Dylan (Bachelors of the Ridge #1) (11 page)

“Are you hungry?” he asked suddenly, standing up in a quick movement that had me blinking up at him. Because I was still on the grass, and he was so, so tall, I had to shield my eyes from the sun in order to see up into his face.

“I guess so.”

“Good.” He held out a hand to help me up. I stared at it for a few long seconds, and then carefully slid my hand into his, letting him pull me up with ease. “Because I got groceries yesterday. And I think this kind of conversation demands breakfast for dinner. Don’t you?”

The back of my eyes felt heavy and hot, the press of tears making me blink. “Do you have bacon?”

He slung an arm around my shoulders with a laugh. “Of course, I have bacon. What kind of bachelor would I be if I didn’t?”

“A terrible one,” I agreed, trying not to burrow into the heat of his large body where it was pressed up against me. My soul felt lighter, if that was possible. He hadn’t pitied me. Hadn’t pushed me for too much, just listened to whatever I felt like sharing with him.

Leonidas trotted after us and we paused to let him stumble through the open slider into the house before Dylan motioned for me to go ahead of him. Before I did, I saw his reflection in the glass, and caught the sadness in his eyes before he pinched them closed.

“Come on, Sprite,” he said once he’d opened them again. “Breakfast won’t make itself.”

I
f I thought
I’d watched Kat before, it was child’s play to how much I did now. Every night that she worked— which had been a few extra shifts this past week since two other servers were sick— it was almost impossible for me to focus on anything else. My shifts went by at warp speed until she got there, and then everything slowed and came into focus.

The evening she told me about her background, I knew from the look in her eyes just how badly she needed me not to pity her, so I hadn’t. Maybe I should have told her what had actually been running through my head while I listened to her talk, because it was the exact opposite of pity.

I was in awe of her.

Now every time I saw her smile and tease a customer, make a coworker laugh or encourage Brian when he did something well, all I could do was shake my head. Part of the awe came from the fact that she was so damn positive all the time. I never saw her grumpy at work, either at the bar or at the clinic when I brought Leonidas in for his regular appointments.

And her mood was contagious—more than anyone else that worked at The Continental Divide. I’d never had a complaint about her service, she consistently had the best tips and everyone genuinely loved working with her. And I could see why. She sparkled, and did it so damn effortlessly that everyone around her just stood in the light that she threw off when she was near.

But the other part of my awe came from how insanely skilled she was at not letting people see how she held them at arm’s length. I’d noticed it before, but never really understood the depth at which she did it.

No one that worked with us really knew her. And it was like they didn’t even realize it.

“Hey, Breanne?” I called to one of the other servers on tonight. She nodded and said she’d be over after she finished delivering a tray of food. As she neared me, she wiped her hands on the black apron all of the servers wore.

“Yeah, Dylan?”

“Did you switch with Taylor tonight?”

“Yup. She’s taking my Saturday lunch shift. Figured she’d feel better by then. I think Kat is taking her dinner shift tomorrow night though.”

I nodded, keeping my face blank when she said it. I was working tomorrow night, which would be the fourth day that week that Kat would be on at the same time as me. It was the most I’d seen her in a two-week stretch since we’d met. We’d settled into a comfortable routine since the last time she came to my house. Friends, I admitted easily. Because of the extra shifts she was working at the bar, she hadn’t come over to Garrett’s the last time we’d played cards which earned grumbles from all the guys. When I’d told her that at Leonidas’s last appointment, the blush hit her cheeks so fast that I’d laughed.

And even though we were friends, it was as if remnants of the kiss still lingered. Or memories of it, at least. I could see the way she stilled her movements whenever we stood close together, which probably mirrored my own body language. No hugging when she left my house or when I left the clinic. Just warm smiles or the occasional punch in the arm from her when she got to work.

It was best that way, I thought firmly. And I reminded myself of that later that night when she merely winked at me before leaving work and headed out into the parking lot by herself. As much as I wanted to make sure she got out to her car okay in the dark, I refrained, busying myself by chatting with customers and making sure everyone was happy.

