“You two enjoy yourselves tomorrow. Tonight, my lady, you’re all mine.” Rick winked and kissed her hand.
Dillon, only slightly grossed out, said goodbye and walked outside to his truck. Tomorrow, he’d officially end things with Lina as far as his family was concerned. No more worrying about what Lina had told her work about them versus what he’d told his mom. No more worrying about Mom spilling details to half the world. If he was going to do this right, things had to go back to just him and Lina. They’d be workout buddies again, hopefully soon to be more.
OceanofPDF.com
Chapter 11
“I’m telling my mom today. At lunch.”
“Telling her what exactly?” Lina asked. She picked up her water bottle from the cup holder on the elliptical machine and took a long drink.
“That we broke up. Then we can be done with the whole charade.”
Lina could feel his eyes on her, but she didn’t look at him. She concentrated on not showing her disappointment. The breakup had been her idea, but it still bothered her how much relief he’d shown when she had suggested it. He wanted distance.
“Maybe we could start over?” he added, sounding unsure.
Start over? What did that mean? Lina picked up her speed on the elliptical machine. It would be a better workout if she increased the elevation instead, but Dillon’s words made her feel like sprinting, as far and as fast as she could, and this was the closest she’d get to that. She closed her eyes and imagined the machine’s little fan blowing air in her face was the wind outside, and she was ten years old on her pink bike. Back then, they’d lived in a good neighborhood, and all the kids stayed outside until it was dark and they could barely see their way home. It had been the best year of her whole childhood. And the hardest move when the time came. But they always moved eventually. To a better job. A more affordable rental.
Starting over always sounded like a positive thing. But she’d hated it then, and she didn’t care for it much now either. She was good at it, but that almost made it worse.
She opened her eyes and saw Dillon’s concern for her etched in his face. He’d been waiting for a response, and she hadn’t given him one. Her childhood issues were not his fault. They were nobody’s fault, really.
“Start over our game, you mean?” She asked with a smile. “Do you have any mysteries left for me to unravel?”
Dillon shook his head. “Not many.”
“I’ll test that theory.” So, yes, they would start over. And that meant giving up on the idea that she and Dillon could have a real relationship or that she could keep the little place she’d carved out for herself in his quirky family. That part made her just as sad as the idea that Dillon wasn’t interested in a real relationship.
Lina moved to the treadmill to walk down her heart rate. “Are you telling your mom that you broke up with me or that I broke up with you?”
Dillon put down the weight he’d been holding with a clank. “Good question. Should I tell her it was mutual? That we broke up last night?”
“The less details you have to give, the better. I mean, the whole point of this is to stop making up lies, right? Just tell her the truth. That we’re better off as friends.”
Dillon picked up his weight and turned away. “Okay. That makes sense.”
Lina took a long drink of her water and gathered up her things. “See you tomorrow.” So they were officially broken up. At least there was some finality to that.
She jogged up to her apartment and got ready for work, purposely blasting music that made her feel good and didn’t allow for a lot of thought. She checked her email for the fourth time that morning, hoping the DNA results were back, but of course, there was no reason to believe the results would arrive on the early side of the six-to-eight-week window the company had given her.
Getting into the routine of work made her feel better. And as a bonus, Kirby was avoiding her these days. She wouldn’t be cluing him into her fake breakup with Dillon until someone new came along. That wouldn’t be for a while. If nothing else, Dillon had taught her to have a little more patience. She wouldn’t impulsively jump into another relationship just because it was better than not having one.
Her patients were her focus, and she made sure everyone was as happy to be there as was possible at a dentist appointment.
At ten, two guys came in. One as the patient, and one as the friend there for “emotional support,” though not exactly in the way Lina had been there for Brenda. The support guy leaned against the wall in the corner and cracked jokes while she cleaned his friend’s teeth. They were both attractive, and her mind immediately compared them to Dillon, showing where they came up short. It was irritating. She wanted Dillon out of her head, but he was there, taking up space against her will.
The one standing against the wall was blond and buff. In theory, he should have been better looking than Dillon, but he was like the Instagram shiny version of what a guy should be. She preferred Dillon’s ruddy complexion and serious eyes to this guy’s pretty face. Dang it. She had to stop thinking about Dillon.
The two guys told her some stories from their troublemaking days in high school, which were hilarious. They’d likely been those kids the teachers let off easy because they were just that likable. But mostly, they had a lot of questions for her, especially the blond friend, Thomas. Her patient obviously couldn’t talk as much since she was working on his mouth.
She felt Thomas’s eyes on her, and she looked up at him.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked.
Lina glanced behind her to see if anyone was in hearing range, something he didn’t miss. “Not exactly.”
Thomas laughed. “Does he know that? Poor guy.”
