I look down at the ocean below. It’s an unusually hot February day in Los Angeles. The sun is shining brightly, making the ocean shimmer in the light, and the breeze is minimal. Impulsively, I take off my shirt.
Dylan’s lips part. “Did I miss something? Like a come-on line?”
“Nope. I want to get a suntan.” I grab his sunglasses off his head, put them over my eyes, and lie down in one of his numerous lounge chairs.
Dylan sits in the chair next to me and takes his shirt off. “Do you want company?”
“Of course. The sun’s here for all of us.”
He lies back. After about a minute, I feel his hand touching mine. I look over.
“Is it okay for me to tell you I’m glad we’re here together or will that freak you out?”
I smile at him. “No, silly. I’m glad, too. This has been fun. Funner than I thought it would be.”
“Funner? Is that a word?”
“It is now.” I grab his hand back and hold it tightly.
He looks at me so intensely my heart jumps. “Jasalie, I love you.”
Say it back to him, you fool. Say it. Three damn words. Just freaking say them.
My throat constricts, and I start to cough, and hack, and practically gag.
“You still sick?” Dylan hands me his water bottle.
I spend the next minute sipping the water. When I’m done, I hand the bottle back to him and manage a smile. “Yeah, I guess so. I’ll just rest a while.”
Before he can answer me, his cell phone rings. Assuming it will be one of his teammates, I lean back on the chaise lounge and close my eyes.
“Oh, hi.”
I hear him get up and leave the patio and then shut the living room door for privacy.
My pulse picks up.
What if it’s some woman he didn’t tell me about?
When Dylan comes out a short while later, he gives me a kiss. “So my dad called.”
I freeze.
“Yeah, I figured this might be an issue.” Dylan starts talking very fast like that will help to keep me from bolting. “Look, my parents are going to be in town this afternoon for his shoe business. My brother will be there, too. He works for my dad.”
I think I may black out.
“I said you and I wouldmaybemeet them for a picnic.”
There they are.
Those two dreaded words I was waiting for.
Meet them.
I stay still, very still, almost like if I appear invisible, Dylan will forget I’m here, and he’ll just leave without me.
“Just a picnic,” he says. “We’ll drive to the park on the cliffs overlooking the water, eat, then drive back. Sound okay?”
