Pride filled his chest, all while it got mixed with something unsettled. This shaky anticipation gliding through his nerves that he needed to shuck.
It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her over the years when she’d come back to visit. But it’d always been quick. In passing. He’d been sure to keep his distance because he’d never fully squashed what she’d triggered in him four years ago.
Gratitude, he guessed it was. The fact Dakota had seen him when he’d been at his lowest. Pulled him out of the dark place he’d thought he’d be a prisoner to forever.
Lit a path.
The girl a beacon he couldn’t help but follow.
Because of her, he was different. Fighting for something better.
But that didn’t mean he wasn’t still trapped, so he knew he had to maintain that distance. Go on pretending everything was just fine while his soul crawled with the filth of what he’d succumbed to.
A frenzy suddenly broke through the crush.
Paisley, Beth, and Chloe, Dakota’s three best friends, were pure smiles, tossing their arms in the air and squealing with their excitement as they clambered for the table. “We’re here! It’s party time, baby!”
A smirk tugged at Ryder’s mouth. They were all fucking cute. Living this life the way it should be lived. Happy and free and with a zest that traveled out ahead of them.
“Looks like we’re in for a bit of trouble tonight,” Ryder said, standing so he could give them a round of hugs.
“That’s right, Ryder. No one here is going to know what hit them,” Paisley said as she swept in for a massive hug. He picked her up and shook her around. “Good to see you, Paisley-Cakes.”
But it was who cut in behind them that stole his breath and sent his stupid heart pounding, what had him setting Paisley onto her feet because he didn’t think he could physically hold her up any longer.
Dakota looked like she’d aged a decade, and not in a bad way, either. She was all woman now, the angles of her face growing more defined, her waist cinching down, her hips fuller. There was a confidence to her that she hadn’t worn before, and she wore it well in this babydoll dress that was long-sleeved but short as fuck, exposing her thighs.
She was still soft, though, delicate in every way, that sweetness radiating around her as she gave Ezra and Cody hugs. Ryder tried not to tremble as she slowly inched his way, and he wondered if he was the only one who felt the air cloud and grow dense.
She bit down on her plump bottom lip as she approached, and she seemed almost careful as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He stalled for only a second before he curled his around her waist and tugged her close, a fool who was breathing out in some kind of twisted relief.
The scent he could never erase from his mind inundated him.
Sugar and vanilla and all things sweet.
“I’m so glad you came.” She whispered it like it was their secret.
He forced himself to untangle himself from her body and sent her a gentle grin. “Like I was going to miss your party? This has been four years in the making. I wouldn’t be anywhere else. Congrats, Dakota.”
Redness splashed her cheeks. It was a bitch resisting the urge to reach out to trace the color with his fingertips.
“It was a great experience,” she said, like she was purposefully taking them back to the night when they’d shared their last real conversation. When their connection had been so powerful that it’d struck a chord inside him, a resonation that had shifted his insides around, made him sure he was going to earn the right for her to be looking at him the way she had then.
“And now she’s back!” Paisley slipped her arm around Dakota’s waist and leaned her head on her shoulder.
It seemed to yank Dakota out of the trance that had fallen over them.
“Now that you’re leaving. I can’t believe that you’re moving to Scottsdale. Gross.” Dakota sent Paisley a pout and a curl of her nose.
Paisley laughed an uneasy sound. “You make it sound like I’m taking a trip to Hell.”
“Do you know how hot it gets there? I’d say that’s exactly where you’re going,” Dakota teased.
Paisley squeezed her. “Jeremy thinks we can really make it happen there. It’s a great opportunity. I think we have to take the chance.”
Yeah, and Ryder was pretty sure she was actually making a deal with the devil. The dude was a prick.
“I’m just going to miss you now that I’m back,” Dakota told her.
“Don’t worry. You know I’ll be back a ton to visit my grandma and grandpa.”