Page 72 of A River of Crows

The corner of Dylan’s lips quirked up into a nervous smile. “You’re special to me too, Sloan. That’s why I came back yesterday. I wanted to apologize for flipping out about you and Brad wanting to talk to Eddie Daughtry. Instead, I see you with another guy and have a second flip out to apologize for.” He shuffled his feet against the concrete. “You ever see a smudge on your bathroom mirror and try to wipe it away, but in the process, you just keep making more and more smudges? That’s sort of a good analogy for my never-ending ability to make things worse.”

Sloan shook her head. “I should have listened to you about Daughtry—should have thought about how that would hurt you. I’m done with all that. I wanted to talk to him, to find out what happened to Ridge. But now that Ridge is here, it doesn’t matter.” Even as the words left her mouth, Sloan wasn’t sure she meant them. She still desperately wanted to understand what had happened to her brother.

“Still, I had no right to demand answers,” Dylan said. “I’m still working through some stuff.”

“That makes two of us.” Sloan tapped her fingers on the lawn chair’s armrest. “Sorry for being a psycho about Felicity. It was a first date, and I acted like I had some claim on you. It’s just that . . . well, I can’t stand her.”

Dylan laughed. “Felicity is a nice girl, but you have just as much reason to worry about me and her as I did to worry about you and Ridge yesterday.”

Sloan reached for his hand. “Thank you.”

“So, are you going to see him tomorrow?”

“As long as Mom goes out to the creek. I mean, I hate her going back after what happened, but at least it buys me some time with Ridge. Not like I can lock her in her room, anyway.”

“Do you think she’d stay here with me? Then you can meet Ridge at the creek?”

Sloan tilted her head. “Maybe. She did ask about you today, about that nice boy who rescued her. But I don’t want you to have to do that.”

Dylan stretched his legs out in front of him. “I don’t mind. Maybe some new company is just what she needs. Let’s give it a try? What time tomorrow?”

“Um, 3:00? I’ll meet Ridge at the RV park just in case you aren’t successful at keeping her away from the creek. You know, maybe Ridge will be okay with you knowing about him if it means there’s someone to watch mom. He was so nervous today about her catching us.”

“Yeah, hopefully so.”

“You really are too good to be true, you know?” Sloan turned her body toward him. “Just be careful. Don’t slip up and say anything about Ridge.”

“Don’t worry. I can keep a secret.” Dylan mimicked zipping his lips, turning a key, and throwing it to the ground.

Sloan knelt down to the concrete to pick up the imaginary key, used it to unlock Dylan’s lips, and leaned in for a kiss.

“You definitely have a type,” Ridge said after Dylan drove away. “He reminds me of Noah.”

“Really?” Sloan considered the similarities. “Yeah. I guess you’re right. They’re both the quiet, gentle types, but Noah’s practical, and Dylan’s a dreamer.”

“And you’re sure we can trust him?”

“Come on; you just said he reminds you of Noah. Plus, now, we don’t have to worry about Mom. You should have seen her face fall when I said Dylan had to drop me off for an appointment before they could hang out. But I wanted y’all to have a chance to meet.”

Ridge took a drink of his soda. “So, what about Liam? Same temperament as Noah and Dylan?”

“Ha!” Sloan set her drink on the table in front of her. “No way. Liam Bevan is as bold as brass.”

“Did you meet him at LeTourneau?”

“Yeah. Sophomore English. I was so surprised someone like him could be into—” Sloan stopped. “Wait. How did you know where I went to college?”

Ridge’s eyes widened. It was brief, but Sloan noticed. He got up and turned toward the cabinets above him. “You must’ve told me.”

She hadn’t. They hadn’t talked at all about college.

“Or I might’ve seen it online somewhere.” Ridge opened a cabinet and pulled out what appeared to be a scrapbook. “Wanna see my college days?”

“You went to college?”

“Yep,” he said.

Sloan huffed. “Ridge, you’ve really got to tell me what happened . . . why you disappeared . . . where you’ve been.”

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