He clearly cared. Obsessively so.
Was Hope…right?
She certainly seemed to think so, judging by the victorious smile she sent me. “Think about it.” She grabbed the last toy and shoved it into the diaper bag then stood. “You two ready? I think we should head home for B-A-T-H time.”
Dylan laughed as she spelled out the word. “That’s only going to work for a short time. This one is so smart, she’ll be giving Sabrina a run for her money in med school.”
“Veterinary school,” Ryan corrected.
“I’ve heard it both ways,” Dylan snarked back. “Love you, munchkin.” He swooped down and smothered Fliss’ neck in kisses and nom noises.
It was ridiculously cute.
And judging by the look Ryan gave me, my heart eyes were blatant.
“Thanks for dinner, Indy.” Ryan gave me a quick side hug.
“Hey, why do you think she did all the work?” Dylan protested.
“Because you almost set the building on fire that one time you tried to boil water.” Ryan swooped down and picked up his child before taking the diaper bag away from a protesting Hope.
“Yeah. Well…your hair is thinning,” Dylan finished weakly.
“No it’s not.” Hope laughed. “And if it were, it’d just be a sign of high testosterone. So there.” She stuck her tongue out at him.
“So you’re saying your boyfriend doesn’t have enough testosterone for you?” Dylan squinted.
“What I really want to say, I can’t because there are tiny ears present.” She pressed a quick kiss to the top of her daughter’s head. “But check your texts later. Bye, Dylan.” She gave him a hug on her way out of the door.
“Bye, Fliss.” I waved exaggeratedly at their baby. “Bye, guys. Thanks for coming. I had a blast.”
“It was delicious.” Hope smiled before heading for me to wrap her arms around me. Then she whispered in my ear, “The glam squad is coming Sunday morning. Be ready.”
I rolled my eyes, but the sense of love I felt at that moment left me breathless for a second.
The door had closed behind them before I got my breathing back on track.
“Everything okay?” Dylan asked with a frown. “What was that whole thing with Hope? You guys looked intense for a minute.”
I felt my cheeks heat and sighed. “She wants to send a glam squad over for me before Fliss’ party this weekend.”
“Oh.” He frowned. “I wasn’t aware it was a dress up thing. No one said anything.”
I looked away. “Feels more like she wants to make me her little project or something.”
“Ah shit,” Dylan muttered, rubbing his jaw. “I’ll talk to her. Or I can talk to Ryan to talk to her. That might go easier.”
“You know what? It’s fine. It might be fun.” I smiled weakly.
“Are you sure? I don’t want my family putting you in an uncomfortable position. That’s not what we’re about.”
I shook my head. “It’s fine. I’ve just never had that kind of a relationship with girlfriends. Or family. Or anyone really.”
“Okay. But let me know if they get out of hand. My family can be a lot. Boundaries aren’t really a thing with us.”
“It’s nice.” I crossed the room and sat on the sofa, bringing my knees to my chest so I had something to hold onto. “I’ve never had that—anything like that.”
Dylan walked over and sat on the other end of the narrow sofa.
“We’ve always been that way as long as I can remember.
Aunt Wendy always knew exactly what we were up to.
And so did Austin. I think he felt like he had to be more father than older brother most times.
And definitely more father than our sperm donor ever tried to be. ”
A dark cloud descended over the mood as his words reminded me of my own dysfunctional relationship with my father. He’d been there so lovingly for a few months before slowly tapering off, missing dinners and movie marathons we’d enjoyed only weeks before. Then not coming home for days at a time.
And then not coming home at all.
“Anyhow.” He cleared his throat roughly. “There’s actually something I wanted to talk to you about. I was going to do it before my brother came over, but then we got caught up with dinner prep, and I forgot.”
“You’re cute.” I laughed. “You say that like you actually helped.”
“Hey, someone had to set the table. And get the condiments out of the fridge.”
I shook my head. “You’re just lucky there are so many takeout options in this town.”
“Don’t I know it.” He rolled his eyes. “But anyhow, I uh, heard back from your college.”
My heart froze, and a feeling of dread swept over me. This was it. This was when he told me I’d screwed up everything I’d worked for. But I could get through it. I’d gotten through worse.
“…I’d given them my number instead of yours since you didn’t have a phone at the time,” Dylan babbled, clearly putting off the bad news.
“Just say it.”
“What?” He blinked. “All they need is a letter from you laying out the issues preventing you from attending classes. But from what I gathered, they won’t have a problem letting you defer your classes and your scholarship to next semester due to hardship. You’re still inside the drop bubble—gak!”
He squawked after I launched across the sofa and tackle hugged him.
“Oh my god! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” I laughed hysterically. “I never thought they’d let me skate by.”
His arms wrapped around me. “You’re not skating anywhere. You busted ass last year and your advisor fought for you. He wants you to come back and keep kicking ass.”
Then it felt like he pressed a kiss against the top of my head.
And I stopped breathing for a second as all the joy of the moment slowly leached out of me.
Hope was wrong.
Dylan was treating me the exact same way Ryan did Fliss. He didn’t see me as an equal or a potential partner or even as an adult.
I was still ‘kiddo’ to him. He’d all but said it just now.
And yet I couldn’t prevent myself from tightening my hold on him for a second as I wished it wasn’t reality. I so wanted this to be different.
But fairytales weren’t meant for girls like me.
I was and always would be trailer trash.
It didn’t matter that I didn’t live there now. Some stains never truly washed away.
“Indy? Everything okay? You’ve gone all rigid.”
I closed my eyes because I knew I had to face reality.
No matter how much it sucked.
Shaking my head, I moved to push away from him, but Dylan put his hands over mine on his chest and wouldn’t let me go.
“Really, what’s going on? You’ve been kinda weird since you and Hope were all conspiring over in the corner earlier. She didn’t make you uncomfortable, did she?”
Aside from making me wish for things that would never be? But I would never say the words.
I just shook my head.
He stared deeply into my eyes, and after a beat, something he saw made his eyes soften. His heartbeat thundered under my hands.
And my own quickly sped up to meet it.
Something about the moment felt profound. Like he was finally, actually seeing me.
“Indy,” he murmured softly. Only this time it wasn’t a question.
I held my breath as the moment drew out.
Was he…
He leaned up slightly, narrowing the distance between us. Then he muttered something that distinctly sounded like “fuck it.”
And then he was kissing me.
Dylan Burns was kissing me.
His lips moved over mine gently in a kiss that quickly grew insistent. His tongue nudged at my lips, and I opened them to him.
I closed my eyes and whimpered as I gave myself to his kiss.
And I swear to god I felt the earth move.
Or maybe that was Dylan’s arms holding me.
His hard body pressed against mine in the most delicious way.
Only we had all these pesky clothes between us.
More than anything, I wanted to feel him.
Trace those muscles he’d teased me with after his showers.
Preferably with my tongue, but I wasn’t picky.
And judging by the way his hands started to roam, he might’ve had a few highlights he wanted to check out too. I only hoped he wouldn’t be disappointed.
But it was the sound of my ringtone that broke the moment.
Dylan broke our kiss with a groan. “I know that’s not my phone. Who the fuck could be calling you right now?”
“No one important,” I murmured back, trying to chase his lips into another delicious kiss.
And then his words hit me with all the grace of a hammer.
My phone.
Dad!
I jumped off Dylan and raced over to where I’d left my backpack.
But by the time I got there, my phone had stopped ringing. I’d missed my chance.
“No one important, huh?” Dylan drawled behind me and ice ran through my veins. This was it. I had to tell him.
I’d hidden the truth long enough.