My heart belongs to Dylan Whitman.
In the morning, I pick up Chloe from my mom’s house. When we get home, Chloe squeals “Dyyan!” the second she sees him. He scoops her up, and she pats his face, both of them laughing in complete joy.
How could he only be here for one night, and it already feels like he belongs here?
I miss him before he’s even left.
We take our time driving to Windy Harbor. We go to the aquarium in Duluth, and even though we’re full from lunch and all the treats, we still stop at Betty’s Pies when we reach Cloquet. Chloe is on an attention and sugar high, and afterbeing slap-happy for a few hours, she conks out on the rest of the drive. It’s early evening when we pull into the garage of the cute little house we stayed in a few weeks ago. Dylan turns and grins at me.
“I like that we already have memories here,” he says, leaning over to kiss me.
It’s the next afternoon before Dylan goes to spend time with his family. He didn’t tell them exactly when he was getting in, and the plan had been for him to spend the day with them and his nights with me. He didn’t want to go today either, but my dad messaged with some paperwork he insisted I get done immediately, and right around the same time, Dylan’s family thread blew up.
“You should go. Hang out with them, and I’ll get this done.”
“But you and Chloe need to eat, and I don’t want to miss out on a second,” he says, his hands gripping my waist.
“I know, but I’ll feel terrible making you wait when you could be seeing your family. Chloe will be napping, and if you’re still not back when she wakes up, we’ll go grab a quick bite and see you later.” I lean up and whisper the rest in his ear: “I’ll meet you back in bed.”
He gives me a long kiss, his hands squeezing my ass, and groans when I pull away. “Okay, I’ll go so you can get your work done.”
It’s a couple of hours before I’m done, and Chloe is awake and hungry, so we go out. It’s one of those bright winter days where the sun tries its best. We walk inside a cute little place called The Loon. It’s crowded, but we’re able to get a table. A group of women laughs loudly across the way, and when I give them a closer look, I freeze.
I recognize two instantly—Goldie and Juju. I’ve seen lots of pictures of Goldie by now, and she’s even more gorgeousin person. Dylan’s shown me a few of Juju too, and there must be something in the water around here because she’s also beautiful. They all are. The third I’m pretty sure is Erin, their family friend. She’s got the vibrant attitude from over here, and she’s way cooler than I could ever be in her black combat boots and bright red lipstick.
But it’s the fourth woman who punches the air out of my lungs. She has dark hair and eyes the same shape as mine.
Ava.
My sister.
I’m almost sure of it.
I sit there, pretending not to stare while absolutely staring. My heart thuds. I want to go over there and introduce myself so badly, but…what if she wants nothing to do with me? Anger at my father flares hot and deep. If he’d just told me about her and introduced us, I wouldn’t have to wonder.
And then—because the universe has a twisted sense of humor—Dylan walks in.
With his brothers.
His eyes scan the room, find me, and widen.
My pulse rockets. If he acts too surprised, if he walks straight to me, if he says my name with that look he gives me when we’re alone—everyone will know.
But he plays it cool.
And I chat away to Chloe so she doesn’t spot him and yell “DYYAN!” across the room.
I don’t know how I manage to eat, but a woman named Lorraine convinces me to try the Tater Tot hotdish, which is so good, I eat every bite.
When I feel eyes on me, I look up and Dylan gives a tiny tilt of his head. He stands up in the next second, his eyes still on me, and my face goes hot.
“Come on, Chloe, let’s go to the bathroom.”
“Okay,” she says.
He reaches the hallway before we do, and Chloe jumps up and down when she sees him. He picks her up, and she leans her head on his shoulder. I’m so shaken by seeing Ava that I melt into him, hands in his hair, trying to remember how to breathe. He holds on to me, hugging me tight.
And then I hear a throat clear.
