Page 68 of Falling For Us Again

For a split second, everything around us blurs—the noise, the lights, the people. It’s just him, standing there, awkward and unsure, and me, trying to ignore the sudden tightness in my chest.

“Uncle Dylan, you know Jenna, right?”

“Right.”

He smiles at her, but when he looks at me, there's no smile in his eyes.

“You should give Jenna the flowers uncle Dylan,” Kim urges.

Dylan frowns. “I picked out the flowers for you.”

“But I want you to give it to her.” She pouts.

Our gazes meet, the memory of last Saturday at the reunion replaying in my mind, and I know that he's thinking the same.

“Well then, Jenna,” he says softly, his voice barely carrying over the noise of the crowd. He looks at the flowers in his hand, then holds them out to me, a blank look on his face. “These are, uh, for you.”

I reach out and take the bouquet from him, my fingers brushing against his as I do. The touch is electric, sending a spark of awareness through my entire body, and I have to remind myself to breathe.

The stems are cool and damp in my hands. The flowers are simple—daisies, wild violets, a few sprigs of lavender—but there’s something about Kim’s innocent matchmaking gesture that makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time.

Kim sees a friend and runs to meet her, leaving both of us standing there awkwardly.

“You told me you didn’t want to see me again, yet here you are.” His voice is cold.

“I’m only here because of Kim.”

“Right.”

“I should go.” I push the bouquet back into his hands, but he stops me.

His touch makes me glance up, and we stare at each other, a flurry of emotions flying between us.

Before we can say a word, Kim returns, tugging on his sleeve. “I want ice cream!” she declares, her voice cutting through the tension that neither of us knows how to handle. “Uncle Dylan, you promised you’d get me some ice cream.”

Dylan glances at me, then back at Kim, clearly grateful for the distraction.

“Come on then, let’s go get some.”

Kim slips her hand into mine, looking at me with beautiful, large green eyes. “Jenna, you're coming with us, right?”

For a moment, I’m tempted to say no, to make up some excuse about needing to do something else. But then I look at Kim, her eyes shining with excitement, and I can’t bring myself to disappoint her.

“Sure,” I say, the word slipping out before I can second-guess myself.

Kim practically jumps for joy, grabbing both our hands, leading us to the ice cream stand.

As we walk, I steal glances at Dylan, at the way the sunlight catches in his hair, at the way his smile reaches his eyes when he looks at Kim. It is so different from the expression on his face when he looks at me.

There's a coldness to him now, but I can't blame him. I owe him an apology for slapping him.

Out of everyone, I should know and do better.

Lola had mentioned a few days later that Maggie told her that she and Dylan were not together, and it was just a spur-of-the-moment kiss.

I believe her, but I also know that she has feelings for Dylan. A woman knows these things, and to be honest, I can’t blame her. Maybe I overreacted that night, but I was out of my mind with jealousy, and afraid that he was sleeping with me just to get back at me. Every feeling I have for Dylan is so convoluted.

We reach the ice cream stand, and Kim immediately launches into a list of all the flavors she wants to try.

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