Page 18 of Dirty Dillon

They’re saying something in silent brother language, and then Max tells me he’s happy to meet me.

“William is manning the grill, which is never good. Dillon, come with me to wrestle the tongs away from him.”

I inhale sharply at the thought of losing his protection.

Cherry offers me a drink and introduces me to her father and little brother. Mary from the diner is also here. She’s probably wondering what I’m doing here, too. But at least I kind of know her. Everyone knows Mary. And Mary knows everyone. And every dumb thing they have ever done.

This was a mistake. I should have brought my own car, well, the loaner, but Dillon had me drop it off at home so we could arrive together.

I swig the beer like I’m at a frat party.

“You okay?” Cherry asks.

Opening my mouth to lie, I stop and shake my head. “Dillon is a nice guy, isn’t he?”

She nods, looking a little concerned. “Yeah, of course he is. Are you worried about him?”

I flop down on a bench. “Not the way you think.”

She joins me, looking concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know why he brought me here. We’re not...I don’t know what we are.”

Cherry gets a knowing look. “If he’s anything like his brother, he’s moving at warp speed, and you can barely hold on, right?”

The laugh sneaks out of me like a snort. “My impression of him is that he has traveled light with women so far, but he’s not quite figuring out yet that I have so much baggage.”

“What, you mean that little thing like your father and brother hate the Dukes?”

Great. “Chad does too?” It would make sense since Chad doesn’t have any unique thoughts of his own.

“It’s more Max he hates, I think. Chad was under the impression he had a chance with me before Max moved into town.”

Cherry seems like a smart girl. “You didn’t date him, did you? Because...”

“God no.” Her nose wrinkles up as she scrunches her face, shaking her head in repulsion. “No offense.”

“My brother is disgusting. I never had sleepovers at our house because of him. Total perv.”

Cherry looks away. “He bullied me all through school.”

Her comment hangs in the air like a heavy dark storm cloud.

I clearly won the family lottery, didn’t I? “I don’t know what to say, Cherry. I’m so sorry. Do you want me to leave?”

“No, no. Don’t worry about it. It’s not your fault.”

“My family...”

“Cressida, you don’t have to be like them. Be the person you want to be.”

Cherry makes it sound so simple, and when Dillon brings me a plate of food and beats me at croquet twice, it feels simple. The whole evening does. Like this could be my life if I were someone not prone to always screwing up.

“Ready to head home?” Dillon murmurs, his breath warm against my skin. I nod, leaning into his side as we make our way to his truck.

Climbing in, I realize I never even finished my first beer. I can’t recall the last time I didn’t get drunk at a party.

What am I going to blame if I do something ill-advised?

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