18. Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Eighteen
HATTIE
Taking Dylan Gray to Sunday family dinner had never crossed my mind before this week. He’d been to plenty of parties at our house over the years, but never one of these. Sunday dinner was just that. A time for my family to gather. My siblings brought their spouses and kids. If one of us was dating someone seriously, we might bring them as well. I hadn’t brought someone in over five years.
My parents and siblings knew why Dylan was coming with me, but still, it felt weird.
Not as weird, though, as how well he fit in.
Maybe it shouldn’t have been strange. Maybe I shouldn’t have been surprised. I supposed it made sense, since he’d been friends with Rhett and Jackson for more than a decade.
“How’s the case coming?”
I paused with my fork halfway to my mouth and looked up at Kyle, who was sitting across the table. Was he asking me or Dylan? I glanced sideways at Dylan before meeting my brother’s gaze again.
Kyle tilted his head. “Something else happen?”
Setting my fork down, I cleared my throat. “The stalker is texting me again, but Dylan say’s that’s a good thing.”
Kyle shot Dylan a glare I couldn’t decipher. Was it because, like me, he didn’t understand how being threatened like that could possibly be positive?
Though I was struggling to comprehend the way Dylan saw things, I believed him, and I trusted him to know what was best. So I shrugged. “He says that means the stalker bought another burner phone, so this time, they might get him on tape.”
Beside me, Dylan let out a sigh and sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.
Kyle continued to glare, and Dylan looked like he was about to ask him what his problem was. My stomach sank. Great, a pissing contest between the two bossy, controlling men.
“That is good,” Rhett interjected, glancing over at Kyle. “Isn’t it?” Leave it to him to miss the tense vibes around the table.
“Depends,” Kyle said. “Do you have anything to show for it yet?”
“He paid cash for both burners, including the minutes and data.” Dylan locked his jaw, his eyes narrowing. “And the place where he picked up the second burner doesn’t have surveillance cameras.”
Heart thumping against my sternum, I whipped around and blinked at Dylan. This was the first time I was hearing this.
“So it’s not actually a good thing after all, is it? If it hasn’t amounted to anything,” Kyle bit out.
Wow, he was in rare form tonight.
“Dylan and Aiden are the best,” Rhett said. “I trust that they will figure this out. You need to chill, man.”
I had to agree with my idiot brother this time. Kyle really did need to chill. I understood why he was annoyed, but Dylan and Aiden were doing the best they could. Kyle knew our small-town police department didn’t deal with these types of things on a regular basis and had little in the way of resources to do much more than handle traffic citations and the occasional break-in or petty theft. What did he expect?
Thankfully, Bella jumped in then and shifted the topic to Tina and her impending due date, asking whether she was ready for the new baby.
“Yes and no.” She placed her hand gingerly on the top of her large belly. “I’m ready to meet her, but I’m going to miss being pregnant.”
Her due date was only weeks away, and given that this was her third child, her doctor told her she might go into labor earlier than she had with the first two.
Bella chuckled. “I do not miss being pregnant.”
“I thought you wanted one more?” Ashley narrowed her eyes at her best friend.
“We do. But that doesn’t mean I enjoy being pregnant.” Bella shrugged.
As if on cue, Hudson began crying from the living room.
“Finish your food.” Rhett stood and nodded to Bella’s plate. “I got him.”
I tracked him as he disappeared through the large archway that led into the living room. My mom had set up a card table in there for the kids while the adults sat at the dining room table.
I smiled. She might need a bigger table for the kids soon. Between Rhett and Bella’s two, Kyle and Tina’s two and a third on the way, and Sophia, who had been officially adopted by Jackson and Ashley, the kids’ table was getting full.
Dylan leaned over my shoulder and reached for my empty plate, his proximity causing my skin to tingle. He froze and locked eyes with me. That look went straight to my core.
Dammit. Once again, my body was reacting to him without my brain’s permission.
Standing to his full height, he smirked like he knew exactly how he affected me. I squared my shoulders and picked up a few plates, then followed him into the kitchen.
After dinner had been cleaned up, the guys hunkered down in the living room with the kids and the women stood around the kitchen, having various types of alcoholic and nonalcoholic after-dinner drinks.
“This was so nice.” My mother brought her glass of wine to her lips and took a sip. “Dylan fits right in with everyone.”
“He’s been friends with Rhett and Jackson forever. Of course he fit in.” I sat beside Bella at the island with my own wineglass in hand.
“I’m not coming anymore.” Savannah huffed as she leaned back against one of the marble countertops. Surprisingly she opted for a cup of piping-hot coffee rather than alcohol. “Everyone’s coupled up.”
“I’m not even dating anyone,” I reminded her.
She was always dramatic, but tonight, it was over-the-top.
“Yet.” She smirked. “Give it another week, and that’ll change.”
I rolled my eyes. Here we go again .
“Wait…” Bella started. “You and Dylan?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Savannah’s just trying to stir up trouble.”
“I think you two would make a cute couple.” Ashley chuckled. “Although I hope Rhett takes the news better than he did when he found out I was dating Jackson.”
“Guess we’ll never know, since I have no intention of dating Dylan.” I sighed.
God, my family was exhausting.
“If he finds out another one of his friends is dating one of his sisters, he’ll definitely lose his mind,” Bella said.
Had no one heard me? Or were they choosing to ignore what I’d said? Maybe I was attracted to him, that I could admit, but he was doing his job while also doing a favor for his best friend.
Whatever. It would be a waste of breath to try to convince them they were wrong.
Though maybe I could use a little convincing myself.
Even my own mother, who wasn’t prone to dramatics, was sending me a smirk like she agreed with my sisters.