“What’s that? A gang signal?” I wrapped my fingers around the weird gesture he’d made with his fingers.

  Dylan laughed so hard I could see his stomach moving beneath his white T-shirt. “Kind of. It’s the Boy Scouts' honor. I thought everyone knew it.”

  I shrugged. I had wanted to go to camp as a kid, a real camp where you learned to make fires and shelters, but instead, my parents had sent me to tennis and riding camps in Europe, where they didn’t teach the Boy Scouts of America hand signals.

  “It doesn’t matter if you don’t start it and push that bike with your feet. I’m not getting on that back of it.” I pointed to the orange bike.

  “Well, Princess? How are we going to get to the ball?” He put the helmet away and leaned on his bike. A real modern-day James Dean was two feet from me, and I could feel my palms start to sweat as he stared me down. When I met Dylan, I thought he was hot, but I swear, every time I saw the man, he got even better looking. His wavy hair, chiseled jawline, and perfect biceps, combined with that bike were a recipe for panty removal.

  “Does this make you Prince un-Charming?” I laughed.

  He was fighting a smile; I could see it. “Since we’re all about deals, I’ll make you one. I’ll go to this pizza party with you, but not on that death machine.” I swirled my finger as I pointed to the bike. “I’ll let you pick any car from the carriage house or boat from the boathouse.”

  He stood and smoothed his T-shirt just as a drop of rain fell from the sky. We both looked up and the dark clouds from earlier had collected over the Yates’ estate. “I vote for something from the carriage house.” He grabbed my hand, and we ran to the building where I punched in the code for the garage. Inside, the fluorescent lights flickered and then my family’s northern car collection came into view.

  Dylan whistled. “Any car?”

  I glanced at the collection, but my word was my word. “Any.”

  He sucked in his breath and meandered through the space between the parked cars, dragging his fingertip along hoods and over door handles. “Even this one?” He pointed to a classic red Ferrari.

  “Even that one,” I smiled. He looked like a kid in a candy store. “But it looks best as a convertible, and I’m pretty sure we’re going to get wet tonight.” I knew it was a double entendre but didn’t let on that it was intentional. There was no way to describe the way Dylan moved, other than like a real man. His broad shoulders were squared, and he had a carefree swagger that oozed confidence.

  “It’s a tough call.” He yelled from the far side of the garage. “This dually is super nice, but so is this Rolls Royce.”

  “Dually?” My footsteps echoed on the polished concrete as I joined Dylan.

  “The pickup.” He pointed to the big work truck that was parked outside the garage.

  “Done.” I laughed and skipped to the safe that held the keys and returned with the gold RR keys and tossed them to him.

  “Really?” He stared at the keys in his hand.

  “You don’t expect a princess to show up to a party in a… dually, do you?”

  “But of course not.” He jogged to the passenger side of the silver Rolls Royce and opened up one of the suicide doors for me. “Your chariot awaits.”

  I slid into the classic car and when Dylan started it up, I felt the power of the engine throughout my entire body. I wasn’t sure if it was the power of the engine or the feeling of being in the car with Dylan that had my body prickling.

  Dylan drove the car a lot more respectfully than I thought he would, and on the way to Pine Hill, I found myself admiring his toned arms and the way his thigh muscles filled out his jeans. I didn’t know whether it was the pregnancy hormones or the feeling of guilt for not telling Dylan about the baby, nor planning to – ever, that had tears welling up in my eyes.

  Luckily the sun had set and I was pretty sure that in the twilight, the extra shimmer in my eyes wouldn’t be noticeable. Especially when Dylan turned onto Mustang Point Road and his eyes were trained on the curvy trail that led to Kane Fitzgerald’s family cottage.

  “Do you know if your sister has her dress yet?” It was small talk, but I felt like I had to say something. I blinked hard, stopping the tears from actually falling, but kept staring out the window at shadows in the forest.

  “You’ll have to ask her. She told me they were getting married and that I was going to walk her down the aisle. That’s it.”

  “You’re walking her down the aisle? That’s so sweet.” I turned to look at his profile.

  He nodded. “I wish my dad was there to do it, but…” he shrugged.

