Chapter 28 Scarlett
SCARLETT
Dylan Brodie is made of good ideas.
I’m not saying it was a good idea for him to romantically pursue his therapist. But at the moment I’m not not saying it either. It’s late Sunday morning, and after hours and hours of nothing but sex and food at my place, he decided we should get out of the house and go for a drive.
His idea: he drives up the Pacific Coast Highway while I relax and enjoy the scenery or take a nap in the passenger seat.
I’m a single mom, so obviously I took a fucking nap.
I can’t even remember the last time I’d been driven around long enough to take a nap.
I can’t remember how long it’s been since I’ve been in a car without having to worry about getting somewhere on time.
Or whether or not my son is spilling something in the back seat.
Dylan has become a part of our lives very quickly.
He was at home twice during the week when my mom and dad had brought Noah to their place after school, so they all hung out together with Mr. Noodles.
Of course, my mother convinced both Dylan and me to stay for dinner at her place when I went to pick Noah up.
Thursday evening, he came by the house with an apple pie he’d picked up on his way over.
He stayed long enough to have a piece of pie with us and then left for a drinks meeting in Hollywood with his agents.
Which means he spent over an hour in traffic just so he could see me for half an hour.
And he didn’t even get a hand job out of it.
That was why, on Friday evening, I decided to tell my parents that Dylan and I have started dating.
I let my mother believe that she had introduced us and didn’t even scream internally when she said, “Aren’t you glad I saved those baby girl things for you?
You and Dylan will have a daughter. You’ll see.
” She didn’t wince when I told them that he’d invited me to spend Thanksgiving with his family in Texas.
Again, I did not scream internally while allowing her to think she was convincing me to accept his invitation.
It’s almost as if Dylan has been the missing piece in our family.
Or maybe my brains were still a little bit fucked out.
I adjust the passenger seat back to an upright position and realize Dylan’s pulling into a beachside parking lot. Rubbing my eyes and stretching, I ask, “Where are we?”
“Ventura.”
Record scratch.
“Ventura?! Ventura the city?” Ventura is about an hour north of Santa Monica.
“You were fast asleep once we passed Malibu, so I just kept driving. This is a state beach. We used to come up here on weekends when I was a kid. As a family. Let’s go for a walk.”
“What time is it? Adam’s supposed to bring Noah home at four.”
“It’s just after noon. We have plenty of time.”
“Yeah, but…” I don’t even feel the need to finish the sentence traffic can be really bad heading back into town on Sunday afternoons.
It was just my instinct to say it. Thanks to Dr. Keller (and also thanks to Dylan’s penis), I am not letting anxiety get the best of me.
I’m letting Dylan get the best of me. Because he deserves it. “Okay. Let’s go for a walk.”
The parking lot is not very crowded, and when we walk the short path to the beach, we find that it’s not crowded either.
There are whisps of white clouds and the sky is a deep blue.
Not as bright as Dylan’s eyes. Not as washed-out as it is in the summer.
The ocean air is neither cool nor warm. There are some surfers out on the water and a few families and couples hanging out on the sand and the rocks. It’s quiet and peaceful.
We don’t go very close to the shore. Dylan removes his sunglasses, slipping them into his jacket pocket. He hooks his arm around my neck and I wrap my arms around his waist, and we walk like this in silence for a few minutes and it’s just perfect.
“I love these beaches in the winter.”
“Me too.” I look out at the ocean and bite my lower lip to try to keep from laughing.
“Just go ahead and make a Garcon joke. I know you’re dying to.”
“I was just going to say I’ll hold your shirt for you if you want to take a little walk into and then out of the ocean in slow motion.”
“I mean, I figured you’d be tired of seeing my bare torso by now…” He grins.
I actually start salivating just thinking about it. “I mean, I figured you’d be tired of flexing your muscles for me.”
He lets go of me just long enough to push up a sleeve, revealing a flexed forearm. “Why, are you tired of looking at my muscles?”
“I’m not!” My voice comes out all squeaky. “I’m really not!”
He is all dimply and so cute in that knit beanie. I could just eat him up. I pull him in tighter and sigh.
With his arm slung casually around my shoulder now, he is quiet again for a minute before clearing his throat and saying, “I like you.”
