by Piper Rayne
“She’s gone!” I yell. “Give me back my helmet. I have to go to the airport.”
As the words spill out, the door of Ink Envy opens and Rian steps out. Her arms are wrapped around herself in protection.
I know then, more than I’ve known anything in my whole life, that I’ll do whatever I have to in order to fix this. I will not lose the woman I love.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Rian
We all heard the motorcycles coming down the street. Sierra and Blanca looked at me. Hell, even Lyle peeked up from his sketchbook.
When a few minutes pass and no one walks in, I figure I’ll go outside to save Knox and Jax from having to tell me in front of everyone that Dylan isn’t coming back. But as I open the door, Dylan tears out of our apartment building, demanding the guys give him back his helmet. Until he looks up and our eyes lock.
My feet stop. I wait for him to cross the street, holding his hand out for a car to stop.
“Rian,” he says.
Just hearing him say my name does things to me. No matter if he’s here to tell me it’s over or tell me he messed up, I feel better seeing that he’s okay.
“Hi,” I say.
“I’m an idiot. I didn’t do anything with that woman. I swear. I just…” He looks at me, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “You were right. I was scared. Scared you were going to leave me, because all the people in my life that I love leave me. But I should have trusted you. I should have fought for us. I should have done anything but what I did. And I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
The truth of his words reflects in his eyes, but the thought of him trying to push me away stings. “I should torment you. Make you grovel.”
He falls to his knees and puts his hands in prayer pose.
“I was kidding. Stand up.” I don’t want him to beg or grovel. I just want him to love me.
He stands. “I was thinking about it, and I could close Ink Envy and open up in Houston. Or do a branch. Maybe Frankie runs this one, I don’t know. Or I can tattoo in someone else’s shop down there. I can find clients. I’m talented.”
“You’d move to Houston?” A warm feeling fills my chest.
He nods. “I can’t do long distance. I don’t want to be away from you, so if you’ll let me, we’ll move in together. Or we can get our own places. Whatever you want.” He looks around, then down at my hands. “Shit, are you leaving? Let me pack a bag and hopefully I can get a seat on the same plane.” He backs up from me and turns to run across the street.
“Dylan!” I yell.
Jax and Knox are hanging on the street corner, Adrian dropping off the guys before going to park his car. Dylan turns around in the middle of the street.
“I’m not going to Houston,” I say.
He looks over his shoulder. Jax and Knox laugh so loudly, they startle the people walking by.
Slowly, Dylan crosses back to me. “You have to. You’re too smart.”
I put my finger on his lips. “My life is here. In Cliffton Heights, with you and all our friends. I’m trying to figure out what will make me happy, and one thing I know for sure is that a big part of that is you and everything else I have here. Maybe part of the fun is figuring it all out, I don’t know.”
“You can still have me. I’ll go with you. We’ll make new friends.” He takes my hands.
“Hey now!” Seth yells from across the street. “You have free bagels for life. You won’t find that in Houston!”
We both laugh.
“I like us here. This is where we fell in—” I stop because I’m fully aware that I told him earlier I loved him and he still ran out on me.
“Love.” He cradles my cheeks and steps closer. “We fell in love.”
My eyes water and I nod. I inch up on my toes. “Don’t ever run away again.”
He bends down, bringing his lips closer. “I promise.”
Then he seals that promise with a kiss. And like a cheesy romantic comedy movie, all our friends clap and cheer around us.
Problem officially solved.
Epilogue
Dylan
Today is the day I prove to Rian how serious I am about us. That I’m not going anywhere unless she’s next to me.
“You’re being secretive today. What gives?” she asks, coming out of our bedroom wearing a sundress. Although it’s early fall, we’ve been lucky to have an extended summer.
Jax moved in with the guys, so the apartment is officially ours alone. It’s weird to have two empty bedrooms, but we turned one into an office with a futon and the other into a guest room.
“It’s something we should’ve done a long time ago, but we’ve been so busy, I haven’t had the time. This is your first weekend without a function to bake for.”
Rian finishes putting in her earring and sits on a kitchen chair, sighing. “I never would have thought I’d be in the sweets business.”
Rian quit her job at Pierson months ago. It didn’t take her long to get her baking business off the ground, and she’s doing better than I think she ever expected. She makes anything from cookies to cupcakes, to cakes for people and businesses.
I slide a piece of paper in front of her and massage her shoulders from behind. “You think you’re ready to start your own bakery?”
Rian’s rents out an industrial kitchen space, where she takes orders online or by word of mouth. She’s not ready to put all her eggs in one basket until she knows she’ll be happy. Forever the girl with a plan.
She leans back in the chair and her eyes roll shut. “Maybe. I think it would be easier in some regards. I don’t much like the hours I have to keep at the industrial kitchen space. But that’s a lot to take on. Being an entrepreneur.”