  Dylan had talked about his mom and dad a few times, and I knew that he had struggled without them. I slipped my hand over his and he spread his fingers so I could interlace mine with his. “You’re going to do an amazing job giving your sister away. It will be a nice thing to see.” It was the first time I’d thought positively about attending the wedding. Right after he asked me, all I’d done was worry about the paparazzi and how I would explain the very prominent baby bump. I had forgotten about dancing the night away to a cheesy wedding band, laughing at speeches, and trying hard to pretend I didn’t want to catch the bouquet.

  As we pulled to a stop in front of Pine Hill, I pulled my hand away from his, but he snatched it and kissed the back of it.

  “Thank you,” he said.

  “For what?” He was still holding onto my hand.

  “For being my friend.” His eyes met mine and all I wanted to do was kiss him, even though it felt like we had just drawn a new line in the sand of our relationship. We were friends without benefits. But we were friends. A friendship with Dylan felt more real than any of the other friends I'd made in Laketown. As much as I wanted to reach my hands around his thick neck and feel his lips on mine one more time, I knew that we'd entered a new phase in our relationship.

  “You're welcome, Moss.”

  He grinned. “Moss?”

  I smiled coyly at him. “Isn't that what friends do? Call each other by their last name?”

  He kissed my hand again, then set it on my leg and patted it. “If you say so, Yates.”

  We both laughed and Dylan stepped out of the car and ran to open the passenger door for me.

  We had driven out of the rain from the Yates Estate, but the wind had a warmth to it and as we walked to the entranceway of Pine Hill, side-by-side, a few questions were swirling around in my head.

  The biggest of which was, why couldn't my parents approve of a man like Dylan? Sure, he was a little rough around the edges, but as the moon peeked out from behind the clouds and lit the way down the flagstone pathway, Dylan’s skin glowed in its light, and he looked fucking perfect.

  Ten

  Dylan

  In Laketown, the wind usually blows cold. Growing up, my dad used to say that when the wind blew from the north in the summer, that storms were coming. Tonight, the wind was coming straight from the south and if I closed my eyes, it felt like Bronwyn and her pretty yellow dress were swirling around in the warm Caribbean breeze.

  Jessie met us at the door of her fiancé's cottage. Kane’s dad was a bigwig financier, who as far as I knew, spent his entire life working and rarely spent any time up at the cottage so Kane had the place to himself. And now, so did my little sister. She looked right at home opening up that big oak door, the laughter from behind her, warm and inviting.

  “Come on in.”

  I stepped aside and gestured for Bronwyn to go ahead of me.

  “Bronwyn,” Jessie opened up her arms and to my surprise, Bronwyn hugged her. Jesse had said that she knew Bronwyn, but I didn't think that they were on hugging terms.

  “Nice to see you, Jessie.” Bronwyn and I followed Jessie into the kitchen. Jessie opened the fridge, asking, “What can I get you?”

  Bronwyn and I both spoke at the same time, ‘seltzer’. We looked at each other and laughed. Jesse smiled at us and cracked open a bottle of sparkling water.

  “Have you got any lemon?” Bronwyn asked

  “You bet,” Jesse smiled and handed the glasses of sparkling water to us. She elbowed Bronwyn and whispered, “There's a keg down at the big screen.”

  “Thanks,” Bronwyn said. I didn't see her as much of a beer drinker, she was more of the champagne type.

  “Have you got any bubbly?” I asked.

  “I think so. I can go check,” Jesse said. Bronwyn grabbed her by the arm.

  “No, no, no. It's okay. I’m on a cleanse at the moment.”

  “I get it,” Jesse smiled. “When I'm in training, I don't drink anything but water and maybe some electrolytes.” Jesse put her hand on my lower back and Bronwyn's as well. “Come on. Everyone is down at the boat house.”

  It was the perfect night. Jesse and Kane had set up a huge screen on the top of the boat house and they were playing classic hockey movies. Kane’s chef stood in front of an authentic Italian homemade pizza oven and took orders for everyone's individual pie. I expected Bronwyn to get something either vegetarian, or boring, but she surprised me and got a Margherita pizza. I opted for the meat lovers.

