Page 32 of Fortuity
It all settled me. Quieted the tiny voice inside my head that tried to convince me nothing was permanent, and nobody stuck around. Dillon battled my doubts each and every day, and he won without even knowing he was fightingagainstthem.
Because he was just that goodtome.
Because we fittogether.
Like he and his dad liked to put it, ‘when you know, you know.’ And my head was starting to believe what my heart felt like it knew with Dillon—we were supposed to betogether.
With that thought in my head, I rushed forward when I saw his SUV at the curb in front of my dorm. The windows were rolled down, and I smiled when the usual butterflies swirled in my belly at the sight of him in the driver’s seat. As I climbed inside, his dark eyes swept over my tight jeans and slouchy top, filling with heat at my choice of outfit fortoday’sdate.
“How is it that you manage to look perfect when you don’t even know where I’mtakingyou?”
“Luckyguesses?”
I buckled my seat belt, and he leaned over to claim my lips in a quick kiss that left me breathlessformore.
“Or maybe you just know me better than you realize,” he suggested, giving me another kiss before pulling away from the curb and heading offcampus.
“But not well enough to ever figure out where you’re taking me before we get there. You do too good of a job at coming up with ideas I’d never think toguess.”
“You don’t give your own creativity enough credit. You’re the one who found that outdoor movie we went to a couple ofweeksago.”
“True,” I conceded. It was one of the few times he’d let me do the planning. And I’d had to think way outside the box on that one because he didn’t like me spending money when we were together. But I was determined to treat him to a night out, so I’d scoured the internet for ideas until I discovered that a nearby park did free movies on Friday nights. Everyone brought their own blankets and lawn chairs to sit out on the lawn, and there was an ice cream truck that came by with treats. I’d packed us popcorn, candy, and drinks and we’d cuddled on a blanket surrounded by families with kids while we watched an animated movie. It had been awesome, and we planned to go againsometimesoon.
“But that doesn’t mean I’m not dying to know what we’re doingtonight.”
“How about I give youahint?”
He flashed me a grin that made me think his hint wouldn’t do me much good, but I still took him up on the offer. “Yes,please.”
“Chocolate, strawberry, andvanilla.”
There was only one guess for that hint. “Icecream!”
“Yup.”
“Are we going out for icecream?”
“Notexactly.”
“I knew it couldn’t be that easy,” Igrumbled.
“But only because surprising you is somuchfun.”
It really was, so I didn’t complain too much for the ten minutes we were in the car before arriving at a local cookingschool.
“Are we going to make our own ice cream?” The awe in my voice made me sound like a little girl who’d just seen Santa for thefirsttime.
“Yeah, my mom had a flyer for this place because she’s taken a few classes here. When I noticed they were focusing on ice cream tonight, I signedusup.”
“I love ice cream.” More than loved it. I could’ve happily eaten ice cream at every meal if it wasn’t so unhealthy. “But I’ve never made itbefore.”
“Neither have I, but they’re going to do a couple of low-ingredient, all-natural recipes that you can eat as often as you’d like because they aren’t that badforyou.”
I’d known he was considerate, but the thought he’d put into this plan blew me away. It wasn’t just about taking me to make something I loved for the first time. He’d found a way for me to indulge my ice cream addiction without having to worry. “Dillon,” I whispered, my voiceshaking.
“Shit.” He parked the car and turned to face me, worry etched on his handsome face. “You hate the idea, don’t you? Fuck, I’m sorry. I thought you’dloveit.”
“How long do we have before the classstarts?”
