Page 109 of Somewhere You Belong

No one is allowed to drive for this final game, which means running and walking in this heat.

“We’re almost done, though.” Dallas intercepts the chips from Penn and hands them to Timothy MacDonald, who is one of the judges for today.

“Nicely done, Dallas.” Timothy checks off something on his paper and then hands us the final clue, but not before turning to me and asking, “How’s the house treating you, Willow?”

“Oh. Uh, good. We’re almost done with the renovations.”

Timothy nods. “Nice to see that you’ve made progress. Let Pam over at Cove Real Estate know when you’re ready to sell.”

“Pam can wait,” Dallas tells Timothy before tearing open the envelope with the final clue. “Now, if you don’t mind, Timothy, we have a cup to win.”

Dallas spins toward the rest of the team, all standing around in a circle, waiting to hear the clue. “A symbol of hope, steadfastness, calm, and composure. Carrington Cove is full of them.”

“Jesus, could that be a more generic clue?” Penn grumbles.

“Carrington Cove is full of them?” Astrid taps her chin. “Geese?”

“Uh, pretty sure geese aren’t a sign of hope,” Dallas fires back.

But then a lightbulb clicks on in my brain thanks to a late-night Google session pertaining to the man standing in front of me.

“An anchor…” I declare, not as confident as I should be, but I look up at Dallas as I speak.

“Shit, that’s it!” Brian, the other manager of Dallas’s restaurant, agrees.

“Are you sure, Willow?” Astrid asks.

“Yes.” With my eyes locked on Dallas, I say, “And that’s why all Dallas has to do is take off his shirt and we win.”

His smirk builds slowly, but he knows where my mind is. And even though this is not the time, my body heats up from head to toe as I think about all the times I’ve explored his body and his tattoo.

“Damn, Goose. You just won us the cup.”

Franny’s Crab Shack team starts racing down the boardwalk toward the judges table with a wooden anchor in their hands.

“Hurry up and strip, Dallas!” Penn shouts, cutting through our moment and making the rest of the team laugh.

Dallas shakes off our stare and mumbles, “Fuck. Okay.” He reaches behind his back, rips off his shirt, and points to his chest. “Right here, Tim. An anchor. That’s the final answer.”

Timothy eyes the judge sitting next to him. “Can we accept that?”

She shrugs before looking at Dallas’s torso appreciatively. “I don’t see why not.” And then she smirks. “Definitely the best thing I’ve seen all day.”

Timothy shakes his head and then stands, holding a megaphone to his mouth. “We have a winner! Catch & Release are the new Carrington Cove Games Champions!”

Applause and screaming echo around us as Dallas scoops me up in his arms, bouncing me up and down. “Hell yeah!”

Celebration continues all around us, people running over from the boardwalk to join in on the fun. But when Dallas sets me down on my feet and frames my face with both of his hands, he whispers to me, “Fuck, Willow.” His lips meet mine in a blistering kiss that steals my breath before he whispers, “You were the teammate I needed today, baby. We won. And now it’s time to celebrate.”

And in that second, my heart agrees with this unfamiliar feeling in my chest.

Oh my God.

I’m in love with Dallas Sheppard.

***

“Fuck. Right there.”

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