  One thing I noticed about this party, was that it was all couples, and I was glad that I'd stopped to get Bronwyn. Brody Bishop and his girlfriend, Brianna, who I hadn't seen for years, were there, as well as Leo and his girlfriend, Faith. One of Kane’s National League friends, a guy named Wayne, was there with a pretty wife named, Bianca.

  “You’re Bronwyn Yates,” Bianca got up from her chair to give Bronwyn not one, but two kisses on the cheek. I had seen people greet with kisses in the movies, but never in real life. It was kind of hot and my jeans felt a little tighter in the crotch region. She’s just your friend, I whispered to myself, and took a sip of my water. Beer had always given me a little extra courage with the ladies, but with Brownyn, it was different. She riffed with me in a way that felt so natural. I glanced at her, now in full conversation with all the ladies at the party, the perfect angles of her face highlighted by the twinkle lights strung over the deck of the boathouse.

  Kane sat in the chair next to mine. “Look at that hen party over there,” he gestured with his beer glass. “They didn’t even see that classic Domi hit.”

  “It was a good one.” I laughed. “Almost as good as the one Leo gave to Lockwood the last time we played the Bobcats.” Leo, the assistant coach had been a player – and had a rivalry with Gunnar Lockwood, one of the top players in the league. And both of them had been into Faith.

  Kane tossed some sunflower seeds into his mouth and then handed me the bag. “I heard about that. Leveled that cocky s.o.b.”

  I took a handful of sunflower seeds and was about to put them all in my mouth at once when my eyes met Bronwyn’s. Just like in the movies, everything disappeared around me and it felt like we were the only two people in the world at that moment. When she smiled and looked away, the momentary spell was broken. Knowing that it would happen again, there was no way I’d be able to not look at her for the rest of the night. I bit the shell of one sunflower seed at a time and tried not to look.

  The pizzas were served, and we all came together at the long table in the center of the boathouse. Candles flickered and each place setting was complete with heavy silverware and real napkins. Bronwyn slid into her seat beside me, and the unexpected touch of her hand on my shoulder caught me off guard and I twitched.

  “A little jumpy?” She draped the napkin across her lap.

  I followed suit, wondering if she would eat her pizza with a knife and fork.

  “Are you having a good time?” I whispered as everyone got settled.

  Her smile was broad and wide. “I am.”

  Jessie sat on the other side of me. “Dyl. Did you know that Bronwyn and Kane went on a date years ago?”

  “It wasn’t a date,” Bronwyn and Kane said at the same time.

  I kind of remembered a little bit of drama, but that was before Bronwyn and I first hooked up.

  “Really?” I raised my eyebrows at her.

  “Kane’s stepmom—”

  “Ex-stepmom.” Kane interrupted.

  Bronwyn nodded. Her eyes sparkled in the candlelight. “I thought it was a date. Kane’s former stepmom, one of the worst human beings I’ve ever met, by the way…” her eyes shot to Kane and he nodded in agreement, “She told me it was a date, but as soon as I saw the way he looked at your sister, I knew I didn’t have a shot.”

  I twitched again, but this time it was in response to Bronwyn’s hand on my thigh. “That night turned out way better anyway.”

  The beer had been flowing heavily that night, but not so much that I forgot meeting the most beautiful woman in Laketown – Brownyn Yates. “I didn’t know you were on a date with Kane that night,” I said.

  “It wasn’t a date,” Kane repeated.

  “And look how it worked out.” She raised her glass. “To Jessie and Kane.”

  The individual conversations paused, and everyone raised their glasses. The lake lapping against the rocky shoreline was briefly quieted by the tinkling of glasses as we all toasted to the bride and groom.

  The pizzas were incredible and when Bronwyn folded her piece in half and picked it to take a giant bite, it was one of the sexiest things I’d ever seen.

  Kane made sure the drinks were topped up and when we were all stuffed, he turned to Bronwyn and me. “That evening brought me and Jessie together, but it looks like we’re not the only couple that found each other that night.” His eyes were a little glassy, and his words, while sweet and slightly uncharacteristic, were slurred.

