“Drink.” He holds a straw to my lips. “We can talk later.”
I obey for a short sip of coconut-flavored water, tingles racing up my arm as it comes back to consciousness. Pebbles wriggles and twists in Dylan’s other arm. “Sam,” I blurt.
“She’s here too. Safe and sound.”
Thank God.I let my eyelids flutter closed while my eyes leak. “Good.”
“More water, Tavi. And Juliana sent banana bread.”
I whimper. Juliana’s one of the locals who welcomed us with open arms, and she makes the best banana bread.
“Smells better than microwave breakfast sandwiches,” he adds.
“I don’t deserve you.”
He growls softly, and my nipples stand at attention. “Pebbles, go find Naomi,” he says.
The bed sags next to me, and then his body lines up with mine. “Open your eyes,” he orders.
I pry them back open. My cheeks are wet. My mouth is dry, and my breath smells awful, even to me. I still can’t move my arms.
And Dylan’s right there, nose to nose with me, those beautiful brown eyes deep and serious. “You deserve every good thing in the whole fucking world.”
I blink back tears again.“I lied to you.”
“Did you?”
“That was Sam who almost stepped in front of the garbage truck that first time you thought you saw me after the locker room thing,” I whisper.
He blinks once, then grins. “So you kept ducking me because she started it.”
This man. Hegetsme. “I faked my ankle injury, and I knew for a week I was leaving and didn’t tell you.”
“You never toldmeyour ankle was hurt. Did you not tell me you were leaving because you didn’t trust me or because you didn’t want me to have to carry the secret?”
“Stop it.”
His brows go up.
“Stop excusing me for doing terrible things,” I whisper.
“Will you trust me next time?”
“There won’tbea next time. It’s over. I’m not going back. Irefuseto go back. I hate being somewhere that I have to play all of those games to please people who will never be happy, no matter what I do. I’m never going anywhere or doing anything where I have to lie to anyone ever again.”
“Your grandmother’s leaving Tickled Pink.”
My gasp of surprise comes all the way from the deepest part of my soul.“What?”
“And your father filed legal paperwork to remove her as the custodian of your trust fund so that you can get it back.”
“I don’t want their fucking money.”
“He told me to tell you that you can have a third of his too. All he asks in return is that you let him know sometime where you donated it.”
I stare at him, more tears leaking out of my eyes.“Why?”
“Seems he paid enough attention to know a little something about who you are and what you’ll do with money you don’t want. Carter’s getting a third, and Phoebe’s getting the other third. Guess it’s true what they say about money not buying happiness.”
