She blinked, thrown by the shift in tone. “Jeez. Still intense, huh?”
He didn’t answer. Just glanced at the bathroom door, praying for a few more seconds before Ali came out and saw this trainwreck unfolding.
He needed to get this girl away. Now
Too late.
Dylan’s stomach dropped as the bathroom door swung open and Ali stepped out, still tugging down the hem of her oversized T-shirt dress, flip-flops popping. Her hair was a little wild from the car ride, her cheeks flushed from laughing just ten minutes ago. But the second her eyes landed on Jenna—with her armsstill draped around Dylan’s shoulders—something in her face shifted.
He moved instinctively, wanting to close the distance, to grab her and walk the hell away from this mess before it got worse.
But Jenna spotted her first.
“Oh myGod,” she gasped, eyes lighting up—but not in a nice way. “Wait.Ali Presley? You're still around? We thought you, like, moved out of the country after that night in Myrtle Beach.”
She giggled. Fucking giggled.
Dylan’s blood ran cold. “Don’t start, Jenna.”
But Jenna just smiled sweetly, tilting her head with faux innocence. “Are you two…here together?”
He opened his mouth to answer, but Ali’s voice cut clean and quick across the parking lot.
“No. We just ran into each other earlier,” she said, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. “He’s visiting family in Honeyshore.”
Dylan’s heart stopped.
Jenna blinked. “Oh,” she said with a sugary nod. “That makessomuch more sense.”
He turned to Ali, trying to catch her eye, trying tounderstand. But she wouldn’t look at him. Her arms stayed locked in place, like armor.
“Well, that’sadorable,” Jenna added, linking her arm through her boyfriend’s. “Good seeing you, Mac. And…Ali. You look…god you look the same.” The tone made it sound like an insult.
Dylan didn’t say a word as they walked off, Jenna’s laughter still floating on the humid air.
Silence wrapped around them like a fog. Ali’s arms stayed crossed, her lips pressed tight. She didn’t reach for his hand. Didn’t say anything.
And Dylan?
Dylan waswrecked.
His pulse thudded painfully as they walked back to the Jeep. Every step pounded with the same thought: she still didn’t want him.
Not really.
After everything they’d shared. The whispers. The I love yous. The promise of more. The fuckingheels.
And yet, when it counted—when someone from their past showed up—she acted like he was a stranger.
She hadn’t just denied him.
She’derasedhim.
He gripped the steering wheel as they reached the car, jaw tight, chest hollow. She climbed in without a word. Didn’t even look at him.
Dylan stared out, his fists clenched in his lap.
She still couldn’t claim him.