“I like you too.” I don’t even hesitate to say it back. Like a wave rolling onto the shore, Dylan is effortlessly pulling those words out of me like gravity.
“I know I said I don’t want to talk about my exes—and I don’t.”
Uh-oh.
He senses my body tensing up and immediately says, “It’s not bad. Trust me. I just want you to know—as the woman I’m falling in love with—that this feels…this is different from how I felt and how I was with all those other girls and women.”
Well gosh, he’s right, that wasn’t bad at all.
“I thought it was love before,” he continues, staring at the sand in front of him, “but I guess it was just…” He searches for the right word.
“Infatuation.”
“It was infatuation. Was that your diagnosis?”
“That doesn’t really count as a diagnosis. I’m just guessing, really.”
“Well, I’m telling you this because I’m shooting that episode of my brother’s show next week. I told you that, right?”
“Yeah. The family sitcom, right?”
“Yeah. Anyway, Barry Weiner, the producer from That’s So Wizard!, is producing it. And Shane directed the first few episodes. So they’ve been getting a few of us for cameos. And I found out on Friday that they got Tabitha for the episode that I’ll be in as well.”
Another record scratch.
This is when I realize there are two teenage girls headed toward us. Blondes. With long tan legs and braided leather bracelets and big white teeth.
“Oh my God, it is you, isn’t?” says Blonde Number One.
“You’re Dylan Brodie, right?” asks Blonde Number Two.
“Yeah, hey. Hi.”
I remove my arm from around his waist a second before he removes his arm from my shoulder.
Blonde Number One reveals even more big white teeth. “Wow, that’s so cool. We used to watch Wizard together in middle school.”
“Oh, cool. Thanks.”
“It was, like, already repeats by then, but we were so into it. That’s so funny.”
It’s not that funny, Blonde Number Two. Not at all, really.
“So funny. And we’ve seen all your movies too. And that TV thing you did with the British actors. Anyway, can we get a pic with you real quick?” Blonde Number One holds up her iPhone.
“Yeah, of course,” he says.
“Would you…?” She holds her phone out to me. This is the first time she’s even acknowledged my existence, but whatever.
“Of course! Gimme that!” I guess I said that a little too loudly and enthusiastically when I grab the phone from her because she looks startled.
“Say That’s So Wizard! One, two, three!” I take about six shots in a row because I’m overcompensating because this is so not cool or funny or wizard and I need them to go away immediately.
“Beautiful!” I hand the phone back to one of the blondes. “Have a great day!”
“Thank you so much?” Blonde Number Two gives the phone to the other one.
“Thanks for watching,” Dylan says, holding his hand out to take mine as we keep walking.
“So Tabitha?” I say. “From Wizard? She was your first girlfriend, right? Did I read that somewhere?”
He laughs. “I don’t know, did you?”
“I may have done some light Googling a few years ago. Go on.”
“Are you saying go on as a therapist or as the woman I’m dating?”
“Which answer will get you to the point faster?”
“Well, I already got to the point. The point was that I’m falling in love with you. You heard that part, right?”
I’m an asshole.
I squeeze his hand. “Yes. I heard it. I hear you. Go on.” I wrinkle my nose. “Shit. Sorry. I’m so used to saying that. Do whatever you want.”
He is very amused by me now. “I’ll go on. I just wanted to tell you about the Tabitha thing in the context of the me having deeper feelings for you than I ever had for anyone else thing. So you don’t worry about it. You’re the only one I want to date.”
I do a quick scan of my physiological response to what he’s told me, and it turns out I’m not feeling at all panicky. I am, in fact, super turned-on by his honesty and openness. “You’re the only one I want to date too, Dylan.”
“Go on…”
“I’m falling in love with you too.” Words I have never said out loud before, and it’s not even scary. I stop and pull his gorgeous face to mine so I can kiss him, without even looking around first. “Thank you for telling me that. All of it. I trust you.”
“Good. You should.” He pulls away from me all of a sudden. “Well, this was nice, but we should start heading back now. So we can get back to your place and fuck one more time before Noah gets home.”
“Garcon! I’d like two more fucks please.”
“Right away, madame. Fuck. Fuuuuuuck.”