Page 16 of The Best Parts of Him
“Here you guys are.” Dabbs turned at Bellamy’s voice. He and Jason approached, both of them toting a takeout cup of what was presumably coffee and sparing Dabbs from having to respond.
Because he wasn’t sure what he would’ve said. That Ryland had gotten his wish last night when Dabbs hadn’t been able to focus on anyone other than him at the pub because he stood out from the crowd?
Hell, when Ryland was around, there was no crowd. He glittered so brightly that no one else existed.
“There’s a vendor selling funnel cakes over there,” Bellamy said. “Want to share one?”
“Ooh, yes,” Ryland said, bouncing on his toes.
“It’s nowhere near lunchtime,” Dabbs pointed out.
Ryland and Bellamy stared at him, but it was Jason who said, “So?”
Dabbs let out a laugh.
So indeed.
He purchased the sunglasses, then passed them over to Ryland, who put them on with a grin. “Check it out,” he said to Bellamy and Jason, preening. “How do I look?”
“Like they were made for you,” Jason said at the same time as Bellamy said, “They’ve somehow managed to be hideous yet stylish at the same time.”
“Goddamn right,” Ryland announced, as though he’d chosen them himself. “Now take me to the funnel cake.”
The funnel cake was—naturally—served with a massive scoop of vanilla ice cream and a generous helping of locally made strawberry puree. Several people waved at Ryland and Jason as they walked past where they were sitting at a picnic table, and Ryland explained with “That’s our cousin Sam,” and “That’s Brie’s high school sweetheart,” and “That’s Hailey. She used to babysit us when we were kids.”
“And she survived?” Dabbs remarked, only half kidding.
Bellamy sputtered a laugh.
“Ry did send her running for the hills once or twice,” Jason said.
Dabbs nodded. “I figured he’d be the problem.”
Ryland glowered playfully at them over the top of his sunglasses. “The audacity.”
Funnel cake consumed, they headed back to the market. Ryland, bouncing ahead of them, held his phone up and said, “Guys. Guys! Smile,” and snapped a group selfie.
Bellamy and Jason wandered off to meet up with one of Jason’s friends. Dabbs was about to ask Ryland if he wanted to join them—from what he understood, the brothers shared many of the same friends—when Ryland hit the button to go live before Dabbs could stop him.
“What’s up, everyone?” Ryland said grandly to his however-many fans. “As promised, I’m here at Maplewood’s annual Frozen Fest, which is our ice cream festival extraordinaire. I’m going to give you a tour of the market stalls, but first . . . ”
Before Dabbs knew what Ryland was doing, Ryland had stepped closer and leaned in so they were shoulder to shoulder. “Look who I have with me! Dabbs, say hello.”
Christ. Ryland couldn’t have warned him he was going live? Dabbs forced a smile—what else was he supposed to do? “Hey, everyone.”
“For those of you who don’t know, Kyle Dabbs is captain of the Vermont Trailblazers. Dabbs, tell the viewers: what do you think of Frozen Fest so far?”
“Uh . . . well. You certainly know how to put on a festival.”
“Oh, we’re very serious about our festivals here. Our Halloween festival, Fun and Fright Fest, has always been my favorite. Are there any festivals where you’re from?”
“Sure,” Dabbs said as Ryland angled the phone toward him. He kept his gaze off the comments flooding in. “Canoe Day is probably my favorite. It’s where a bunch of canoeists get together to paddle La Vase Portages.”
“Which are . . . ?”
“They’re a series of portages between Trout Lake and Lake Nipissing. They were used thousands of years ago by First Nations, then by European explorers.”
“Cool,” Ryland said absentmindedly, clearly too busy reading the comments to pay attention. “Viewers are wondering what you’re doing in Maplewood.”