If I walked Kat out to her car, I’d never live it down at work. Neither would she. And I knew her well enough by now to know that she’d hate that kind of attention. I’d only done one Google search on the effects of foster care, but it was enough to settle a rock in my gut when I’d finished reading.

Kat hadn’t said anything about abuse, but some of the things I’d read made me want to throw my laptop across the room, imagining her going through anything even close. But one thing had snagged my eye, an article talking about children who suffered emotional neglect. Nothing centered around a particular trauma—which I prayed hadn’t happened—but simply the fact that no one had ever put any weight into what the child thought or felt. No one asking what they wanted or needed, how they felt about things, resulting in children feeling like their feelings had no importance and they didn’t deserve to be recognized.

While I drove home later that night, I thought about Kat’s face when she whispered that she’d never admitted out loud that she was glad she didn’t have memories of her parents. I wasn’t an overly emotional guy, but a deep swell of gratitude for my parents damn near brought me to tears.

I wanted to call them, tell them how much I loved them. Tell them how much I appreciated the way that they’d raised us, supporting whatever we wanted to do with the knowledge that they’d always be proud of us.

Casey and I were the only siblings who didn’t go to college, and they’d never blinked twice about it, as long as we loved the jobs we were in and could support ourselves while we did it. But, and it was difficult for me to admit, I had felt embarrassed about it. I’d placed this ideal over my head that they’d somehow wished I had taken the same routes as my older brothers.

But any insecurity I felt about not taking that path, was completely my own invention. And the thought that I’d held that inside of me— in comparison to what Kat had dealt with her whole life— shamed me.

After I pulled into my driveway, I sat in the dark car for few minutes, listening to the tick of the engine as it cooled off.

A knock on my window made me curse. Garrett stood there with a dopey-ass grin on his face, Leonidas tucked under his arm, panting happily at me. I pushed out of the truck.

“What are you doing here? With my dog?”

Garrett looked up at the dark sky. “I can’t believe I’m going to admit this, but when you texted me that you might not get home until after one, I was worried about the little shit. So I used the spare key you gave me and let him out. But then he was staring up at me with these big eyes. These brown eyes that wanted to suck my soul out if I put him back in that crate.”

“Can I have my dog back?”

He hefted Leonidas at me, and shuddered. “I swear. He’s a magical being. I ended up taking him home with me so he didn’t have to be here alone. Crying in the dark. Wondering why nobody loved him.”

Garrett followed me in, even though I gave him a pointed look when he shut the door behind him. “Garrett. It’s one-thirty in the morning. I’d like to go to bed.”

“Yeah, yeah. In a second. Aren’t you going to thank me for showing your little animal love and affection while you were off being a workaholic?”

“No. He would have slept the entire time I was gone.”

“What does Kat smell like?”

Cake. The word was almost out of my mouth when I snapped it shut and glared at him. “What is the matter with you?”

“I don’t get why you’re not dating her. It’s stupid. You’re the most stubborn person I’ve ever met.”

“Don’t you have a life? A job that keeps you busy?”

Garrett lifted a shoulder, looking far too bored and far too
in my house at one o’clock in the morning when all I wanted to do was sleep.
“Not as busy as yours, apparently. And that’s why you can’t date her, right? Because of your job?”

I started herding him towards the door. “Out. Now.”

“You like her, man. I don’t get why you’re so damn stubborn about it.”

“Because I don’t have time for a relationship. I’ve told you that.”

He was almost out. I was almost free, but he braced his hand on the door frame and turned to face me.

“I get it. You put the blinders on to something as soon you make the edict in your head. You’ve always been like that. You can’t have a girlfriend, so Kat is just a friend.”

“She is,” I stated, feeling a tinge of annoyance crawl up my spine.

“A friend that you
stare
at whenever she’s around.” He walked through the door and paused before he left the porch. “You’re a grown-ass man, Dylan. If you want to change your mind about her, no one will care. The world won’t end because you made time for something that you’re convinced you can’t have.”

“Kat deserves more than what I can give her,” I snapped, hating myself for basically admitting that he was right.

