As she came to stand to his left, she gave him a warm smile before tilting her head and giving a bigger smile to his little brother. "Hey, Bryce."
Bryce gave her a wicked smile in return but before he could say anything their mother turned toward them. "Bryce, Dylan would you to be so kind as to find out…" Her focus centered on Lila and her brows knit together in curiosity before her eyes darted back to Dylan. "Well, hello dear," she said, as she waved towards Lila. "Would you boys go find out what is keeping them so long? They should've been starting the music about a minute and a half ago."
Dylan turned to Lila and gave her an apologetic smile. She nodded and smiled in return, letting him know she understood that he still had a job to do. After one more lingering glance, he followed after Bryce towards the stand on the other side of the parade route to find out if there really was a delay.
"So, Lila?" Bryce said as the two of them rounded the side to go up the bleachers steps that led up to the stand where the parade techies sat.
Dylan let out a sigh. "I don’t feel like having this conversation with you, Bryce."
His brother laughed. "Fair enough; just know she's a friend of mine so if you ruin that for me, I will be pissed at you."
Other than snorting, Dylan didn't respond. He didn't really want to engage in a conversation with his brother about his love life. He had enough trouble trying to figure out what exactly was going on between him and Lila without getting Bryce involved, especially since the younger man knew Lila better than Dylan did.
As soon as they figured out that the delay was due to a diaper change, or an ‘emergency blowout’ as someone had called it, and that the parade would be starting in the next minute or two, both brothers dashed back across the street to report to their mother who mumbled something about how next year she would make sure she had a walkie-talkie as well. That just made Dylan feel bad for everyone involved with the parade, the last thing they needed was for her to be in constant contact with them.
"So this is like, a legitimate thing isn't it?" Lila murmured just loud enough for him to hear. He looked down to see that she was looking straight ahead so as not to be too obvious that she was speaking. Dylan immediately followed suit and looked straight ahead just as the music started. "Yep, there are always at least two dozen babies and a few hundred people watching. Did your parents enter you?"
He heard the snort loud and clear. "No, never, this is not their thing. I understand that members of the committee kind of talk people into entering their kids but I always thought the thing was kind of rinky-dink; I didn't think that it was this big of a deal."
That surprised Dylan a little, not that she was being nice and avoiding saying that it was his mother that talked people into it, because she was a one-woman force behind the parade, but that her parents hadn't entered her and they probably hadn't entered any of her brothers and she had never seen it. With how many of them there were, he would've thought at least one would've somehow gotten wrangled. "Just wait for the synchronized walking."
Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched her eyes widened as she turned her head, caulking it to the side to look at him. "Are you serious?" she said, probably a little louder than she intended.
Holding back the chuckle at her reaction was hard but Dylan managed as he nodded solemnly. As if on cue, the first set of four strollers began to walk past them, weaving in and out as they went.
"What the hell?" he heard Lila exclaim under her breath.
At that point he couldn't help but smile, it felt good to hear somebody else thought the whole to do was as ridiculous as he thought it was. At that moment the strollers were doing some kind of choreographed twirling sequence. Dylan knew his mother made them practice for at least a month before this parade; he almost felt sorry for all the men and women who got stuck in this ridiculous synchronized stroller walk.
He couldn't help the combination of both relief and disappointment that swirled around him when the baby parade went off without a hitch and the crowd as a group vacated the parade path and headed to the main stage where the beauty competition would begin. Dylan held back a little, maneuvering so Lila had to do the same. He wanted to take this opportunity right off the bat to explain to her that he really wasn't the playboy he was pretty sure she thought he was. Once he was sure the rest of his family was out of hearing range, Dylan slowed his pace even more, giving Lila as much of his attention as he could while walking in a crowd of people.
Once she seemed to realize he was consciously slowing down, she looked up at him curiously. Dylan took that opportunity to clear the air. "I need to talk to you about a few things."
Before he could say anything else Lila's expression turned wary. "Oh, and what would that be, exactly?"
Confused by her expression and her suddenly closed off body language, Dylan hesitated. As he cleared his throat to continue, Bryce popped up in front of them. "Hurry up, slow pokes. Mom expects all of us to be near the front and your sedate pace is making saving you a stop harder for Dorian and me."
Lila snorted and when Dylan turned his attention to her, he could see the shine in her eyes and the openness to her body language. For the first time he began to wonder, am I stepping on Bryce's toes? Are he and Lila a thing or does he want them to be? Why have I not kept up more with the specifics of my brothers’ lives? Worry began to flow over him. He had not even considered Bryce. Maybe it isn't that I have a player reputation, maybe her hesitation is for Bryce?
Unaware of his thoughts, Lila responded to his brother, "Oh yeah, how hard could it be if you left Dorian to do it by himself?"
Bryce rolled his eyes before slinging his arm over her shoulders. Dylan felt himself stiffen.
"Like I would leave the good brother alone and defenseless, please. Our father is with him and no one would question pops.”
"Fair enough, your father is almost as intimidating as your mother."
Bryce nudged Lila with his shoulder. "Tell me about it."
