Chapter 20 #3
Angela made her way for their front door, but Dreux came our way once he noticed us.
In his untucked gray dress shirt and loose tie, his shoulders sagged.
His hands were in his black slacks as he came to a stop in front of us.
René blew the horn as he drove off behind him, but Dreux didn’t budge to wave or glance back.
Scott whistled sharp and loud. “You clean up nice, kid.”
He did. Even if he wasn’t properly wearing his tie and his shirt wasn’t tucked in.
Dreux ducked his head, bashful. “Thanks, Scott.”
“Have a good dinner?” Scott asked.
Dreux gave a bitter smile as he shrugged. “It was the usual.”
Scott frowned. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s whatever. We got to talking about baseball, and he says he’s going to make an effort to see me play my last season.”
“That’s something.”
Dreux loosened up. “It’s a start.”
Scott squeezed my shoulder before he stood up. “All he can do is try.” He looked between Dreux and me and smiled. “I’m going to head in. Have a good night, Dreux.”
Scott disappeared into the house. Dreux looked over at me and I looked down at my sneakers. I felt him come closer, leaving me no choice but to face him.
“Hey,” he said gently, giving a little wave.
His soft approach made me relax. “Hey.”
Dreux sat down on the step in front of me.
“Everything okay?”
My parents had hooked up, my mother was getting divorced, and Scott was still into my mother after all this time. Things were messy and complicated—fucked.
So, I shrugged and laughed a little at the absurdity of it all. “Oh, you know, the usual.”
Dreux looked at me, searching my face for something. “How was your day? Both parts of it?”
Right, there were two parts to his question, because we’d had sex before my mother flew into town out of nowhere.
I felt shy suddenly as I responded to the first part of his inquiry. “The first part was great.” My gaze lifted to the darkening sky. “The second part is a lot.”
“What’s a lot?”
I looked back to Dreux. “My mom is getting divorced. Her husband doesn’t like me.
She says that’s not the sole reason, but it’s definitely part of it.
Part of me feels bad because I keep running people out of her life and she’s already sacrificed so much for me.
” I swiped at my face, not wanting to cry, not wanting to break.
“And so she comes to Meadow Grove because she misses me and she sees Scott for the first time since he left, and… And they hooked up.”
Dreux’s eyes enlarged. “Shit.”
I nodded. “Right.”
“Are you okay with that? With them rekindling their relationship?” Dreux wanted to know.
“I like Scott, but I wanna protect my mom. Especially after hearing about what happened when she got pregnant with me.” I leaned over, planting my elbows on my knees and running my hands down my face as I heaved a heavy sigh.
“But when I think about it, Scott’s perfect for her.
We had a talk before you pulled in and he’s apparently been single this whole time because he still wants my mom. ”
I looked over at Dreux and gave a lopsided smile. “Things are so twisted, but I’m not against it. If he can make things right with me, maybe he can make it right with her, too.”
I couldn’t hold a grudge against Scott when he was trying to right his wrongs. When I was trying to right my own and be a better person.
“Let them figure it out,” Dreux offered. “I’m sure Scott knows more than anyone what it’ll take for your mom to give him another chance, and what it’ll mean. Does she seem receptive?”
I snorted. “She’s smitten.”
“Stranger things have happened.”
He was right about that. If Scott could fix things and make my mother happy, who would I be to get in the way of that?
Dreux cleared his throat, gaining my attention. Soon, he stood from the step and was down on the sidewalk in front of me. “I actually wanted to talk to you about us.”
I braced myself, unsure where this conversation could lead. “O-Okay.”
My response made Dreux frown and the expression caused my back to stiffen.
“Earlier today, you asked me if us sleeping together meant anything to me.” He looked me in the eyes and shook his head.
“It caught me off guard because I don’t know how to be any clearer that I’m into you.
” He hung his head and sighed. “But then I remembered what you said in my car, about how you saw yourself as a dandelion, and I realized it’s my fault for not speaking up. ”
Dreux faced me, a muscle in his jaw tensing.
“I fucking hate when Lane crowds your space. It makes me jealous that you chose to be friends with Bonham first. I hate when you introduce me as your friend because I don’t want to be your friend.
I want you, Saylor, because I like you. I don’t want what happened at the Pier to be a one-off hookup that didn’t mean anything, because it did.
I want you, this, us, whatever you’re willing to try with me. ”
It had been a long day and I couldn’t hold it in any longer as my eyes started to water.
I was struggling, really struggling to let go of that dandelion feeling. I wanted to push him away before he walked away like everybody else.
“I’m a mess,” I let out, thinking of my life and the state of things.
Dreux looked back at his house, snorting and shaking his head as he returned to me. “I’ve got baggage.”
It couldn’t be that simple for him. “You look at me like I’m worth it.”
“You are,” he didn’t hesitate to say.
Was I? “I’m not really the girl you bring home to mom.”
Dreux’s dark eyes pinned me in place. “You’re the girl I’d bring everywhere, Saylor.”
“You want me?” I asked in the quietest of voices.
“Every part of you, the good, the bad, and the messy,” Dreux insisted.
His words felt too good to be true, but they soothed my heart all the same.
“I…I don’t know what to say.”
Dreux bore a loose grin. “Cheap Trick.”
I didn’t get it. “What about them?”
“ ‘I Want You to Want Me,’ ” he said, naming their hit song and doing a silly little sway.
Leave it to Dreux to use classic rock to woo me.
It worked like a charm as I came up off the step and met him half way on the front walk. Dreux took my face into his hands, tilting my head back until I could see only him.
“Say you want me, too,” he begged.
“I do,” I admitted. “You disarm me and I hate it.”
“Why?”
Because I didn’t want to let down my walls and be completely vulnerable.
“You scared of me?” Dreux asked, his eyes softening.
I nodded, unable to pretend the idea of going all in didn’t frighten me.
“It’s okay, I got you,” he assured, pressing his forehead to mine. “You, me, we’re not our parents. We’re going to be us, and whatever that is, is entirely up to you and me.”
The uncertainty was terrifying, but Dreux had never let me down.
He wanted me. He was choosing me. And it was all I could ever ask for.
“I want this too,” I breathed out.
His lips met mine and I closed my eyes and slipped away.