“Isn’t that up to her to figure out?”

Then I slammed the door and went to bed.

K
at didn’t answer
my text right away, but I knew she was off tonight. This past week had been lighter again for her, no extra shifts to pick up because all the servers were healthy again. I hadn’t even seen her at the clinic since it was an off week for Leonidas’s appointment.

I grinned at my reflection in the bathroom mirror, making a last swipe under my chin with my razor, then wiped the rest of the shaving cream off with my towel. After I’d splashed some shaving lotion on my cheeks, I sent her a quick reply.

The evening that I’d already been looking forward to suddenly got a little bit brighter, and I actively avoided my own eyes in the mirror while I thought it. A few days after ambushing me at my house, Garrett had apologized. I didn’t get mad at him often, but he could tell he’d overstepped, pushing me on the one subject that I was most likely to get pissed about. If Kat and I had decided that we could be friends, that that’s what was best for us, then he had no right to question it.

But it had been my idea to invite her tonight, so he could suck it if he thought I was being stubborn just for the sake of it. Since I knew that in addition to us guys, Garrett’s sister, Anna was coming along too, I thought it might be nice for Kat to meet her and balance out the group a little.

I finished getting dressed, tightening my black leather belt around my dark jeans and rolling the cuffs of my black dress shirt up my forearms. I’d been in Denver for over six weeks, and it was the first time that I was actually going
out
. The smile never left my face, not when I put Leonidas out one more time before ushering him into his crate. And not while I walked the couple blocks to Garrett’s place on the hot June evening. There was a thickness to the summer in Michigan, the pervasiveness of the damp air much heavier than it was here, but the heat still clung to my skin on the short walk.

Kat’s car was already parked in the street and I looked down at the watch on my wrist. She’d only taken thirty minutes to get ready and make the fifteen-minute drive over. I was just passing her car when the driver’s side door shoved open and almost gutted me.

“Shit.” I caught the edge of the door and side-stepped so as not to bust it off its hinges. Kat giggled an apology and stood out of the car. And that was when my breath caught.

Her hair was sleek and smooth, tucked behind her ears. Her large, brown eyes were rimmed in smudged black and her cheeks and eyelids glimmered with a hint of gold in the dim light of the driveway.

“Hi.” Her lips, wide on her face even when she wasn’t smiling, looked smooth and pink.

“You look beautiful, Kat,” I said while I shut the car door for her. “If I’m allowed to say that.”

“Of course you are. Friends can compliment each other, right?”

“Right.” We walked up the side of the driveway, the laughing voices from inside Garrett’s house spilling through his open windows. I placed a hand on her back so she’d go in front of me, and the silky fabric of her green top was cool against my palm.

“Good,” she said decisively. “Because you look really effing hot.”

I laughed while we climbed the steps onto the porch. “My sister says that. Effing. I’ve never understood it. People know what you’re really trying to say. Why not just
say it
?”

“An excellent question. I’m not sure. I’ll just start dropping F-bombs at work and tell them you told me to do it.”

Dropping my hands on her shoulders, I steered her into the house. Her head barely reached my chin on a normal day, so she must have been wearing heels because she was a few inches taller tonight. I whistled when I caught sight of her feet. Black spiked heels that wrapped around her slim ankle with a slender, gold ribbon that tied in the back.

Kat looked back and smirked when she saw where I’d been looking. “You told me to dress up. I don’t get to do it very often.”

“Well.” I cleared my throat while we walked in. “You did good.”

The guys greeted her, and Garrett introduced Kat to his sister. Anna hadn’t changed much in the years since I’d seen her. Her long black curtain of hair still fell down her back just like it had when we were younger. Garrett’s parents had adopted her from South Korea when she was one, and she had the exact same sense of humor as her brother. Which was unfortunate, because then Garrett thought his was appropriate.

She hugged me and when I patted her back, I caught Kat’s eyes narrow in on my hands. Then her gaze shifted away just as quickly and I couldn’t stop my grin at the tiny display of jealousy.

We made small talk for a few more minutes before Tristan jingled the keys of Michael’s SUV.

