Page 9 of Finding You

“Maybe you should make up a guy,” Dallas said. “You know, like, a Canadian boyfriend?”

Kylen laughed again. “They’d totally smoke out the lie. Trust me. They’re like amateur PIs. It’s the worst.”

Dallas grimaced. “Well, I hope they go easy on you. And I hope?—”

The plane began to shake. Kylen quickly grabbed Dallas’s hand again and linked their fingers together.

“Just air pockets?”

Kylen smiled. “Just air pockets. Tell me more about your daughter,” he said when he realized Dallas was still on the verge of panic. “Is she sitting up yet?”

“Oh God,” he groaned when the plane hit another wave of turbulence. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, she is. She’s practically walking. I think she’s a little genius, and it scares the shit out of me.”

Kylen sat back, stroking Dallas’s knuckles, listening to him babble, and found himself wishing he could have this all the time. Maybe not this man. He didn’t fuck with the straights. Too much heartache.

But someone like him. Someone easy, and simple, and kind.

It felt like, though, that was just too much to ask for. His dating record was bleak, and men ran the moment they found out he was a parent. So, he realized, he’d have to take moments like this when they came along. Because God only knew when he’d have something real.

Chapter Three

DALLAS

Dallas had a weird pit in his stomach when the plane finally reached the gate. He’d never made a friend like this. He’d never felt this connected to someone he’d just met either. Kylen had talked him through his anxiety throughout the entire flight without making him feel weak or foolish.

He hadn’t talked down to him, and even if he was only pretending to be interested in what Dallas had to say, he didn’t make him feel that way. Once they were at cruising altitude, he’d even brought Dallas to the cockpit to meet the two women piloting the airplane.

He hadn’t realized how badly he needed that until they were about to part ways. He fidgeted, shifting his carry-on from one hand to the other, not sure how to say goodbye. Did he ask for his number? Was that weird?

He didn’t want to let go, but he also didn’t want to give Kylen the impression that he was interested in him. That wasn’t fair.

“Well, this has been—” Kylen started, but one of the flight attendants pulled him away before he could finish. He shot Dallas an apologetic look, but then the passengers began to disembark, and Dallas had to go.

He shuffled along with the rest of the crowd, lingering for a while, but there was no sign of Kylen again. It was over. Whatever chance he had to make this last was finished.

The pit in his stomach grew as he made his way to baggage claim. It felt deeper when he grabbed his suitcase. And the only reason it didn’t entirely consume him was because he hit the doors to the outside and saw Adele and Gage waiting for him. Gage was in the back seat, and Adele was leaning against the side of his car, grinning.

Dallas was home again.

Adele yanked him into a hug, holding tightly. “How was it?”

“About as bad as you expect,” he admitted. “Bronx is devastated, Lucas is blaming himself, and shithead is MIA.” He walked with Adele to the trunk and tossed his bags in before sliding into the passenger seat. He twisted around and smiled at Gage, who gave him the teenage chin-lift. “How are you?”

“Been better.”

Dallas raised a brow at Adele, who rolled his eyes. “Got turned down for a date.”

“Rough. Sorry, kid,” Dallas said. He hesitated, then said, “Hey, what does the ocean say to the shore?”

Gage looked up at him with a frown. “Uh, what?”

“Nothing. It just waves.”

“Oh my God, stop,” Gage said before putting on his headphones.

Adele snorted. “What the fuck?”

“A guy on the plane told me a dad joke to calm my panic attack down,” he said. A part of him wanted to say more—to tell Adele everything about Kylen—but for some reason, he felt weird about it. Like he needed to keep it a secret.

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