Page 59 of Wreckage of Us
“Yeah, let me tell Dylan though.”
I open the sliding door, but remember to call out to Colton before exiting the house.
“Colt, I’ll be next door with Jessica.”
“TikTok-ing, got it,” he calls back, making me laugh.
Jessica heads back toward her house with the baby and the bag of pregnancy clothes she wants me to try, and I head toward the back of the yard where Dylan is.
The closer I get, the better looking he’s getting, making my heart squeeze in my chest. I love this man so much, I realize with a start. I mean, I already knew I loved him, but now it’s hitting me that he is it for me. Forever.
Please, God, I start saying a little prayer in my head.Don’t make him leave me again. How am I going to survive it?
The thought is sobering, and my mood takes a dive all of a sudden.
“Baby,” his voice reaches me before I’m by him. “I’m almost done here. I’ll shower and take you out to eat, okay?”
He is sweating like crazy, the hair on his head all soaked, but he still has a sweatshirt on.
“Aren’t you hot with that on?”
“Becca,” he eyes me carefully. “Are you freakin’ crazy?” He is not asking just to be polite, he is seriously concerned. “It is forty-two degrees out.”
“But the sun is shining,” I point out. “And you’re all sweaty. You’re probably cooking in there.”
“Woman, just looking at you in that flimsy top is chilling me to the bone right now,” he deadpans, and I bust out laughing. He is so sensitive to the temperature outside, I never imagined.
“I just wanted to tell you that I’m visiting with Jessica for a bit.”
“Where?” his eyes roam the yard carefully.
“Just at her house, so next door,” I joke.
“Don’t leave there,” he points a finger at me in warning, and I return the move.
“I won’t,” I click my tongue too for good measure.
Dylan starts laughing. “I love you.”
I grin, but I still can’t say the words back. It’s like I got a mental blockage preventing me from expressing my love to him. So I just blow him a kiss and do a light jog to Jessica’s back door.
“What’s your boyfriend doing out there?” she inquires as soon as I’m in.
“Oh, he’s planting some grass over the spot where that huge bush used to be.”
“Hmm,” is all she says, almost like she doesn’t believe it.
“Problem?” I finally ask when I can’t stand the tension anymore. The girl is a bit weird at times.
“No,” she shakes her head. “I was watching earlier, and I could’ve sworn he was burying something.”
“Burying something?” I repeat and turn on my heels to stare out of her back door window.
“Yeah. And last night,” she continues, “I could’ve sworn there was someone on the other side of the creek, but on my side of the property.”
“What?” I press a hand to my chest, trying so hard not to panic, but I feel a little sick.
Jessica, completely unaware of my predicament, talks away like everything is right in the world.