I get what she’s saying. I’m fortunate that with Jax coming on to Ink Envy, we’re back in the black. I’m surprised he’s stuck around, but I’m happy he has. It’s given us time to rebuild our friendship.
“Take a chance,” I say. “I heard there’s an open space by this amazing tattoo parlor who will pimp out your goods. Supposedly the owner is really hot.”
“Oh, maybe I’ll have to check it out, but my boyfriend might get kind of jealous.”
“Your boyfriend is a little protective when it comes to you. But I get why. He was lucky enough to find a girl like you, so he’s right to be afraid to lose you.”
She tips her head back and smiles at me.
I lean down and place a kiss on her lips. “Look at the paper.”
She picks it up to read it. “What is this?”
“It’s my in case of emergency for my insurance,” I say.
I take a seat beside her and watch her read the paper. When she’s done, she puts it down, comes over to me, and straddles my chair.
“Seth is going to be upset,” she says.
“I don’t give two shits about his ego.” My hands find their way to her ass like they always do. “So what do you say? Will you be my ICE?”
She kisses me. “I say yes.”
I squeeze her ass and pull her closer. “I love you.” Never have truer words left my lips.
“I love you. Is that what you were planning this whole time? You didn’t even have to ask me. I wouldn’t say no.” She moves to stand, but I hold her to my lap.
“I have another surprise. I think it’s definitely get-me-laid material.”
She narrows her eyes. “Are you complaining about our sex life?”
Visions of us all over this apartment run through my mind like a movie reel. “Never. Maybe I should say blow job material. Deserving of a swallow.” I grin and wink.
“Hmmm… you have my curiosity piqued.”
I pat her ass to get her up. “Then let’s go.”
We leave our apartment, and I walk her down the street toward the gazebo where the event is taking place. How she hasn’t already bothered me about coming to this, I have no idea.
She cringes. “You’re not planning some surprise with my parents are you?”
&nbs
p; “Never.”
Her mom didn’t talk to her for three months after Rian declined NASA, but last month, we had them over for dinner. I let her mom’s ridicule roll off my back, and when we shut the door on them at the end of the night, we agreed that another dinner wouldn’t happen for a very long time. Maybe with time things will improve, but since they both act like assholes and make my girl doubt how brilliant she is, I’m not a fan of them being a part of our lives until that changes.
“Good.”
We pass Las Tacos and all the activity in the park up ahead is chaotic. Luckily, I already called in our reservation.
“What is this?” she asks.
“It’s an adoption fair.” Her eyes widen, and I hold up my hand. “Now, I’ve already reserved one from a litter for us, because God knows I can’t see you down again if we got here and all the dogs were gone.”
She laughs, but I don’t find it funny. I don’t want to see her disappointed like that ever.
“We’re getting a dog?” Her smile beams like sunlight in my direction.
“We are.” I pull her across the street by her hand and walk her over to the booth set up by the no-kill shelter I talked to on the phone. “Hi, I’m Dylan. This is Rian, my girlfriend. We spoke on the phone.”
The woman shakes our hands and points at the pen. “Your boyfriend is very persuasive. You get to pick before anyone else.”
Rian looks at me as though I just granted her queen for the day. I’ll never stop striving for that look on her face.
She bends down and picks up one of the puppies. He has black and white spotted fur and squirms in her arms. She holds him out to me. “What do you think?”
Five other puppies push on the metal fence, eager for attention. A few kids come over and squeal, giving the puppies enough attention that they shift their attention to them.
“Is something wrong with that one?” I point at the one in the back, curled up in a ball on the grass, not interested in the kids, just chilling.
“He’s the runt of the litter. Never demands a ton of attention but loves to snuggle.” She picks him up and hands him to me.
He curls up in my arms, nuzzling his face between my arm and rib. Rian coos and puts the other dog back down.
I chuckle. “Is this like when I hold Jolie?”
She nods, pulling out her phone and snapping a picture.
“Remember what I said earlier.” I wink at Rian.
She turns to the woman. “We’ll take him.”
“Oh!” Her surprise has me wanting to ask more questions. Maybe people don’t normally want the runt? “Let me get the paperwork.”
“Are you sure?” I hand him to Rian and he puts his face on her breast, staring up at her. I pet his head. “That’s my favorite spot too, buddy.”
“I love him. He’s so sweet and quiet.” She looks at the pen filled with all the high energy dogs. I guess we’re on the same wavelength.
“I did this so you can pick one out, not me.”
“And I did.” She bends down and kisses his head. “Now we need a name.”
“And about a million other things.”
We fill out the paperwork, now officially co-owners of a dog without a name, and head to a booth that sells everything we’ll need.
Rian
I nuzzle baby Winston in my arms as we leave with all the puppy supplies.
“You will have to put him down eventually.” Dylan kisses my cheek, his hands full of bags.
“He can’t walk on a leash yet.”
“We could try to train him on the way home,” he says.