  “We’re not a couple,” Bronwyn and I said at the same time.

  “Could’ve fooled me,” Kane laughed. He stood and made his way to the keg. I glanced around and for the first time that night, nobody was looking at us. Jessie and Kane were helping the staff clear the dishes and the other couples were leaning over the railing, pointing at something across the lake.

  If I were drunk, I would’ve blamed the booze, but I was one hundred percent sober, and while everyone was preoccupied, I turned to Bronwyn and pulled the napkin from her lap with my left hand and replaced it with my right hand, feeling the tautness of her thigh under the silky fabric. After another glance confirmed everyone was still occupied, I kissed her. Not hard and angry like on the dock, but soft and sweet, like she had been all night. I felt her thigh tense under my hand and her body melt towards mine for a brief moment.

  Too brief.

  The vibration of the deck boards told me that someone was in motion. We jerked apart from each other, but I squeezed her thigh before letting go.

  She stood. “I have to go to the ladies' room.”

  Jessie took her place. “I saw that,” she whispered to me. “You two aren’t fooling anybody.”

  “We’re just friends, Jess.”

  “Says who?” she leaned her elbow on the table.

  “We agreed on it. It was, you know, a mutual thing.” The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to be with her. I didn’t want to be Bronwyn’s friend and I sure as hell didn’t want to be her fuckboy anymore either.

  “We’re from two separate worlds.”

  “Did she say that?” There was a hint of hardness in my sister’s voice.

  “No, she’s never said anything like that.”

  Jessie softened. “Dylan. Look at me and Kane. Don’t sell yourself short. She saw the way Kane looked at me years ago, and I see the way you two are looking at each other tonight. Don’t be stupid. Life’s too short.”

  We weren’t overly affectionate siblings, but Jessie gave me a hug before she left.

  For a moment I was alone at the table, underneath the cloudy Laketown sky with Jessie’s words skating around in my head. I had always just assumed that Bronwyn would be with some rich dude who could provide her with yachts and expensive clothes. She would never actually want to be with a small-town mechanic like me, would she?

  A flicker of yellow caught my eye as Bronwyn’s dress flapped like a flag in the breeze. I knew that the clouds had parted without looking to the sky by the way her white-blond hair glowed.

  Jessie was right. Life was short and I had never felt a connection to any person like I had with Bronwyn. I knew when she was looking at me, I could feel it. I knew when she was close. I could feel her without touching her.

  “Want to take a walk?” I asked.

  “A walk?”

  My stomach felt jittery all of sudden like I’d just skated my heart out and was about to barf. “Yeah, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

  She paused as if she were thinking about it and the thudding of my heart ceased echoing in my ears.

  “Okay.” Her voice was quiet, and she pulled me from my seat at the table and just like that, my heartbeat was back, thudding louder than ever.

  Eleven

  Bronwyn

  My heels tapped along Pine Hill’s walkway. The limestone path was lined with small iron lights that lit up the ground enough to see where we were going, but not too much to ruin the cloak of darkness between Dylan and me.

  My dress swirled around my ankles, and I felt it catch on one of the heels. I stumbled, but Dylan caught my elbow.

  “I think I’m going to take these off.” I stopped and balanced on one leg while I tried to undo the shoe.

  Dylan held my elbow, but with only one hand free, I struggled with the tiny buckle. “Let me,” he offered and dropped to his knee. “Hold onto my shoulder.”

  I let my fingers rest on him, feeling the muscles beneath his T-shirt and their subtle movements as he undid each of my shoes.

  “Thank you.” I accepted the shoes, and my feet practically breathed a sigh of relief as they were released from the confines of the leather. “They’re not the most practical.”

  “But they look good,” he laughed.

  “They do.”

  We walked a few more steps in silence, the sound of the waves getting softer the farther we got from the lake along with those of the drunken card game we’d left behind at the boathouse disappearing. “It’s a beautiful night.” It was really just an okay night. It was like Mother Nature didn’t know what to do with the evening, she threatened sprinkles one minute and then provided clear bright skies the next.