Something about the exchange bothered Dylan. He knew the two of them were friends so the easy teasing shouldn't come as a surprise but he couldn't help it. I want that easygoing relationship with her. That thought caught Dylan off guard. He poked at it as Lila and Bryce continued to joke as they walked. I barely know her… and yet… there is something about her that is steadying. Being with her is like… going home in a way my parents’ house and my condo never have been.
The baby beauty contest was a blur. Dylan watched absently but if someone asked him who the winner was he would not have the answer. His mind was too busy racing with the idea that he genuinely was wishing that he lived in Highland Lake where he could appreciate the small town quality and spend his evenings with Lila; it seemed perfect. Watching Lila joke around with his brother was somehow more devastating than he would've thought it would have been. Somehow going back to Seattle, to that lively city held less interest for him.
Once people were dispersing from the baby beauty contest, Dylan snapped himself out of his spot. He was always strategizing to find a way out of something and he certainly wasn't going to stop doing that now. His first step was getting his brother alone and finding out if he and Lila really were a thing or if his brother was at all interested. Provided Bryce said no, his next step was to go back to convincing Lila that he wasn't the playboy his reputation made him out to be and to feel her out to see if maybe she had feelings for Bryce. If that was the case, it would be all over.
But if she doesn't, maybe I could use all of my lawyer skills to convince her to give me a real chance, to give us the real chance, at a relationship. With that plan in mind, suddenly the idea of taking over his father's practice didn't seem like such a bad idea. In fact it felt like his life fell into place before him. Before, the idea of making partner at the law firm he worked at was his crowning achievement but now, between having a sexy, lively, and charismatic woman plus working with his father and eventually taking over his practice, making partner in Seattle didn't seem as important. He cou
ldn't believe how different he felt than a mere two days ago.
Dylan spent the rest of the day trying to wrangle Lila alone but had no such luck. Lila, for her part, seemed to be actively avoiding being alone with him; he couldn't understand why but as the day progressed it was making him more and more nervous. Why won't you just talk to me? Everything would be perfect if she would just talk to me. Finally, in the early afternoon his father sent him and Bryce to grab lunch for the family. Much to Dylan's surprise, Lila was getting on well with his mother, father, and brothers. She had been joking around and razzing his brothers all day. Clearly his parents were used to seeing her around Bryce because they interacted with her as if they knew her. When Dylan and his brother were sent to get dinner, Lila was in fact filling in as a guest judge for the quilting competition with his mother. One of the judges, old Mrs. Thompson, had come down with a cold and was worried about contaminating people so she had stayed at home. When Lila had seen his mother slightly panic, she had jumped in to volunteer help. It touched Dylan that she was so willing to help out even when it wasn't her obligation. She was mainly spending the day with them because he'd asked. It warmed his heart a little to remember that she was indeed there because he’d asked. He just kept telling himself was that and not because of Bryce.
As soon as they were out of earshot, Dylan stopped walking and grabbed his brother’s arm so that he would stop as well. Bryce shook his head a little so his blonde hair was out of his dark brown eyes, which were looking at Dylan laughingly. "Yes?" Bryce said, with a singsong tone. Dylan gave a heavy sigh, part of him didn't want to ask what he was going to ask just in case the answer wasn’t what he wanted, but he knew he had to get it out of the way. He had to know.
"Are you interested in Lila? Are the two of you a thing?" Dylan felt his heart race as he waited for the response.
He couldn't have been more surprised as Bryce started laughing, hard enough that he bent over slightly. It seemed to take several seconds before he stood back up and smiled. "Oh, that's priceless. Trust me, big brother; she is nowhere near my type. Don't get me wrong, I adore her but she is not really my cup of tea if you know what I mean. In case you haven't noticed, though you might not have since you’re never around, Lila and I, I'll just say, have the same tastes in a significant other."
Dylan tried his best to keep a blank face; though their mother had suspected as much, to Dylan's knowledge, Bryce had never actually come out and said that he was gay until now. He wanted to appreciate the moment, show his support to his baby brother but more of him was just so relieved that he would be able to move forward in trying to win Lila that it overshadowed everything else.
"Good to know, little brother," was all he could think of; he knew it was severely lacking but he couldn't think of something more apropos if his life depended on it. So instead, he moved his hand from his brother’s arm and patted him on the back before the two of them started walking again in unison.
"So, the man of many first dates has actually had a woman catch his attention long enough for a second date?" Bryce said, mockingly.
"Stop telling people I'm some kind of playboy. You know as well as I do, that while I enjoy going on dates, most women I see nowadays are simply women that want me because I'm on that stupid list. I'm pretty sure you have Lila thinking that I'm just going to play her, thank you for that, by the way, because that doesn't make my job harder."
There was silence for several minutes; all the while Dylan waited for Bryce to have some witty comeback and when his little brother finally did respond it wasn't the response Dylan was expecting.
"Does this mean you're going to take Dad up on his offer?"
Dylan really thought about it for a beat; for once since his dad brought it up, Dylan was actually considering it is an option. He wasn't sold on it yet but it was surprised to find he was getting there.
