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“All right.”
“My first kiss with Abbie was supposed to be world changing. Earth shattering. The kind that curls her toes and leaves her gasping for breath.”
“Yourfirstkiss with Abbie?”
I was silent for a heartbeat. I hadn’t meant to let that slip. “Yeah. So?”
Dylan chuckled. “Didn’t know men who worked as fast as you believed in taking it slow.”
“Abbie’s different. Abbie’s… Abbie.”
“I get it. She’s special.”
Dylan had met Abbie many times on his trips to Valentine Bay. Flirted with her, too. She’d enjoyed his game but never took him seriously. We’d been young, and Abbie flirted with everyone, and it had bothered me less at the time than it did thinking about it now, which was stupid.
“Yeah. She is.”
“And she’s living with you now?”
“For a few days.”
“So, this is your chance. Stop tiptoeing around the fact that you want this girl.” He paused. “You do want her, right?”
“Yeah,” I agreed softly. It felt good to finally say it out loud. “I do.”
“And she wants you?”
I opened my mouth to say yes before I realised that wasn’t technically the truth. Abbie might want me, but she didn’twantto want me. I huffed out a dry, self-mocking laugh. “That’s debatable.”
“Fuck it. You’ll never get an opportunity like this again, and you’ll hate yourself if you don’t make the most of it.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. Dylan’s suggestion made me equal parts uncomfortable and excited. “And how do I do that, exactly?”
Dylan laughed wryly. “My experience with women is limited these days. You know more about seducing someone than I do. I promise you that.”
“Yeah, well. My moves don’t work on Abbie.”
“Then it’s time to get some new ones.”
I imagined trying something on Abbie. Something more than the teasing suggestions and overt innuendo we volleyed back and forth all the time. Something she’d have to take seriously. Something that would force her to takemeseriously.
Then I pictured the swift rejection that would follow, and the wave of anticipation flattened. Even if my intentions were real—maybe, especially if they were—Abbie would rebuff any advance I made, and I was sick of playing games ofwhat-ifin my head.
Weariness washed over me. I’d never second-guessed myself as much as I had this last week—as a father, as a business owner, as a man—and the possibility I might not be good enough for any of it was wearing me down. In the past, I’d always consoled myself with the knowledge that at least I was a king in the sack, but when it came to Abbie, that didn’t matter.
I rubbed my eyes and exhaled. “Yeah. Maybe.”
“Listen, it’s late here, and I’ve got an early start at the restaurant in the morning, so I’ve got to go. But call me anytime, okay? Baby advice. Business advice. Whatever you need. I’m here.”
“I appreciate that, and I’m going to take you up on it.”
“Good. And Will?”
“Yeah?”
“All jokes aside, fatherhood is the best thing that ever happened to me. It’s hard, and some days it hurts, but Izzy is the reason I get up in the morning. She’s the reason I work so damn hard at the restaurant and the reason we’re busting our asses over here to save Silver Leaf. She’s a miracle, and I thank the Universe for her every fucking day.”
I smiled a little at the ferocity in Dylan’s tone. “Yeah, I believe that. I kind of already feel that way about Seb.”
