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She beamed, looking off somewhere through the speckles of light cast by the tacky disco ball. “I have no idea where Steven went, but …” She sighed, looking back to me. “We're ecstatic. It's … God, it's been a long time coming. I feel like everybody is married by now, you know? We’re almost thirty, for crying out loud.”
I was barely able to return her smile as I replied, “Yeah. It seems like that anyway.”
She gripped my arm and asked, “What about you? I mean, are you still living in Islip?”
Earlier, when the reception had first begun, I'd declined Dylan's offer to grab me a drink from the bar. But now, with the reminder of how stunted my life seemed, I regretted not having something stronger than water in my glass.
“Uh, yep,” I replied. “Still there.”
“Oh, well, that's awesome! I wish we could afford a place over there, but, God, it's so expensive,” she complained. “You must be doing pretty well for yourself.”
The oxygen was being sucked out by too many people, leaving none behind for me. It was too hot, too noisy. Jesus, why the hell was that DJ so freakin'loud?
Oblivious to my rising panic, Cassie leaned in, bringing her mouth close to my ear as she asked, “Is that your husband? Because, girl, holy crap, good for you.”
Her gaze was aimed over my shoulder at Dylan, who was sitting at our assigned table and picking through the plate of something they called salad but looked more like lawn clippings and dead leaves.
“No,” I replied, laughing uneasily. “He's, um … he's …”
What the hell was he to me? The hot rock star I randomly hooked up with when he needed a fresh dose of inspiration? The guy who came by every now and then when it suited him? Hell, we barely even spoke. I could hardly consider him a friend, let alone someone who could someday be more than one.
But I lied to Cassie and told her he was, “Just a friend.”
I smiled, and she nodded.
“Well, he'sgorgeous,” she replied, squeezing my arm gently. “And you guys make a freakin' hot couple. Seriously. You look amazing.”
If only.
“Thanks.”
“I have to go talk with other guests, but …” She came in for another awkward hug. “It's so good to see you. I hope you have fun, and we'll catch up soon, okay?”
Before I could reply, she was gone, and I was alone in a room full of people I barely knew from a life I'd left behind in high school and this guy who I had once wanted more than anything.
But now?
I wanted something—I knew that much.
But this wasn’t it.
“I need some air,” I said aloud, too quietly to be heard over the DJ's party music assault.
I turned to find Dylan wrinkling his nose at the foliage on his plate. Leaning down to his ear, I repeated what I'd said to myself, and he nodded.
“I'll go with you.”
Much of how I got through life came down to having an excellent memory, and I hurried ahead along the path from which we had come in. I remembered seeing an exit along the hallway we'd walked down from the chapel, and luckily, I found it without wandering into a closet or a stranger's party.
Cool air enveloped me, and I gulped it down eagerly, filling my lungs and calming my heart. Dylan's familiar step-shuffle-step approached from behind, and then his arms were around my waist. With my back to his chest, I leaned into him, closing my eyes and enjoying the quiet of the night.
“You okay?” he asked, bringing his chin down to my shoulder. His scruffy cheek brushed against mine, tickling my ear and sending shivers down my spine.
“Yeah,” I said, blowing out another shred of anxiety into the still night. “I just needed to get out of there for a minute.”
“You're so tense.” One of his hands left my waist to graze my belly and head further south. “Maybe I can fix that.”
His one arm held tight to my waist while that rogue hand gathered the skirt of my dress until it could slip underneath and cup me between my legs. And I let him do it in the middle of a barren courtyard because he was Dylan Pierce and he was my dream. This was all I’d ever wanted—him touching me, mumbling dirty things in my ear, bringing me closer, closer, closer to orgasm with the skill of someone who had done this a thousand times, writing songs about me …