"I don't know yet. Part of me really wants to but I don't know if that's my interest in wanting to help Dad or the idea of running my own firm, albeit a small one, or the intriguing Lila. Honestly, I was going to talk to them tonight and ask if I could have two weeks to think about it. That way it's not just over the course of the weekend at home when I'm running around doing Mother's bidding but instead of two weeks at my normal life to compare it to what I have." Plus that gives me enough time to see if Lila is interested in having me around.
Bryce didn't say anything after that; in fact neither of them said anything through the rest of their food run. Which was fine by Dylan because it gave him time to try to figure out the best way to approach Lila, especially since she was avoiding him. Or just avoiding even the illusion of being alone with him. I just hope she's interested and that this isn’t just a case of me being a creepy guy pursuing a woman and just not getting the hint.
Chapter 11
The afternoon went by in a blur for Lila; helping out Mrs. Rutgers-Roth actually turned out to be more fun than she initially thought it would be. The day did become a little more difficult as Dylan became more persistent in trying to get her alone, but she did a pretty good job of avoiding being alone with him.
With the fireworks about to start though, she took her chances and migrated away from the Roth family. Ever since she was little she had a favorite spot to watch the fireworks; there were a few other people that knew about it but nowhere near as many as stood on the beach, or laid on towels. So Lila made her way up one of the slight inclines to sparsely populated grassy area; when she found the perfect open space she plopped down and settled in for the fireworks display. She still had about five minutes before it started, but she was pretty sure no one would be joining her. For years she had watched the Fourth of July fireworks alone, not because there weren't people who she would watch it with, but she simply preferred to watch the awe-inspiring show by herself, and just be an anonymous face in the big crowd.
Her joy that usually came because of the fireworks display suddenly was dashed when she realized Dylan was walking up the incline towards her. She didn't want to give up her favorite spot simply to avoid him, and she was certainly not going to let him ruin her Fourth of July tradition. Sighing to herself she prepared for whatever conversation he felt they needed to have, and if he went over she was ready to tell him to be quiet so that she could at least enjoy the fireworks display.
He didn't speak until he was settled in, cross-legged next to her. "You’ve been avoiding me all day. Look, I wanted to talk to you about the fact that I'm interested in seeing whether you and I could go together. I think we can make each other quite happy but I don't want to do that if you aren't interested."
Lila was torn between shock and frustration. She wasn't exactly thinking when she opened her mouth to speak, "You mean when you come home, we hang out and when you're in Seattle, you go about your business?" She chastised herself, it seemed a little rude and over-the-top, even to her.
Thankfully, Dylan didn't even seem offended; instead he pushed on, his words rushed. "It's not actually like that. Most the dates I go on are with women who know I'm on that stupid bachelor list. If you and I are a thing then we’re a thing, no matter what; none of this girl-at-every-port nonsense."
Lila wasn't sure what words were on the other end of the awkward silence that fell after his words because the fireworks display started and she was caught up in the the color and shape that filled the sky and for a ten-minute span. There was no Dylan; there was simply the awe-inspiring show she'd been watching ever since she could remember.
Once the fireworks display ended and people clapped their appreciation and began to clear out, Lila stayed put. She tried to weigh her thoughts so that her words would be exactly what she wanted them to be. "I am not entirely sure that dating when we’re an hour drive apart in good traffic is the best idea. I know that it isn't long-distance but it isn't necessarily the most convenient of situations. Besides, we don't really know each other that well." She leaned forward to give herself enough momentum to stand up. "It seems weird to me that we would get serious
, serious enough to be exclusive or dating or whatever you want to call it, after simply spending was the equivalent a few hours together. I'm not saying I haven't had a lot of fun hanging out with you. I'm also not saying that I'm not interested. It’s just that I'm not the type of girl to date someone I barely know. I'm sorry"
With that, she walked away before he could launch into any type of response. Lila knew it was a little cowardly and that she was basically running away. But she didn't know what else to do, this weekend had had a lot of ups and downs and she didn't want to be making any big decisions with a man she barely knew, even if she was good friends with his little brother. She just hoped she was making the right decision and that she wouldn't be kicking herself later.
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Lila loved to see the library full of kids, she had to hand it to one of the younger assistants; the new reading program that encouraged kids to meet quotas in order to get prizes from local businesses had really made the kids of Highland Lake read more. The month of July had made them quite the popular place and now that it was even the first week in August, it didn't seem to be dying down.
Having the library be so busy gave her an excuse to pick up extra shifts from others who were on vacation. That meant she didn't get to hang out with Bryce as much, unless he came into the library to bother her. It also meant that she didn't have the time to kick herself about turning down Dylan. In the months since the Fourth of July, she had realized what a stupid decision it was to walk away. She couldn't believe she had let her nerves get the best of her. He was from Highland Lake, she knew his family - it wasn't like he was a complete stranger to her. And yet she let herself get carried away with the reputation she thought he had and how far apart they lived and the fact they seemed to be moving so fast get the better of her. Now he was back in Seattle at his big law firm, probably looking for some girl to replace her with, not hard since they only technically went on a few half dates, and here she was just trying to keep herself busy. Dylan was, for the first time in her life, something she regretted.
Big City Bachelor Page 5