It had been a wonderful day, followed by an amazing night, and topped off with fabulous sex.

Honestly, I couldn’t have stopped smiling if someone paid me.

I was lying in bed with Dillon, again, snuggled up against him, again, and I was the happiest I’d ever been.

I closed my eyes, savoring the feel of his fingers caressing my back, and his bare skin against my cheek. Dinner had been delicious and I’d actually really liked the ballet, even though I had to nudge Dillon a few times when he started to nod off.

“Did you have fun tonight?” I asked him softly, not a hundred percent sure he hadn’t drifted off.

“Yeah,” he replied, his tone somewhat drowsy. “Doris and Roger were a hoot. Could’ve done without the ballet though.”

I chuckled and lifted my head to look at him.

“It wasn’t so bad,” I said, but he just made a face, so I laughed and put my head back down.

Because we were in this new place, no longer fighting, and Dillon obviously no longer thought of me as a younger sister, I felt safe and wanted to share. So, I said, “The last time I went to the ballet, it didn’t go so well…”

“What happened?”

My stomach began to tighten at the memory, but I took a cleansing breath, then replied, “Well, first, after I’d spent an hour getting ready, Travis told me I looked fat in my dress and needed to change, but the next dress was too slutty, so I ended up wearing slacks and a long-sleeved shirt. Then, while we were at the ballet, Travis complained the whole time about how boring it was … I mean, not just voicing his displeasure, but saying repeatedly, and loudly, how stupid it was. For the entire show. Afterwards, he told me I was never picking what we did on date night again, because obviously I was too stupid to do it right.”

I felt Dillon stiffen beneath me.

“Jesus,” he said, then added, “Laurel…”

But I cut him off and said, “You asked me before what happened in Houston, and why I came back home. Well, I’d gotten pretty used to Travis and his comments. If someone tells you often enough that you’re worthless and can’t do anything right, you start to believe them. It got so bad that I wouldn’t even listen to Jazzy when she tried to tell me he was an asshole and I should leave him. My parents loved him, and he said he loved me … I thought I loved him too, for a while. Then one day I checked my savings to see if I could afford a down payment on a cute space that had just opened up downtown, and it was gone. All of it … all the money I’d saved for years to open my business.”

“He took it,” Dillon guessed, and I nodded against his chest.

“Gambled it all,” I stated, trying to tamp down the rage I felt just thinking about it. “All that hard work, gone, and for what? Absolutely nothing. The only good thing about it was that I finally opened my eyes and started to remember the woman I used to be, and I left.”

I laughed humorously.

“Of course, I wasn’t home five minutes before my parents demanded I go back to him. Luckily, even though I hadn’t treated her right, Jazzy was right there to pick me up when I needed it.”

“Of course she was,” Dillon said, giving me a squeeze. “You and Jazz have been best friends forever, and there’s nothing you could do to ever lose her. She’s the most loyal person I know.”

“She is the best,” I agreed, then felt my blood turn cold. “Although, I don’t think she’d be happy if she knew about this.”

I tapped his chest with my finger to drive home my point.

“She doesn’t have to know,” Dillon said quickly, and my heart sank at the knowledge that I was right. Jasmine wouldn’t be happy about Dillon and I sleeping together, and he knew it. And what he said next made my foolish heart crack right down the middle, “It’s just for the weekend, right … And, we’re both adults. We can be around each other without letting on what happened between us.”

“That’s true,” I managed, hoping he didn’t notice that my voice was somewhat strangled.

I was the one who came up with this plan, so I can’t be disappointed that after having a weekend with me, Dillon won’t throw our agreement out and ask me to be with him for real, right?

That’s what I was trying to convince myself of, but still, it hurt that he wasn’t as caught up in us as I was.

“I’m happy you have her, and that she was there when you needed someone,” Dillon said, and although I felt relief that he didn’t notice my sadness at his words, I found it frustrating that he was able to brush past it so quickly.

“Yeah,” was my unenthusiastic reply.

“That Travis guy was an asshole, and I hate to say it, but your parents are assholes, too. You’re an amazing person, Laurel. Sweet, smart, sexy as hell … and you deserve to be treated with respect and reverence.”

My heart swelled, the crack healed by his words, even as I wished fervently that I could keep him.

“Thanks, Dillon,” I replied softly.

My throat thickened when I felt his lips touch the top of my head.