Page 86 of Sweet Chaos
Remy was talking. I realized this as I was startled awake by the sound of her voice. “What’s that?”
My arms were empty, and for a second I panicked until I saw that Remy had put Kai in his car seat, her big-ass bag of baby tricks packed and ready to go. “I need to go. I have some errands to run.”
“You can leave him here if you want.”
“Thanks. But I’ll take him with me.”
She had never let anyone except Shane look after Kai. A bit extreme, if you asked me. “Careful there. You’re turning into a helicopter parent.”
“I don’t care. I’m not letting him out of my sight until he goes to school and I’m forced to be separated from him. I don’t want to miss a thing, Dylan. Not a single thing.”
Couldn’t fault her for that. She wanted to be a good mother, unlike our own. It surprised me that she’d never mentioned our mother since the night I delivered the news, but I guess she had Shane to bounce shit off of which was fine by me. I’d rather not talk about it anyway. I stood up and grabbed the car seat by the handle. These things were surprisingly heavy and awkward as shit to carry.
“I’ve got him. Get your Mary Poppins bag.”
She laughed and slung the bag over her shoulder, collecting his swimming trunks that were drying on the lounge chair. It was ridiculous how much shit one baby needed. I walked her out to her Range Rover and clipped Kai’s seat into the frame, making sure it was secure and he was safely belted in before I closed the door and circled the hood. Remy rolled down her window and called me over.
“Yeah?”
“What are you doing for our birthday? Do you want to celebrate it together?”
Our birthday was the fifth of June, and I’d be celebrating it with Starlet. “Can’t. I’m taking Scarlett to Cabo for a long weekend.”
Her brows raised in surprise. Yeah, I know. We were going on a weekend getaway. Shit was getting serious.
“Wow. Okay.” Remy tilted her head, studying my face a little too closely, a smile spreading across her face. “She makes you happy, doesn’t she?”
“Guess so.” Scarlett made me happy. And even though I hadn’t said the words, hadn’t really wanted this to happen, somewhere along the way I’d fallen in love with her.
“At the risk of sounding like a bitch, Sienna never deserved you. But Scarlett does.”
On that note, Remy reversed out of my driveway and took off down the street with her precious cargo.
Question was, did I deserve Scarlett?
30
Scarlett
Dylan handed me a fruity rum cocktail and tipped his chin in thanks as the bartender handed him a rum and soda with lime.
I clinked my glass against his and smiled. “Happy Birthday, Dylan.”
We drank to that and Dylan pulled me into a rum-drunk kiss under a blazing sun, the sky so blue it hurt your eyes to look at it. From the swim-up bar in the infinity pool, we had a view of the crystal sea. We were staying in a private spa villa at a luxury resort in Cabo that cost as much as my month’s rent per night. I should be happy. On top of the world. I was with the man I loved and even though I thought he loved me too, he’d never said the words whereas I had let it slip twice.
It was Dylan’s twenty-seventh birthday, and I just wanted to live in the moment and enjoy the day without thinking about those three little words or the fact that we had no future together.
“Move in with me,” he said a little while later when we were poolside, lying side by side on lounge chairs, his hand skimming over my thigh.
I laughed to cover my shock. Where had that come from? Most likely, he was joking. “I can’t move in with you.”
He was silent for a beat and I thought he’d just drop the subject. “You spend most of your time at my house anyway. Half your shit’s over at my place.”
I rolled onto my side and studied his face. His eyes were shielded by Wayfarers but his expression told me he was dead serious about this. “How many of those rum cocktails have you had?”
He scowled. “I’m not drunk.”
“I still have my own apartment. Nic and I signed a lease.”
