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“When you hesitate, I think you may have changed your mind about us.”
He shook his head. “No. But we need to get some things settled between us. Before, in the heat of the moment I forgot to ask you if you were protected. I’m sorry for that.”
“It’s okay.” I was a bit embarrassed because if I admitted to being on birth control, it would put images of Alan and me in Dylan’s head. I didn’t want that but knew I had to tell the truth. “I am.”
He nodded, digesting the information but not commenting on it. “We should be honest with each other about what’s going on in each of our lives. I never expected to show up late on a Friday night and find Alan here.”
“Kind of like showing up at the ranch and finding Christy there, huh?” I flushed the minute the words were out of my mouth. Why was I sabotaging us? Didn’t we have enough to get over as it was, and didn’t I just say I wanted to fix things? Ugh! I inwardly moaned.
Dylan’s face hardened and he pushed up into a sitting position, untangling our bodies and then stood up. “No. You invited Alan here. Christy just showed up at the ranch. How many times do I have to say it?” He stalked away and into the hall, grabbed his bag, and disappeared into the bathroom before I could utter a sound.
“It was a spur of the minute thing,” I called after him. “I’d been at the hospital late, he called and offered to bring dinner. That’s all it was. I didn’t exactly invite him.”
The door clicked behind him, and I inhaled deeply then flopped back on the sofa.
Awesome, Remi. Way to go!I thought.
Even though he didn’t speak and the water in the shower started to run, I could hear his voice inside my head saying that if I didn’t believe him soon, we were sunk.
“What an idiot!” I chastised myself out loud.
Maybe it was time to grow up and take him at his word, leave the past in the past and just allow myself to be happy without second guessing everything. I wanted to, but would I be able to do it? I wasn’t sure, and telling Dylan that I could, might only turn into more dishonesty between us.
I sucked in a deep breath and stared at the ceiling trying to figure out how to fix everything during his time in the shower. When he emerged, his hair was damp and he was in a fresh pair of dark jeans and a white T-shirt, but his feet were bare. He was carrying his bag and set it on the table on one end of the kitchen. He pulled out a pair of white leather sneakers and a pair of socks, glancing in my direction at the same time.
“Look, should I just go?” Dylan asked. “Maybe just showing up here wasn’t such a stellar idea.”
I shook my head, suddenly feeling sad that our warm morning in each other’s arms had turned into this.
“No. I want you to stay. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say what I said.” I hoped my sincerity came through in my tone. I got up and walked to him and put my hand on his hard, flat stomach.
When he didn’t respond, I lifted on my tiptoes because I wanted to kiss him. When Dylan didn’t bend down to meet me, I could only reach just above his collar bone. My lips landed on his skin and his fresh clean scent assailed my nostrils. Then I rested my forehead against his chest. “You know I love you, right?” His resistance had made me tear up and my voice was tight.
Finally, his hands came up to my upper arms and slid down to my elbows and then back up again. He placed two kisses on the top of my head. “Yeah. Me, too. Now hurry and shower, I’m starving.”
I left him and went into my small apartment’s one bathroom. It was still steamy from when Dylan was there with a hint of his cologne still in the air. He had neatly hung the two towels he’d used back on the racks. I went to get two dry ones from the linen closet in the hall thinking how perfect he was in every way, and I could hear he had flipped on ESPN. Both of his parents still worked at the network, but now both were producers. Jensen still hosted an occasional football game in the fall, but Missy was strictly behind the scenes though they both still had to travel some of the time.
I remembered how many times Dylan and later Josh came to stay with my family when Missy and Jensen had both been on assignment at the same time. We spent so much time together growing up that it never occurred to me that there would ever be a time when we weren’t a big part of each other’s lives. When it happened, it was not only unexpected, it hurt.
My own stomach rumbled reminding me that Dylan was waiting in the other room. I quickly hopped in the shower and then quickly followed Dylan’s lead by donning jeans and a more feminine style of T-shirt and in a fuchsia color that I hoped gave my cheeks some color. Plus, Rory loved pink and she wouldn’t be feeling great today after her chemo the day before. I was anxious for Dylan to meet her but wished it were on a day when she wasn’t feeling so sick.
Dylan
I couldn’t believe how much I loved Remi. I always knew it, but waking up with her in my arms felt so perfect that I wished we could be together every day.
Just looking at her perfect profile as she stared at the menu above the counter of this busy breakfast joint made my heart swell to the point of pain. There was nothing I wanted more than Remi and somehow, I had to make it work. We might not always get along, but she was my best friend; my soulmate, and I’d marry her today if I could.
The restaurant was even louder and more bustling than Remi said it would be and the line was out the door and around the small building. We hadn’t talked about anything that we needed to, but there was a closeness between us. We were holding hands and I thrilled when her free hand closed possessively around the inside of my elbow, and she leaned her head against my shoulder. There were a couple of times I couldn’t keep myself from leaning down and kissing her luscious lips. To my delight, Remi responded, opening her mouth, and participated in the give and take of affection. My body reacted and reluctantly, I had to pull away or risk making a scene. We felt connected and I couldn’t keep my hands off her.
The restaurant was not the sit-down style with waiters, so I was surprised that the food listed on the menu was not typical fast-food fare. “What’s good here?” I leaned down and upped the volume of my voice slightly so she could hear me over the din.
Remi smiled and shot me a loving glance. “Everything!”
Many of the dishes did look amazing, I had to admit, but one thing made me cringe. “Why do so many of entrée’s come with grits?” I asked.
Remi laughed. “It’s not that much different than South Carolina! Just order it without them. Get fruit or hash browns instead.”
The food had better be good because the noise and the lines were sort of annoying. You had to get your own food and bring it to your table on top of it. “What’s your favorite thing?”
