I smiled though it wavered. Just dealing with one man was enough.
“Bring Dean,” Seb shrugged.
At the mention of his name, Dean’s head snapped up. The phone was still pressed to his ear as he watched us with a curious frown on his face. I could already feel my face burning as I looked away.
Seb said, “He’s got nothing on tomorrow. It’ll give him something to do. And he’s too intimidating for there to even be competition.”
“That’s true,” Jen agreed.
“I-I don’t know, Seb. It's honestly not that big a deal.” I was talking quickly, fully aware Dean had finished his phone call and was walking straight for us. I could feel the embarrassment bubbling up already. Of all the things to ask Dean help for, this wasn’t what I had in mind.
“What are you getting me into now?” Dean crossed his arms as he slowed to a stop beside Seb.
“Our girl needs your help tomorrow.” Seb threw an arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side, grinning as he did. I tried not to look too offended by the smell of beer on his breath as I awkwardly smiled back.
Dean’s eyes slid to me. “Are you in trouble?”
The look on his face alone conveyed enough of what he was thinking.
I stammered and straightened. “It’s not that kind of help. I don’t even need it.”
“Oh, she needs it. Butterfingers hasn’t been reading her signals very well,” Xavier said, snuffing out his cigarette. I sent him a subtle glare that he responded to with a wink. His oversharing tonight really wasn’t helping. Then again, neither was my own.
Dean tilted his head slightly. “The guy from today?”
“Yes, but—”
“No, buts,” Xavier tutted.
Seb sniggered to himself. “Butts.”
Dean’s attention slid to Seb. “And you didn’t volunteer yourself, because?”
“I’ve got my own family thing on.”
“Your family doesn’t celebrate Independence Day,” Dean said skeptically.
Seb blinked twice, opened his mouth, and then immediately shut it again when he couldn’t think of anything to say. Instead, he waved off Dean’s comment, blowing a raspberry as he did, before gesturing to me. “This woman hid you from the police. The least you can do is return the favor.”
“He already has,” I offered quietly.
Dean’s eyes lingered on me, a faint smile on his lips. Not of amusement but conveying an understanding of exactly what I was talking about.
“He can do it again.” Seb turned to Dean, poking his bicep. “She needs your skills of intimidation.”
“But Oliver has met him. He’ll have questions.” It was hard not to let the anxiety over all this set in. I shouldn’t have said anything.
Dean’s full attention was on me. “Do you wanna keep seein’ him?”
“Well, no, but I don’t want to hurt his feelings either.”
“Lily, please,” Jen scoffed from nearby. “From what you’ve said, he’s been ignoring yours since the first date. He’ll live.”
I couldn’t believe this was happening; that it was being discussed, or that I was even considering going through with it. Oliver would be blindsided, my mother would flip, and my father…
Everyone’s eyes were on me. Xavier found way too much joy in the drama itself, and Jen was watching me with a knowing grin. They were the only two who knew about Dad’s occupation. I looked at Dean. He offered me the slightest of smiles and shrugged.
Slipping his hands into the pockets of his jeans, he said, “It’s up to you, Lily.”
