Page 87 of Playing the Backbeat

“Then let’s go.”

She looks at me, stunned. “You’d travel with me?”

We have had exactly zero conversations about what is going on between us. But traveling with Dee? Yeah, I know I’d like that. Minus the flight.

I shrug. “I’ll have to buy some earplugs to block out the snoring, but you’ll have to help me through every flight. Seems like we’ll both have small concessions to make, but I think we’d still have a great time.”

“I do not snore.”

“Emi didn’t warn me how scary it was,” I tease.

“You’re an ass.”

“At times it was even cute. Like a little bunny with a cold.”

She threatens to pull her hand away at the exact moment I feel my stomach lurch out of my goddamn gut. The plane lifts off the ground and it’s a miracle I don’t hurl breakfast all over my lap.

The hand she was pulling away grips me tighter, her eyes locked on mine as she says. “Well, if I’m a bunny with a cold, then you’re a bear who needs a nose strip.”

A few minutes later, after takeoff ends and we’ve leveled out on a smooth course for Mexico to join Bec and Aiden to celebratethe end of their bachelor and bachelorette days, Dee and I are still throwing around teasing barbs and taunts before she asks, “So how are we going to get through this trip without spilling the beans to anyone?”

“Should we keep it a secret?” I tense slightly, knowing we haven’t talked about this yet. What it would mean to tell our friends that we’re…whatever we are.

“At least on the trip,” Dee says. “It’s about Bec and Aiden this week, remember?”

I nod. “Right.”

I’m going to have to stare at Dee in a bathing suit all fucking week and not say or do anything about it. And I saw the ones she packed. Tiny stringy, barely there decoration on her perfect curves.

“But you’re rooming alone,” she says, letting the thought linger between us.

“I am,” I confirm, trying not to sound too eager. I’d rather our friends know what’s going on between us and enjoy the trip with her by my side, no second thoughts about who sees us, but I’ll take Dee any way she’ll have me.

“What if I stop by tonight, after Abby falls asleep?”

“Then we’ll have to hope our room isn’t next to anyone we know.”

“Plan on being loud, do you?” she asks.

“I plan on makingyouloud.”

“I plan to make you work for it.”

“I expect nothing less.”

“Oh, and I almost forgot.” She starts riffling through the contents of her bag again. “When I ran to the store for some last-minute travel items, I found this.” She hands me a small tube. “It’s the one you like, right? The lotion you keep by our sink? I saw it and got worried that maybe you didn’t have a travel size. I didn’t want your hands to get dry and hurt while we’re away.”

Dee continues talking, steering the conversation toward our schedule for the week. The plans mostly involve relaxing on the beach or at the pool. My brain is only able to process about half of what she’s saying, because I’m still staring at the lotion in my hand. The lotion my dermatologist recommended when my compulsive handwashing caused my skin to crack and bleed because it was so dry.

Such a small thing that means so much.

My heart hammers behind my sternum. The sunrise in the distance bathes Dee in glowing warm light. I don’t think I’ll ever see sunshine beyond her eyes again. This incredible woman shines brighter than any star.

A deep sense of gratitude drains any remaining tension from my body as our flight carries on, Dee chatting happily at my side. Gratitude for whatever circumstances forced me to see this friendship we’ve shared in a new light…and realize all it’s worth. To wake me up. For me to realize I don’t ever want to let her go.

Chapter thirty-nine

Dylan