Dawson says, “Do I get a hug too? I tried to call you. I texted you. You didn’t reply and your phone went straight to voicemail. Then Riley called me and told me what Whitney said to you. He drove four hours to come get us last night and drove us four hours back here.” He runs his hand down my arm and looks at me so sweetly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
I’m ashamed I didn’t tell him. I’m ashamed I hid in the bushes and watched him leave. Was I testing him? Was I playing games with him? I don’t even know. Little tears spring into my eyes.
“I was embarrassed, Dawson. And you seemed excited to go. I didn’t want to keep you from something that all your friends were part of. She also told me that I’m just your flavor of the week. Part of me was afraid she was right.”
“What a bitch.”
“And you were mad at me. You didn’t flip my skirt at the game.”
“I was upset about you hanging out with Aiden. I was so pissed at him at halftime. I was ready to . . .”
“Yeah, I saw. So anyway, I’m heading out. Going shopping in New York. I’ll see you all when I get back.”
“Where are you staying? We could stay with my parents.”
“We?”
“I like to shop.”
“Really?”
“No, not really. But I want to hang out with you. I only said yes to Whitney because I thought we’d go together.”
“Don’t worry about me, okay. I have a place to stay.”
“Where?”
“I have a place there, okay?”
“I was excited to go on the trip with you.”
“You never once asked me to go.”
“I just assumed we were.”
Jake says, “I’ll never forget: that’s how our teacher taught us to remember how to spell assume. When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me.”
“I’m sorry, Keatie.”
Dawson pushes me gently against the car and says to me privately, “But I have to admit, I like this plan even better. You. Me. Alone all weekend. It’s gonna be so hot, we might burn the place down.”
“You’re cute. Before you didn’t think you were good in bed, now look at you. Burning the place down? And I didn’t invite you.”
“I bet I can get you to invite me,” he says adorably. Then he gives me a sweet kiss. Which turns into a deep, hot kiss.
My body gives into Dawson much faster than my brain does.
I smile at him and sigh. “Fine. But we have to shop.”
“I can live with that.”
While he grabs his bag out of the car, I walk over and give Riley a hug. “Eight hours of driving just for me?”
“For my brother too. No way was I gonna let the bitch win, but what surprises me even more is that you let him go. Here I thought you were tough.”
“I maybe used to be, Riley. But I don’t want to fight her.”
“You care about my brother?”
Do I? I keep telling myself that I don’t. I keep telling myself to listen to my head. To just enjoy the sex. To not get attached. But, the truth is, when he jumped out of his car and pulled me into his arms, my heart felt very happy.
“I do care about your brother. It just made me feel really alone. And I told you. I don’t want to be part of a group like that.”
“Then we’ll make our own group. You, me, and Dallas. You know we’ll always have your back.” He looks at his brother. “No matter who you decide to date, okay?”
I smile at him. “How did you know what Whitney said to me? No one heard.”
“Aiden told me.”
I blink my eyes a few times trying to wrap my head around that. Aiden told Riley so that Dawson would know? He really is trying to be nice to me. “Wow,” is all I can say. But then I give Riley another big hug and say, “Thanks for being my hero again.”
Which way to the bedroom?
11am
I lead Dawson into my new loft. It’s beautiful. Everything I wanted and more. And it’s all mine.
“Wow, this place is amazing,” Dawson says. “This room is so cool. The curved beams on the ceiling. The bar. The pool table. This is a party room. We could have some killer parties here.”
“And it’s all mine,” I whisper out before I think better of it.
Dawson hears me and says, “What do you mean?”
I probably shouldn’t tell him it’s actually mine. That would probably be difficult to explain. Gosh, I hate this. Hate lying to everyone.
“Um, I mean when they moved, um, they sold our house in California. And since I can’t go to France every time we have a break or something, I needed a place. So they bought me this. You know, so I’d have a place to keep my stuff.”
He walks over to the big, comfortable-looking couches. “This is a nice couch,” he says with a sexy grin.
“Don’t look at me like that. We have shopping to do. We have a plan for today.”
But it doesn’t go down as planned.
He grabs me and pins me on the couch, kissing me, and pulling off my dress. And there’s something so hot about the way he wants me. The way he can’t seem to wait. How his kisses are so urgent. How his hands are everywhere. How I can’t get him close enough to me. How I want him closer. How I’m guiding him towards me. How he’s like the train we were just on, running quickly down the track, with one single destination.