“Thanks. She called me that during my awkward teenage years when I had acne and braces.”
“Oh, the gawky teenager.” He gave a soft chuckle. “I grew so fast one year that I was the king of clumsy because nothing was the same distance it’d been even a couple of months earlier. I was constantly misjudging things.”
“I did that when I was pregnant.” Rae considered his handsome face. “Amelia’s right about you. I’m surprised you don’t have a girlfriend.”
“I did until a year ago. I thought I’d told you about her. We broke up not long before I got Jayden. I was already getting him a lot, and she said I had to choose between him and her.” Dylan shrugged.
The back of Rae’s eyes burned. She wasn’t surprised at the choice he’d made. He wasthatkind of guy. The memory of her friend’s daughter came to mind. She’d found out the hard way that a “significant other” could mistreat children from a previous marriage. And sometimes kill them.
“You’re a good man,” Rae finally said.
“I try to be. All I have to do is the opposite of what my father would have done.” Dylan rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess no parent’s completely worthless. They can always serve as a bad example.”
“I’ve only met your dad once. He did come across as kind of cold, but I’ll bet he believes he’s doing what’s best. He could be worse.” She met Dylan’s gaze, thinking of her friend. “So much worse.”
“Maybe.” He heaved out a breath. “I remember the look on Nora’s face when he’d rant about her failings and what a disappointment she was. He’s such a drill sergeant, even now. In high school my curfew was ten.Ten.I was such a boy scout, always trying to win his approval. I did exactly what he wanted me to, no matter how unreasonable it was. And he still wouldn’t trust me, always assuming the worst. In the end, both Nora and I ended up rebelling.”
“Like you dropping out of college and going to work as a bug sprayer because he thought it beneath you?” Rae shifted in her chair again to face him. “Oppositional defiance, anyone?”
“You got me there.” Dylan gave a dark chuckle. “Bit off my nose to spite my face, as Amelia would say, didn’t I? Not that I’m sorry. Sure, it’s harder now to go to school than it would have been when I didn’t have Jayden, but when my father was paying the tuition, I had to study whathewanted.” He glanced at her, doubt flashing across his face. “You don’t think I should have studied law like he was demanding, do you?”
“Not if you didn’t want to be a lawyer which you’ve said before you didn’t. What were you like in high school? Were you one of the hot guys?”
“Hot guys? Right. We had the right address to run with the popular kids, but I never liked them. Their games reminded me too much of the ones my father played.”
“And if your curfew was ten, you weren’t a partier.”
“Definitely not. At least not until I moved out.” He went quiet, his expression taking on the worry she saw whenever he spoke of his sister.
“What?” Rae asked.
“I did a lot of stupid stuff the first six months I was on my own. After what happened to Nora, I’ve wondered why I didn’t end up like her. Why did she get hooked and I didn’t?”
“From what I’ve read, addiction’s a complicated thing. It’s not always just physical. I’m glad you came to your senses before it trapped you too. Where would Jayden be without you?”
Where would she have been without Dylan?
“What about you?” he asked.
“Me? I was kind of a nerd and ran with the brainiacs. I didn’t even go to prom.” Her cheeks went hot.
“I didn’t go either—because of my stupid curfew.” He was watching her with such an intense gaze. “Why does that bother you?”
“Because it’s kind of a rite of passage I didn’t get to experience. I didn’t fit the mold and so much of my self-esteem was tied to fitting in. Which I didn’t.”
“It shouldn’t be tied.”
“I know that now, but back then it was proof to me I wasn’t attractive which meant I wasn’t good enough.”
“You don’t feel that way now, do you?” Dylan leaned forward, forcing her to meet his gaze, like he thought she’d lie to him. He seemed oddly intense tonight.
“No,” Rae said. “Mike helped me with that.”
“I’m guessing you didn’t know him in high school then.”
“We met in college. I didn’t really know what I wanted to study anyway, so when we got married, I quit school and worked while Mike finished his degree.”
“Are you sorry you dropped out?”
