Our eyes catch and hold.
“You okay?” he asks me. “You weren’t acting like yourself earlier.”
“I know.” I reach for his hand impulsively. “I wanted to apologize for acting weird before.”
“Maybe this has nothing to do with us. Maybe this is about stuff that happened long before we met.”
I remember the kids from today, and I bite down hard on my lip.
Dylan tips his forehead into mine. “Jasalie, what’s going on? I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me.”
“I’m flying back to L.A. tomorrow morning,” I say to him. “Our work here is over. And you know what that means.”
“No strings. No commitment.” A shadow crosses over his face.
“Right. Tonight is our last night together.”
The air thickens around us as we stand in silence and stare at each other.
“I want more than one night with you, Jasalie,” he murmurs as he strokes my hand with his thumb.
That little motion has me so turned on I nearly moan. “More than one night,” I whisper. “That would be…”
He increases the pressure with his thumb, and my entire body ignites with heat.
“That would be nice,” I get out.
His gaze locks on mine. “So as I’ve proven already, I’m no better at navigating this thing between us than you are,” he says in a hoarse tone. “But how about we extend our affair?”
I tilt my head. “What do you mean?”
“Will you stay in Arizona an extra night?” he asks, his eyes filled with vulnerability. “With me?”
My heart comes into my throat as I realize what he’s asking me. “So I stay here tonight as planned, and then I stay tomorrow night as well?”
“If you’re comfortable. If not, I’ll pay for you to stay in your own room one extra night, and we’ll hang out. We wouldn’t be breaking our no-strings promise—remember, what goes on in the desert, stays in the desert. We never actually said when we’d leave the desert.”
I have images of moving into the hotel in Tucson, just to be able to be with Dylan but not worry about a future with him.
Dylan’s eyes are open and honest when he says, “I hope you feel this, too. Or even close to it. Because if you do, I can’t imagine you leaving without giving it a try.”
“I feel it, Dylan.” I touch his hand. “Our connection has been pretty much impossible to ignore.”
“So, what do you say? Will you stay?”
“Yes.” I put aside the warnings of my mind. For once, I’m going to give it a go with my heart. “I’ll stay.”
And before I can change my mind, I text Rosita to make sure she can take care of Bessie and Balaster.
* * *
Lilla and I stand together and wait while Dylan says good-bye to every single teammate.
“Isn’t he seeing them all soon enough?” I say.
She shrugs. “These team things are like cults. Gang mentalities.”
“Lilla!” I laugh. “Come on.”
