Page 102 of Tight Spot

Another kiss, and then he turned us, held me in his arm at his side while my family and our friends rushed to give us hugs.

“He planned the whole thing,” Meredith whispered in my ear. “Called me this morning, said he couldn’t wait another second to talk to you.”

I leaned against Dawson, and his lips pressed to my temple.

“Good man you have there,” my dad said. He kissed my cheek and gave Dawson a one-armed side hug since Dawson’s arm was wrapped around me and he was making it pretty clear he wasn’t going to let me go.

“Proud of you, Dawson. Real proud of you.”

“Thanks, Ken.”

We were surrounded and wrapped in hugs and then Margo and Bill were there, bringing out glasses and wine bottles and trays of all my favorite foods.

Bless my friends, Bill for being the bouncer and guard at the door, Margo for knowing all the things I loved, and the rest of them who knew Dawson had hurt me, but still came to throw their support behind him in getting me back.

When we had a break, glasses topped with wine, some beer for the occasion, one in Dawson’s hand, I rolled to my toes and whispered, “When do you think we can sneak out of here?”

“Promised Meredith I’d make you stay for thirty minutes.”

Ahhh. So she’d really meant that. “How much time do we have left?”

He twisted his left wrist and smirked. “Ten.”

“I suppose we can wait.”

He kissed me then, slow and sweet without tongue but it didn’t matter how Dawson kissed me, I loved every single one of them. “I want you to meet my dad.”

“Yeah. You’re going to need to give me the story on that.”

“I will. There’s a lot we still have to talk ’bout.”

“Later.” Because tonight, I was hoping once we left, there’d be very little talking going on for either of us. And a whole lot more of something else.

A throat cleared behind me, and Dawson pulled back, still grinning down at me.

“Dad,” he said and turned me toward the man with Dawson’s matching eyes and hair color.

He wasn’t as tall, leaner, but it was still very clear he was a man who took care of his health and his body.

“Dad. I’d like you to meet Hailey.”

“Call me Harrison.” He held out his hand for me to shake. Dawson’s hand was at my lower back, fingers pressing in. Warm. Loving. I took a risk and instead of shaking his hand, I stepped forward and gave him a quick hug.

He froze at my touch, whether it was surprise or being unwanted, and then lighting hugged me back. “It’s great to meet you. Thanks for being here.”

“I wouldn’t have missed it for anything.” Harrison stepped back. There was uncertainty on his features, but calmness too.

Dawson and I would definitely be talking about what happened with him and his dad in the last week.

“I’m going to head back to my hotel,” Harrison said. “Any chance the three of us could have lunch or dinner before I need to fly out?”

“I’ll talk to Hailey, and we’ll figure it out.”

“Good.” He turned to me and grinned. “Lovely to meet you. Thanks for giving my son a second chance.” He slapped Dawson’s shoulder and gave him a quick squeeze. “I’ll see you soon, then.”

“Good night, Dad.”

Harrison turned, went straight to my parents, and shook both of their hands. I leaned in close to Dawson as we both watched our friends, families, together.

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