Page 63 of The Dangers of Daydreaming

Oh yeah, I’d overlooked that particular clothing item.

“Do youhulk out when headed off to hero duty?” she asked. She seemed to be making a great effort to keep her eyes on mine, but they kept slipping down my body. And the red in her cheeks was beginning to match her hair. She cleared her throat. “Tear the shirt in half?”

“You know booksandpop culture?” I ask. “Wow—you’re a catch. Someone should really snatch you up before the other guys do. Take you to dinner at least.” My tone was leaning heavily to sarcasm, but hopefully my expression helped her see the joke.

Except she was, again, not looking at my face.

I was strangely proud of that. I’d worked hard for these abs. Sure, they were currently only a four-pack, but some might say that was just a discounted six-pack, and who doesn’t love a good deal?

“But really, where’d you lose half your clothes?”

“Bad game of Texas Hold ‘em,” I deadpanned.

“And they tookallyour shirts? You didn’t think to bet a couple pairs of pants instead to even it out?” She started walking back to the house as she talked. I could only assume it was too hard to keep her eyes off me, so she needed something physical to do for distraction—poor thing.

“What, you want me to be without pants too?”

“That is not at all what I meant.” She said it breezily enough, but how she crossed her arms and walked a little faster spoke louder than words.

I jogged to keep up with her. “So, how did you get trapped by the dog?”

“I was down at the beach when it ran up to me. I’ve never been much of a dog person, which I know probably makes me seem heartless, but in my defense, Ididhave a dog growing up, but neither parent wanted custody of it after the divorce.”

I stopped. “Your parents took away your dog when they got divorced?”

Her lips were flat and humorless when she smiled. “Yeah. Salt in the wound, right?”

“Seriously,” I muttered. “So, the dog came up to you…”

“And I tried to leave, and it ran ahead of me and wouldn’t let me pass. Every time I made a move, it barked or ran at me, and I swear I’d been stuck down there for twenty minutes before I texted you.”

Good thing too, or I would have been in the shower still and missed this delightful little tête-à-tête. “There’s another path, you know. Maybe ten yards to the left of that one.”

It was her turn to stop. “Seriously?”

I nodded. “Sorry.”

She opened her mouth to say something but paused, pulling her phone from her pocket. Her brow furrowed. “Oh,” she said. “Sorry, these guys are supposed to be on their way to Costa Rica.” She pressed a button, lifting the phone to her ear and turning away a bit. “Hey, Charlotte, is everything okay?”

Should I stay? How long would her call be, and would it seem weird to just hang around waiting for her?

Nah, not weird. After all, she called me.

Sure, she probably didn’t have the contact info for anyone in this country except me, but that was beside the point. I walked the last few feet to the back porch of the house, settling into a chair there. My leg bounced up and down with the sudden requirement of being left alone with just me and my thoughts.

My dad was coming in a week.

I pressed my eyes closed at that. I hadn’t ever answered his text, Gram had told me the details of his plans. When was the last time I’d seen him—honestly? He had called to tell me he wasn’t coming to graduation three years back—thatI would never forget. After all, it had set in motion several dominoes that I preferred not to think about. We texted every now and again, but I hadn’t seen him since… Christmas. Three and a half years ago.

That’sright. Gram flew him up because I was coming back to spend the holiday.

It had been a surprise. Not one of her finest.

I didn’t want him to come, but his dad was in the hospital—he would be stupid not to. More stupid, that was. I just wished I didn’t have to see him, too. His presence reminded me of the past. And of my mistakes as well as his.

Lucy signed off on her call, and I looked up to meet her gaze.

Her eyes were big and tired, and she sighed. “They missed their flight. I need to rebook them and call the airline to see if I can get them some sort of refund. But I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up having to spend the night in the airport—there’s enough of them that getting them a same-day flight is going to be impossible.”

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