“Come on. I’ll be DD.”

I looked over at Kat and she shrugged. It wasn’t like I was planning on drinking a ton, but it would be nice to relax. Everyone else must have felt the same, because we all piled in to his Suburban. I was sandwiched in between Kat and Anna, my arms stretched across the back of the bench on either side of them. Kat was stiff next to me, her fingers clasped tightly in her lap.

When I dropped a hand and squeezed her shoulder, I felt her take a deep breath and let it out.

“I’m not good with new people,” she whispered in my ear.

“Anna’s cool,” I whispered back, angling closer to Kat. “You’ll like her.” I put my hand back on the bench, tightening my fingers onto the upholstery when it felt less natural to keep it there, rather than on Kat’s smooth, toned shoulder.

Tristan pulled up to a massive building, with a similar style to The Continental Divide, large wooden beams framing an A-shaped peaked entrance and warm lighting covering the entrance. There wasn’t a line to get in, but we still had to pay a cover fee. He asked to see everyone’s ID, but Kat’s was the only one that he studied before flicking his stern gaze up to her face. She grinned and he stamped her hand.

The building was huge and cavernous inside, a definite western feel, though the thumping music was a pop song. Booths and high-tops lined the outside, forming a U-shape around a huge, packed dance floor. There were two bars on either side of the space, bartenders flipping bottles around to the delight of the people waiting for drinks.

I caught sight of Cole where he was waving from a large, circular booth. We packed in, and like in the car, I ended up between the girls. Cole had already ordered a round of shots.

“We’re not young enough for this shit,” I groaned when I picked up the clear shot.

Kat nudged me with her elbow. “Speak for yourself.”

Cole laughed and pushed them around the table. Tristan pushed his toward Garrett, who accepted with a grin.

“Dare I ask?” Michael asked, peering at the glass.

“Iced Patron,” Cole said like it was obvious. Then he waved off the chorus of groans from the rest of us. Except Kat, who shimmied in her seat. “Guys, I don’t want to hear it. I closed on a big-ass house today and made a lot of money. I’m buying the first two rounds, and that means they’re my choice. Deal with it.”

So we did, half of us snatching a lime wedge from the bowl that the server had brought along with the shots. We clicked the glasses on the table then slammed. I didn’t cough, only puffed out a breath before sucking on a lime. Kat’s lips were puckered before she grabbed two more pieces of fruit. Anna was the only one who didn’t need a lime.

Garrett glared at her. “You had to show me up, didn’t you?”

“If you can’t keep up, big brother, might as well admit now that I can drink you under the table.” She grinned at me when Garrett scoffed. Kat shifted on the other side of me, turning toward Tristan, who was on her left.

Surprisingly, over the next couple hours, no one got up to dance. We ordered some food, a few more rounds of drinks, and talked and laughed until my cheeks hurt. At one point, Cole was telling a story that had Kat clutching her sides and leaning into me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, because it felt more comfortable than leaving it up on the back of the booth.

Then Garrett lifted an eyebrow at me, face full of
I told you so, dipshit
. My first reaction was to put my arm back onto the booth, and when I did Kat looked up at me, her face flushed prettily from laughing.

“Can I get out? I need to use the ladies room.”

Anna and I scooched to the side so she could get out, and I watched Kat weave through the crowds toward the closest restroom before she disappeared down the hallway. Anna got back in the booth before me, sliding in next to Tristan, who actively, and quite obviously, ignored her presence. I narrowed my eyes at him, because quiet as Tristan was, he wasn’t a jerk.

Anna crooked a finger at me, and I leaned over the booth to hear her. “Why don’t you ask her to dance?”

“Who, Kat?”

Considering she wasn’t biologically related to Garrett, the annoyed looks they gave me looked remarkably similar. “Yes, Kat. She keeps looking out at the dance floor.”

The music selection was eclectic: a range of 80’s pop and Top 40, slower country songs and the occasional up-tempo ones for line-dancing. I held my hands up. “Not much of a dancer. Besides, we’re just friends.”

