Page 28 of Meant To Be

I took a shaky breath.

Me: Tonya.

I knew who Tonya was. I remembered one of the times Dylan had visited Wade before. He’d spent a night with her. Even though I thought he was totally cute and sort of crushed on him then, it hadn’t hurt. Because I was a sensible girl.

My phone rang. I stared at Dylan’s name flashing on the screen with every ring. I took a fortifying breath and slid my thumb across the screen to answer.

“Hi.”

“Nothing happened with Tonya,” Dylan said.

“Wade mentioned it. It’s fine, Dylan. It’s probably for the best. Maybe we just got caught up in the emotion of the weekend between the holidays and the storm. You told me you had your reasons for never wanting to get serious anyway.”

My heart ached with every word.

“Piper—”

I didn’t even let him go on and cut in. “I have to go.”

A single tear rolled down my cheek. Just then, Tiffany came walking into the break room. As soon as she saw me, her perceptive gaze narrowed.

“What happened?” She stood in front of me in an instant, flinging her arms around me in a big hug. In the few days I’d been here, I had already discovered Tiffany was loving and affectionate and wanted to take care of everyone.

When she stepped back, she squeezed my shoulders. “Tell me what happened,” she insisted.

I hedged. “Don’t you have to be out front? I’m just being silly.”

“No, it’s lunch. Remember, we actually take lunch here. It’s kind of a thing.”

Before I knew it, Farrah and Alice had appeared, and we were all sitting around the table. I told them everything, ending with, “And it’s just so stupid. I shouldn’t have let anything happen.”

Alice sat beside me and curled her arm around my shoulders, leaning close with a squeeze. When she leaned back, she said, “It happened. Are you sure about what Wade said?”

I nodded. “I mean, it’s what I would expect.” I took a shaky breath. “I just wish Dylan wasn’t moving here.”

“Maybe you should call your brother and clarify,” Farrah suggested.

My mouth fell open as I sputtered, “Are you crazy? I don’t want to think about what my brother will say if I tell him I had a fling with his best friend. No, thank you. I don’t need a lecture from Wade. I love my brother, but he can be an asshole about things like that. I already had to explain the whole thing with getting ditched at the airport.”

Alice cocked her head to the side. “We’re here for you. I’ll tell you right now that Dylan won’t be off to a good start in this town.”

Tiffany snorted. “And what exactly are you going to do, Alice?”

“I don’t know. Tell him he’s an asshole,” Alice retorted.

Tiffany chuckled. I smiled even though my heart ached. I felt incredibly foolish, but I smiled among my friends. “Good to know you’ve got my back.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

DYLAN

“What gives?” Wade asked as he eyed me from across the table.

I was having dinner with him and Dani. Dani hadn’t gotten home yet, but I had come out to help him move a new couch into their living room and carry the old one onto the sunporch Wade had built over the summer.

“What do you mean?” I hedged.

“You looked, uh, worried, I guess, all afternoon.”

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