Seth and Knox walk out of Las Tacos, spotting us.
“You got a dog?” Knox asks.
Seth pets Winston and Winston eats up the attention. “What’s his name?”
“Winston,” I say.
Seth looks at Dylan. “Is that your dog or hers?”
“Ours,” Dylan says with a smile.
“You gave your dog an old man name,” Seth says.
“It fits him.” I shrug. “You not a dog person, Knox?” I ask since he’s quiet.
He meets my gaze. The poor guy is still sporting heartbreak, although he’s been trying to heal it with an array of women.
“I’ll be right back,” he says and crosses the street.
We all watch him head over to the gazebo, where there’s an open area for the dogs to play.
“Isn’t that Evan Erickson?” Dylan asks, nudging Seth.
Seth looks around as though he can’t locate her. As if her dark curly hair is hard to miss. With the wind today, it’s blowing all over her face. She reaches into her purse and grabs a ponytail holder. The guy she’s with pulls it back for her, securing her hair into a low ponytail.
“Who’s that?” Dylan asks.
“You guys need to stop. It’s probably her boy…” His eyes turn murderous. Not a common look for Seth. “You have to be fucking kidding me.”
“What?” I ask, looking at Dylan for some backstory.
“That douchebag she’s with is my brother’s drug dealer. Fuck.” Seth turns away, clenching his fists at his sides.
“Well, that sucks,” Dylan says.
“Do you think she knows?” I ask.
“Fucking A. Goddamnit.” His hands go behind his head and he weaves his fingers, staring at Evan and the man, blowing out a breath. “To answer your question, no. I’m sure she doesn’t. She would never, which means…”
“What?” Dylan bit his lip to stop from laughing because we all know Seth. He’s too good of a guy, regardless of their history.
Seth steps off the curb then steps back on. “See. This is why”—he points at Dylan—“I like it smooth as vanilla ice cream. I don’t need a bunch of shit to muddle through. And now.” He’s already in the middle of the street, his hands out to his sides. “I gotta go deal with rocky road.”
“Stop making excuses and go save the girl,” Dylan yells.
Seth flips him off but continues on his path toward Evan.
My back rests on Dylan’s chest, and I turn and look up at him. The love of my life. He bends down and kisses me.
“I fucking love our life,” he says.
I giggle and nod. I couldn’t agree more.
“Let’s go home,” he says.
And we do, the three of us, to start a life together that might have a little rocky road. But as long as we charter those peaks and valleys together, that’s all that matters.
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Cockamamie Unicorn Ramblings
Oh, Rian and Dylan. This was one of the rare times we planned everything out ahead of time and the fact so many of you were dying to get your hands on their book (which we’ll add can sometimes make it terrifying to write) we were proud that we put those bread crumbs in My Bestie’s Ex and A Royal Mistake.
We figured readers would be anticipating Dylan’s book when we began this series. Who doesn’t love a tatted up guy with an unknown past that gave him the chip on his shoulder? He of course needed to be paired with our sweet and innocent Rian who admired him from afar and baked for him as way to show her affection. Could it be any other way?
Some fun facts about writing this story…
First, we knew that the final guy would move into The Rooftop Apartments in this book. Obviously, the title says it all. And we knew the guy would be interested in Rian and would spur Dylan to make his move. But it didn’t turn out to be a childhood friend of Knox and Dylan’s until we were writing the end of A Royal Mistake.
Rayne sent Piper a message after she had Knox be the one to come in and tell Rian he had a roommate for her. The way she wrote Dylan’s reaction she knew whoever this Jax Owens was he had to be more than just a buddy of Knox’s. And that’s what spurred the backstory of the three of them (Knox, Dylan and Jax) and Dylan’s in particular. Amazing how stuff we don’t immediately realize when we’re plotting comes out in the writing and editing process.
Second, the minute Rayne wrote Jax in a scene she quickly realized he stole it. The more she wrote him, the more she was falling for him which was a bit of a problem because we didn’t want to make this a serious love triangle and have readers rooting for Jax. We wanted to use him more as a push for Dylan to make his move. Rayne messaged Piper right away and conveyed her worries. And after the manuscript went to Piper for editing, she was quick to message Rayne after she read the first scene with Jax to say she was loving him too. I guess you never know who will steal the show as you write, but hopefully if you’re a Jax lover, it makes you want to get your hands on his story because Rian isn’t the girl for Jax. Can you guess who is?
Again, Thanks to our team who if not for them, we’d never be able to finish these books!
Danielle Sanchez and the entire Wildfire Marketing Solutions!
Cassie from Joy Editing for line edits.
Ellie from My Brother’s Editor for line edits.
Shawna from Behind the Writer for proofreading.
Hang Le for the cover and branding for the entire series.
Regina Wamba for the great picture of our Rian and Dylan.
Bloggers who consistently carve out time to read, review and/or promote us.