“Oh fine,” Kerry said, sounding disappointed. “He is one good-looking piece of ass.”
“You’re welcome to him,” I said, even though I didn’t like the idea of her getting involved with him. Still, better her than me. Not only would I have to worry about what Dylan might do to me—because I knew his type well, and he had heartbreaker tattooed on his forehead—I would also needed to worry about what Bobby might say.
I didn’t love the fact that Bobby was so protective, but I understood it. Growing up, we’d only had one another. To this day, he was still looking out for me. A guy like Dylan only meant trouble.
As much as I was attracted to Dylan, and as much as I liked the idea of him pinning me to the closest surface and having his way with me, I also knew better. I spent the next hour avoiding him as best I could, only accidentally locking eyes with him once.
Of course, that was how I ended up stuck in a conversation with Ryan. I’d met him at Kelsey and Nick’s wedding, and he was just as boring now as he had been then. He’d at least been drinking before, now he was quick to tell me that he was completely abstaining for health reasons and that he had never felt so clear-headed and productive in his life.
Then, he proceeded to tell me all about the productive things he was doing at the moment and I was bored to tears. Investing and app design were two of his main interests and he kept rambling about them, not realizing that I was falling asleep in front of his eyes.
I scanned the party, looking for anyone I hadn’t talked with so that I could escape, but I couldn’t see anyone I hadn’t already spoken to. I debated telling Ryan that I really didn’t give a shit about any of this, but he was one of Nick’s closest friends. We were bound to see one another in the future and I didn’t want to make things more awkward than they already were.
I was about ready to keel over and die of boredom when someone finally did swoop in, coming to my rescue.
“Hey,” Dylan said, appearing at our side. He was giving me a concerned look. “Someone said that your car is the silver one parked behind mine. It looks like it’s leaking oil.”
I felt my heart stop for a moment. This couldn’t be happening, unless he had screwed with my car so that he could offer me a ride home, but I doubted he would stoop that low. I had just taken it in for a checkup recently and everything had been fine. Car repair wasn’t exactly in the budget for this month, so I hurried after him, giving only a cursory glance at Ryan before leaving.
I immediately dropped down on the pavement next to my beloved car. But it was as clean as it had been when I drove up. I scowled up at Dylan. He rolled his eyes, looking amused.
“Come on, you can’t tell me that you were actually enjoying that conversation,” he said. He reached out a hand and helped me to my feet, then pulled a beer from behind his back. “Let me make it up to you?”
I stared down at the beer, then up at his face. I didn’t want to feel like I owed him anything. On the other hand, it wasn’t as if he had bought the beer. He had probably just snagged it out of the fridge inside.
I grabbed it from him, popping it open and took a sip, enjoying how refreshing it was. I had to admit, it felt good to be away from Ryan and his non-stop, boring chatter. Still, I couldn’t forget that it had been Dylan who had rescued me.
“So what?” I asked him. “Are you always going around trying to save damsels in distress? Is this one of your things?”
Dylan laughed. “Not exactly my M.O. but I couldn’t just leave you there,” he said. “You looked ready to die, and Bobby would probably figure out some way to make it my fault.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “You know about my brother?”
Dylan snorted. “Your brother came up to me in training the other day and basically told me that he’s got eyes on me and he’ll kill me if I go near you again.” He looked around as though he was worried and then whispered. “You don’t think he’s got people here, do you?”
I rolled my eyes at his antics, but I couldn’t help feeling a little amused. “Doubtful, but I’m surprised that you and I have friends in common. Why are you here?”
“It’s not for you, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Dylan said, looking uncomfortable. “Nick’s one of my cousin’s good friends. I met him in Belford one summer, and he’s one of the few people that I know down here. He helped me find the place where I’m staying, actually.” He paused. “When he invited me to a barbecue, I didn’t realize just how many people would be here.”
I blinked in surprise. “There’s so many things to respond to,” I said while shaking my head. “I’ve been to Belford. My brother inherited a house on Lake Catherine. Belford is the closest town where to buy groceries.”
It was Dylan’s turn to look mildly surprised. “Well, you’ve probably at least heard of my family, then. My last name’s Meyers. My uncle owns—”
“The baseball fields,” I finished for him, because everyone had heard of Gary Meyers and his sons. “Wow.” It was hard to see any family resemblance. Dylan didn’t look like a baseball player. At the same time, there was no reason for him to make it
