Page 23 of Forever & Always

Oh hell,I hadn’t considered that since Dollywood was in the vicinity and Remi might want to invite him to join in… maybe she’d feel obligated. I groaned inwardly.Ugh.“I don’t know. She hasn’t mentioned it, I’ll have to ask.”

“Be careful and call us when you get to Knoxville. Just because you two are adults, it doesn’t mean we don’t worry.”

“We will.” I caught a glimpse of a graceful, beautiful girl coming out as the sliding doors to the hotel opened and she emerged. “Remi’s here, so gotta go.”

“Be careful,” Chase said again. “That’s precious cargo you’ve got with you, and don’t break any bones or pull any ligaments, either. That’s an order, son. From your coach.”

My heart warmed whenever Chase used the endearment. Growing up, I’d called him Uncle Chase, but he felt more like a second father to me. The day my mother married Chase’s best friend, and we became part of this unique family, it was as if we’d won the lottery. I had barely any memories of my biological dad because his rights were terminated, and he went to jail after he’d tried to literally steal me from my mom. Remi had been with me, so he’d snatched her, too. It was the first major event that we’d gone through together. Nothing like a kidnapping trauma to bond two kids together, I thought with amusement. Jensen adopted me as soon as they got married and it was the luckiest day of my life.

Remi was wearing black denim shorts and a strapless top in some sort of white lacy material. Her tan from earlier in the day made her skin glow with just a kiss of color. She was carrying one of Chase’s old team duffle bags that I assumed held her clothes and anything else she needed for the trip. I prepared to hop out of the car to help stow it in the back, but Remi dashed to the car, flung open the door and threw it in the backseat before I could unbuckle my seat belt.

“Are you ready?” She flashed a bright white smile and pushed her sunglasses onto her face when she got into the passenger seat beside me. “It feels like forever since we’ve been to an amusement park! I don’t think I’ve been to one since our senior trip. I’m excited!”

She pulled out her phone and plugged it into the USB and soonGetaway Carby Taylor Swift was playing on the speakers. Remi grinned mischievously. “I put together a few of our songs and some that would be particularly apropos for a secret trip.”

Of course, she did.

My heart stopped at how stunning she looked, and I wondered why I never fully appreciated how beautiful she was growing up? I found myself transfixed and was thankful for my own dark glasses that saved me from the embarrassment of having her notice me staring. She’d grown up a lot in the three years we’d been apart, and it looked good on her. Very good.

“Dylan?” she asked. “What are you waiting for? Let’s leave before one of the kids figure us out! It was all I could do to get away without a big explanation considering the bag.”

I put the car in gear and started to pull away from the building. “Didn’t you even tell Bliss or your mom?”

“I figured I’d call from the road and let my parents know. Bliss kind of figured it out, but not the details. Only that we were going somewhere. What about you?”

“Hell, no. If I did, I’d have to make a lame excuse to leave Josh and Mace behind. They would have been unbearable with their whining.” I smiled.

It felt good; even freeing, to be in a car with Remi and to have three full days in front of us without anyone else around. At least, I hoped Alan wasn’t going to show up.

If it weren’t for the dry, late afternoon heat I would have rolled down the windows and let the wind rush through the SUV. After the sun fully set, I might be able to do that, but by then, we’d nearly be to our destination.

“I know, what was I thinking when I wanted to be a big sister?” The slight dimples that I adored showed up on both of her cheeks as she grinned. “I must have been crazy!”

“Right?” I agreed. “Maybe we should have asked to be only children. After all, we had each other.”

Remi looked at me and though I couldn’t see behind her glasses, her tone was thoughtful, and I imagined her eyes were soft.

“We did. But I never thought of you as my sibling, Dylan. Did you?” she asked cautiously. “Think of us that way?”

I shook my head with a returning smile. “Never. But my friends gave me so much shit about you in high school, I could barely live it down.”

“Really? Why?”

“Because we weren’t dating and I wouldn’t let them date you, either.” My voice took on a teasing lilt.

Remi’s mouth fell open in a surprised gasp. “No!” she breathed. “Dylan Jeffers! I should kill you! Is that why I never had any dates?”

“Well, you said no when I asked you to the junior prom because ofChad.” I said the dreaded name with an amused mock pout. “You had him. Wasn’t that a date?”

Remi burst out laughing, and it was like music to my ears. “Oh, Chad…” she murmured with pretend sensuality, fanning herself for effect. “Chad, you’re so hot.”

I chuckled at her depiction, but at the time, I had wondered if she’d lost her virginity to him, and the thought made me ill. I grimaced but laughed. “Forgive me if I puke.”

“One date, Dylan!” Remi laughed. “You’re so funny.”

Didn’t she think that her rebuke of me when I was seventeen had any effect on me or on us? The past three years I’d accepted that whatever Remi and I had, or could have had, was in the past, but since yesterday a modicum of hope revived in my heart. Her response made me think she’d never considered that I could ever get out of the friend zone. “Am I? What’s so funny? What ever happened to ‘I’ll always be your damsel?’”

Remi’s head cocked and I could see in my peripheral vision that she was considering my words and her response. One slender shoulder lifted in a half shrug. “You always scoffed at it. I gave up on that when we started middle school and girls started to flock. I just figured you thought it was dumb… that I was dumb.”

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