Page 26 of Finding Tane
Dillon took a step forward and Andrew backed up to his rental car. “You’ll regret this!”
“I already regret ever hiring you.” I turned my back on him and rolled my eyes at the taco truck guy.
Andrew’s rental took off with a wheel spin and way too much acceleration. I could hear him shouting something out the window but I couldn’t make it out.
Something loosened in my chest. Andrew Lane driving away felt like the end of the chapter. Well, I knew I’d still have to deal with him, so not exactly the end. The start of the end, maybe. There might be a song in that.
Making him give up on me had been difficult and now that it was done I was pleased, but a little disappointed as well. It had only taken a few hours really, to get him to give up. Wasn’t I worth fighting for, a little longer at least?
It was for the best, and he’d been an asshole, but something inside still hurt. I wished he’d been a better person, maybe.
Dillon watched him go then slipped an arm around my shoulders. “That guy’s a piece of work.”
I leaned into him, borrowing some of his surety and his strength.
“Yeah. I mean, I kinda knew that but a lot of agents, they tell you what they want to hear. You don’t get to see the asshole until it’s too late.” I leaned into Dillon. “Thank you. For standing up for me.”
“No one should ever treat you that way. You deserve something better.”
I kissed him lightly, more of a thanks than anything else. “Thank you. I think I understand that now.”
He gave me a bear hug and I relaxed against him, smelling his scent, woody mixed with fresh flowers.
“I want to stay with you, if that’s okay?” I mumbled.
Dillon squeezed me. “I’d like nothing more than that.”
We kissed again, slow and dreamy, relaxing into each other.
“Order up!” The taco truck guy broke the spell and we laughed, pulling apart.
We collected the food and Dillon drove us back to his place, all of three minutes in the car.
“So Ivy’s okay?” I asked, before we got out of the car.
“Yeah. I guess he was really worried about how I’d take it, how our parents will, but we had a really good afternoon. He bought so many flannel shirts, you won’t believe.” Dillon laughed. “I love him so much.”
We went upstairs together.
Dillon
Over the next few days Tane was distracted, calling his lawyer and dealing with his contract negotiations. I went to work and left him to it, and when I came home at the end of the day he’d be trying to prepare something for dinner.
Ivy chose the name Aster, so Tane and I used it for him as much as possible.
Aster and Tane got on like a house on fire, which was a relief. Since the day we’d gone shopping, Aster had been going out in men’s clothes, and had hacked off all his hair. He was shy, but looked great.
Back at the shop the sales were still confounding me. The Korean ingredients I’d ordered weren’t moving. It was like everyone in town was afraid of them or something.
I’d tried calling my folks but they seemed to be out of service range.
When I tried to work out what to do, I came up with a blank. My mind just glassed over with nothingness.
Then there was Tane. He’d moved all his stuff in from the motel, it was just ridiculous to be paying for it when he could stay with me for free, after all. But he was so busy with everything going on in his career I didn’t know where he and I stood.
He’d been sleeping in my bed, but we’d barely done more than hold hands. He passed out so quickly at night, and I didn’t want to bother him further with questions like ‘what are we?’
I was afraid I’d scare him off.