The collective disbelief of the table made my face feel hot.

“You guys need hobbies,” I said on a laugh.

Anna slapped the table and looked around. “Well, I have no problem dancing with a friend. Because I’m a normal human being. Cole, care to escort me?”

He stood from the booth and held out a hand. “I’d be honored.”

They walked out and found a small space, Cole holding her hand with one of his own, anchoring the other around her waist when they started swaying.

“Her husband doesn’t care that she’s out with us tonight?” Michael asked while we all watched them. Tristan hadn’t moved his eyes from the couple. I don’t think he’d even blinked. Definitely not a jerk thing then, it kinda looked like an Anna thing, which made me smile a whole lot.

“Nah,” Garrett said. “He probably doesn’t even notice she’s not home.”

“Who’s not home?” Kat piped up from where she’d appeared beside me.

“Long story,” I supplied, glancing around the table where the guys watched me expectantly. Garrett stared at Kat. Then at me. Then back at Kat. I rolled my eyes. “Kat, will you dance with me?”

“Hallelujah,” I heard Garrett mutter under his breath.

Kat must not have, because she was too busy gaping at me. “Really?”

The pleasant surprise on her face spurred me into action. Standing from the booth, I clasped her hand with mine and pulled her closer to me. “Really. Can’t waste your pretty shoes, now can we?”

“No,” she said slowly. “I guess not.”

Holding her small hand tightly in my own, I made my way through the crowds.
Tennessee Whiskey
came through the speakers just as I found a small opening for me and Kat. I turned to her, surprised by the serious look on her face. I expected a smile, or maybe even nerves, but I found determination instead.

We didn’t say anything as she stepped into me, sliding her hand up my chest. But it didn’t settle on my shoulder like I’d thought. She pushed it around my rib cage onto my back, like she was hugging me. I brought our hands that were still clasped together up against my chest, taking my free arm and sliding it around her waist to settle on her lower back.

The beat of the song was slow and sexy, the singer’s voice deep and soulful while we swayed together, turning in an unhurried circle. My hand made a similar journey on her back, leisurely smoothing up her spine. Despite our closeness, she still held her body stiffly.

“Relax,” I whispered so only she could hear me, tilting my head so that my mouth brushed against her silky hair. “It’s just you and me.”

Her fingers tightened around mine when I did it, and her forehead dropped onto my shoulder like she couldn’t hold it upright anymore.

I knew the feeling, resting my cheek on the crown of her head while we turned. Kat was so small, so slender in my arms, her hips following the beat of music perfectly. I wasn’t even really leading us; we were just moving. When I closed my eyes, I couldn’t give a single shit that anyone might be watching us.

This was more than a dance. I tightened my arms when the beat morphed into another slow song, and she melted into me. The arm that was around my back hooked up around my shoulder, pressing us together more fully. My breath picked up, each thump of my heart matching whatever song was playing.

I couldn’t even hear it anymore. All I heard was Kat. Breathing. Sighing. Living. That sounded so cheesy in my head, but it was true. We were merely standing there by that point, feet barely shuffling, just holding each other on the packed dance floor that moved around us.

Any alcohol I’d had in my system evaporated when she tucked our hands even closer to her, so that they were sandwiched between us. The slight curves of her breasts pressed up against me and I had a hard time breathing.

When I heard her humming to the song, slightly off-key and slightly off-beat, I shifted my chin, pulling in a heady breath of her sweet scent. It was stronger tonight, which wasn’t surprising given that we were completely wrapped around each other. Another song started, a bit faster than the last one, and I gripped around her waist, loathe to break whatever spell had covered us.

Her breath hitched and her face tilted up so that I could feel her warm breath hit at the base of my throat. I pressed a kiss to her forehead, the skin under my lips feeling like silk. I don’t know what I’d thought she’d do; freeze up because we were in public, maybe pull away because our friends could see us. But she tightened her arm around my back, holding me just as tightly as I was holding her.

How this changed things between us, I didn’t know. All I knew was that anything I’d decided about Kat before tonight, about what our relationship would need to be, had just flown out the damn window.