Page 10 of The Rules

“Um…” He glanced back at Dani, then stepped into the doorway, shielding Minnie’s view of the sheets strewn around his hotel room. “I was beat. Long day… golfing, and ya know…”

“Are you coming downstairs?”

“Yeah. In a few. Where are the newlyweds?” He scanned the hall again and saw Cat’s sister coming out of her room, then Shawn meandering toward them looking like he might have slept in the outfit he had on.

“I don’t know,” Minnie answered. “I didn’t dare knock on their door.”

Shawn cocked his head, his bushy orange eyebrows slanting inward. “You doing okay, buddy?”

“Yeah. Didn’t sleep too well. Too much tequila.” Dylan waved at Cat’s sister as she passed, and smiled at another woman who must have been a relative of the bride’s. She had about a hundred. Dani was right about it being rush hour. “Well, I’ll see you two down there.”

“Okay. We’ll save you a—”

He closed the door in Minnie’s face and gave Dani a shrug. “There’s a lot of people out there.”

“Shit!” She looked frantic again.

“Look, just wait here while I shower and get dressed, then I’ll head down and text you when it looks like everyone is already down there.”

“Okay,” she said, her crazy curls bouncing as she nodded. A vision of them squeezed between his fingers flashed before him.

He grabbed his t-shirt from the bed and headed toward the bathroom, then paused when he thought of one more solution. “You could join me. Save yourself some time getting ready.”

“Dylan!”

“It was worth a shot,” he said, slinging a towel over his shoulder.

Damn, she was cute when she was mad.

When Dylan walked into the hotel dining room, Cat jumped up from her seat and waved him over to a round table. Her parents and Josh were there, all of them with overflowing plates.

“Dylan,” she said. “Over here.” There were two chairs left empty, and he assumed the other was for the maid of honor.

“I can just grab a seat with Shawn.” He didn’t feel like sharing breakfast with Dani at the moment, childish as it was.

“Don’t be silly,” Cat said. “Sit.”

Josh stood to greet him, followed by Cat’s father Carlos.

“The best man,” Carlos boomed, shaking his hand much harder than necessary. The guy was huge.

“That’d be me.”

Dani had mentioned once that Carlos was like a second father to her. Her parents moved out of state once she left home, and Dani spent a lot of college breaks with Cat’s family. Suddenly Carlos’ presence felt really awkward, like meeting your date’s dad before prom night when you knew exactly where that dress he’d paid for was going to end up.

Dylan cleared his throat, flipping his phone around in the pocket of his sweatshirt. He really needed to text Dani, but now it might be obvious.

“You gonna get some food, man?” Josh asked, amused.

Cat caught Josh’s tone and looked up at Dylan from her eggs. “Why are you acting weird? Are you hungover?”

“No. I’m fine. Let me grab a plate and I’ll be right back.”

He stepped away and headed toward the buffet table, sneaking his phone out on the way.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why was he acting like a criminal? This was Dani’s secret, not his. He didn’t care if Josh or Cat or Carlos knew what he and Dani had been up to. They were grown adults. If she wanted to be all weird about it, she could, but he certainly didn’t have to feel guilty.

Dylan: Everyone is here. You can come out of hiding.

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