Page 99 of In Your Dreams, Holden Rhodes

They wandered into the kitchen and I surveyed the room. Emmett, Hannah, and Wyatt were talking near the fireplace. Hannah’s bump was showing now and her hand rested on it as she smiled up at Wyatt. Avery was in the kitchen with a few of Elizabeth’s friends.

This was nice. My throat squeezed. Would I ever have this, one day? Would I ever figure out the secret to picking a good guy? Elizabeth made it sound so simple, but I knew it was anything but. Trusting someone enough to build a life with them was a big deal.

I thought back to myself last year when I had said yes to Grant. How could I have been so impulsive? I didn’t even picture a life with him. I just got swept away. I was so excited someone wanted me to marry them, I didn’t even stop to think if I wanted him.

Grant was a little boring, I realized, wrinkling my nose. He was too perfect. He agreed with everything I said and he always laughed at my jokes even when they weren’t funny.

“Hi,” Holden said, taking the seat beside me.

“Hi.” I smiled at him. “You look handsome in this sweater.”

His mouth hitched. “You think?”

I rolled my eyes. “You know you do. Stop being bashful. It’s not a good look on you.”

His eyes glinted. “Are you having fun?”

“I am.”

This time, when I glanced around the room, I realized, this was Holden’s dream. A big house full of people, celebrating a long marriage between two people who loved each other. I pictured him here in forty years with a faceless woman, asking her if she wanted a drink and giving her heated, affectionate looks across the room.

My gut twisted with jealousy and I frowned.

He’d meet someone. He was a catch, and it was only a matter of time before he met another catch and they got a joint bank account and made gorgeous, brooding children. A lump formed in my throat.

I heard my name on the other side of the room. Miri Yang and Emmett watched her phone before they burst out laughing. Hannah and Wyatt leaned over to watch and they started laughing, too.

Miri said something and pointed at me. I frowned and exchanged a curious glance with Holden.

“Sadie,” Miri said, hustling over. “You’ve got to see this.”

Emmett waved at her to come back. “Let’s put it up on the TV.”

He turned the TV on and showed her how to stream it on the screen. The dark, grainy video appeared on the TV and people from the kitchen moved into the living room to watch.

“It’s the bear cam,” she explained to everyone. “They’re hibernating now and we live stream them for educational purposes.”

On the screen, a black bear lumbered past the camera. The night-vision gave everything a green tinge. Another bear entered the frame, holding something. The bear’s eyes flickered as they caught the camera.

Emmett bit his fist in anticipation. His eyes were bright.

The bear lifted the object and swung it at the other bear.

“What is that?” I murmured.

“Doesn’t it look familiar?” Avery asked, hiding a grin.

I squinted at the screen. The bear lifted it again and I gasped. Laughter burst out around me.

It was my alien dildo.

I mean, notmyalien dildo. It was the alien dildo I was mistakenly sent.

The bear swung the rubber wang and smacked the other bear across the face. A roar of laughs rose.

“It’s Sadie’s!” Miri announced to the party. “It’s Sadie’s dildo.”

My face burned hot and I shook my head furiously. “It’s not mine! It was sent to me by accident.”

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