Page 68 of The One Night Dash
Seconds later, his reply pings, a video, his palm wide open, my cotton panties! He grins before shoving them down the front of his hockey pants.
“Dash Sterling,” I whisper, horrified and delighted in equal measure. “You naughty, naughty boy.”
Me
Um…. I have no words.
Dash
Wish me luck.
Me
Make it count!
I toss my phone on the bed before I can overthink the fact that he never texts goodbye; his dots just stop jumping.
Mom calls up the stairs, “Noelle, boys, fifteen-minute warning.”
Tonight, we’re going to the Harbor Lighting Festival, and tomorrow, a turkey trot.
Mom laughed when I looked horrified. “It’s a prequel to the Thanksgiving Day 5K. Half the trot, all money raised is for Thanksgiving dinners for those in need.”
“Gotta do it, Nono.” Ethan grinned, using the nickname he and Caleb called me back then, which Sofie calls me now. “You’re already signed up.”
The festival is exactlyas I remember from years ago when I checked it out online, wanting to be part of it, but not wanting to. Equal measures always send me to the options that feels safest to me, but clearly, I am working on that.
Being here in person feels fuller, brighter, like the whole town has spilled out onto the docks. Strings of lights twinkle over food stalls, cider, and roasted nuts perfuming the salt air. Children run wild in knitted hats, couples press close under plaid scarves. My brothers dash ahead, arguing about whether the boat decked in red and green will outshine the one flashing blue like a police siren.
I feel my pocket dancing again and decide to check what I’ve missed while Mom and Rick talk with neighbors by the cider stand, Caleb and Ethan already having disappeared in thecrowd. I should be absorbing all of this. Instead, I pull my phone out, and the screen lights up with our group chat exploding.
Claudia
Okay. Spill. NOW.
Sofie
We let you off the hook this morning, but it’s been a full day. Where’s the tea, No-No?
Nalani
Yeah, what exactly happened after you left the wedding? Because Dash Sterling looked like a man on a mission.
I roll my eyes and thumb back a reply, smirking even as heat creeps up my neck.
Me
That’s an in-person talk, ladies.
Three dots appear, disappear, then Sofie comes back swinging.
Sofie
Unacceptable.
Claudia
You can’t dangle THAT and not deliver.
