I sit on the bed, crossing my legs. That balloon I was floating on pops.
He leans over and kisses my cheek. “I’m going to take a shower. Call them and get it over with.”
As the door shuts with his departure, I stare at my hands. Is Dylan right? Maybe he is. I slide off the bed, grab my phone, and dial my parents.
They both answer.
“Was it you? We heard that Johann didn’t solve it, but someone did.” My mom acts as if she’s been waiting to find out if a loved one came of surgery okay. This isn’t life or death.
I say, “I’d like to set up a dinner. Us and my new boyfriend.”
“Sweetheart, did you not hear your mother?” my dad asks.
“Did you not hear me?” I snip.
“Fine. We’ll do a dinner, but answer the question,” my mom says.
“My boyfriend is Dylan. We’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks.”
“Well, we’ve met Dylan, sweetheart,” my dad says. “And I hoped you were dating him since you were kissing him.”
“He’s in a different role in my life now. I want you to have dinner with him as my boyfriend.”
“This is ridiculous. Answer the question, Rian. Did you solve the problem?” My mom’s last ounce of patience runs out.
Part of me wants to tell them no, that it wasn’t me, but they won’t stop until they find out. Then I’d have a whole other host of problems. “I did.”
“You did?” my mom’s shocked voice says she didn’t have a lot of faith in me.
“Yes.”
“Oh, my God. Okay. Okay.” My mom can’t get a hold of her breath.
“You okay there, honey?” my dad asks. “Are you hyperventilating?”
“I’m good. We’ll call you back. I have to call the Fredericksons. Plan the dinner or whatever you want.”
“Way to go, sweetheart,” my dad says right before the line dies.
I turn off my phone and sit on the edge of the bed.
Dylan is right. I’m allowing them to treat me like this, and I’m the one who needs to make it stop.
Dylan’s acting weird. He left to go to work with only a small peck on my lips. Usually I have to push him out the door. As I enter Ink Envy with a dinner for everyone, I’m not sure what I’ll be walking into. But I didn’t plan on finding Dylan on a table with Lyle holding a tattoo machine to his calf. An array of girls are circled around, asking Dylan a million questions.
“Hey, babe,” Frankie says, looking up as she tattoos some guy.
“Forget Phillips. I’m starving,” Jax says from behind the table in the front.
I set the boxes of pizza on the counter. Dylan doesn’t even notice that I walked in. A redhead on his right paws at his arm, asking questions about his tattoos. He still hasn’t seen me, and it probably says something about my trust level that I prefer it that way.
“What are we doing?” Jax leans forward, putting his chin in his palm and staring at the scene.
“Just observing,” I say.
Dylan moves his arm so her finger falls off, and he explains nicely about the tattoo.
“Observing if he’s flirting?” Jax asks.
I look at him and his eyebrows are raised. I wave Jax off and he chuckles, sitting back down.
“Asking for trouble,” he says, picking up the journal thing I’ve seen him carrying around lately.
The redhead blocks my view again as Dylan lifts his T-shirt to show some tattoo that they’re talking about. Her hand reaches out to touch him, but he drops the T-shirt and says something to her that makes her face red. She goes to stand next to her friends.
“And you thought you couldn’t trust the guy,” Jax says, shaking his head. His feet fall with a thud on the floor. “Lack of trust is the number one killer of a relationship.”
“Shut up. I was just…”
He raises those damn eyebrows at me again.
I sigh. “So sue me.”
“Hey, Phillips,” Jax calls, and Dylan peeks up. “Your girl is here.”
“Come here. I’m letting Lyle tattoo me.” Dylan waves me over. When I get to the table, he cradles my cheek, kissing me so deep that my knees actually weaken. “I missed you. These are Lyle’s fans,” Dylan says, winking at me.
I nod. Yeah, right.
After Lyle finishes the small tattoo, the girls—who found out Dylan is off the market—are chatting in the waiting area. He gets up off the table and stands in front of me.
“Can we talk?” I ask.
Dylan tilts his head, but we both know things weren’t comfortable this morning. I can’t help but think it has to do with my parents. One thing I know about Dylan is that the future scares him. Like when he thought I was ready to walk down the aisle and pop out a bunch of babies. Or when I flippantly made a comment about going on a vacation together next year when a commercial came on. Other than a joke about a nude beach, I got nothing.
“Sure.” Dylan grabs one pizza box and nods toward his office.
“Thanks, Rian!” Frankie smiles. “And no little people in there to stop you from doing whatever you want to do.”
I laugh.
Once we’re behind closed doors, Dylan drops the pizza on his desk and sits, patting his lap. “What’s up?”
I sit down and put my arms around his neck. “We’re okay?”
“Yeah.” He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “We’re great. Why?”
“Just this morning. When I said you were wrong about my parents… it felt weird after.”
He runs a hand up and down my outer thigh. “I shouldn’t have given you advice. What do I know about parents?”
“You were right. When I called them and told them about us dating and how I wanted to plan a dinner, all my mom cared about was whether I won. As soon as I told her I had, she hung up to call Johann’s parents.”
He frowns. “I’m sorry. But I still think you should celebrate for yourself.”
I nod.
“Hey.” He squeezes my thigh. “I’m taking you out tomorrow. A fancy restaurant where we toast to your accomplishment.”
“We don’t have to.” I look away.
He puts his finger under my chin, bringing my gaze back to him. “Yes, we do.”
I smile and rest my head on his shoulder. “Thanks.”
“You’re my girl. This is boyfriend duties, right?”
I chuckle and kiss the hollow of his neck. I guess it doesn’t matter how many small things come up as long as we get through them. That’s what makes a strong couple.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Dylan
The day has finally come. Rian and I sit in the doctor’s office, waiting for him to come in and take off this damn cast.
Rian sits in a chair against the wall. “I want you to prepare yourself, because once I have use of both arms, all bets are off. You will be thoroughly fucked tonight.”
She giggles and crosses her legs. “You’ll hear no complaints from me.”
“You might once you see what I can do with two hands.” I wink, and she blushes.