Page 15 of No Place Left to Hide

I laugh. “Prepared, yes. Fearless, no.”

His warm brown eyes and his smile make me feel like I’m going to melt out of this chair. “You seem pretty fearless to me. Besides, if the last few years have taught me anything, it’s that you can find a way through even the toughest of situations.”

He winks at me then stands and walks toward Beau and Felix on the other side of the fire. Jena waves her hands over her head to catch my attention and obnoxiously mouthsI TOLD YOU SOover the flames.

I wave her off, preoccupied by what Dylan said.You can find a way through even the toughest of situations.What does he mean bythat? Is he talking about Claire? I watch him laugh at something Felix says, his whole body rocking with humor, and I cast it aside. There’s no waythat’s what he meant. September was as hard for Dylan as it was for the rest of us, but he’s never been anything but nice to me about it. He even stood with me at the memorial.

As the person to my right vacates her chair, Jena skips toward me and slides her lovely self into it. “So, what did he say?”

“That I look sad for someone who got into Yale.”

She blinks at me. “He did not.”

“Oh, he did.”

“He has a strange way of flirting. Maybe Felix can give him some pointers.”

I look at Dylan, who’s still laughing with some guys, and shrug. “He wasn’t flirting. He was just being nice.”

Jena scoffs. “Yeah, okay. The guy who repeatedly asked me if you’d be here tonight—who made a beeline for you almost as soon as he got here—is totally oblivious to your gorgeous ass. I’m sure.”

I turn my back on him, curl up in the chair, and shiver. The fire is dying down. “He’s never made a move. He’s never asked me on a date. I thought he might during the party”—I don’t have to say which one—“but then it all went to hell and the aftermath wasrough. I couldn’t be the girl who swoops in and tries to make something happen after that.”

“And now? It’s been six months. What’s stopping you now?”

Yale’s dancing bulldog flashes in my mind. Maybe it’s been long enough, and maybe he is okay now, but it always feels like the wrong time. “There’s no point. I’m leaving soon.”

Jena’s gaze slides away from me, and she lowers her voice. “There is if he’s going to Brown. Which he is. He’ll be an hour and a half from Yale, and you’re fresh out of excuses. Now shush. He’s coming.” Then louder, she says, “Why yes, I was smart to drag you out tonight. Thank you so much for admitting I’m always right about everything.”

I laugh. “Yeah,okay.” But my mind isreeling.

Dylan got into Brown?

“You’re admitting defeat, Goodwin? That doesn’t sound like you.” Dylan says, coming back around the fire with a grin.

“There’s a first time for everything!” Jena says, hopping up. “I’ll be back. I need to…ah…tell Felix something. Seat’s all yours, Miller.”

As she passes, Dylan gives her a little mock salute and sits beside me. “Sorry about that. Felix is being needy today,” he says.

“Am not!” Felix yells over the fire. Jena is wrapped around his torso, and the two of them look like the happiest people at the party. I watch them whisper to each other, and the longing in my chest is so strong it almost hurts.

I shake it off and turn back to the boy.Theboy. The one who’s been stoking that longing since long before Claire got her claws into him. He’s watching me, and the intensity sends a shiver down my back.

“Felix is always needy,” I say, and curl a little tighter in my seat.

I should have packed a sweatshirt. My mind mentally picks through the mess in my car’s backseat, wondering if my peacoat is in there somewhere, but I think it’s hanging behind my door back home. I’m ill prepared for the coast tonight.

“Here.” Dylan scoots to the edge of his plastic Adirondack chair and pulls his gray hoodie over his head. He’s wearing a long-sleeved sage-green T-shirt underneath. He holds out the hoodie to me. “You look cold.”

I shake my head. “No, it’s okay. I might have something in my car. You’re going to be freezing without it.”

“Nah. I run hot.”

Tell me about it.

“Please,” he says. “I don’t want you to be cold.”

I take it from him, desperately trying to play it cool. But on the inside? I’m screaming at the top of my lungs because Dylan Miller, the object of all my dreams, took the clothing off his back to keep me warm.

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