“It’s sweet, not stupid, and I also don’t think it’s temporary. I’ve seen the shift between the two of you lately—for a while now, actually. Have you told her how you feel?”
“It’s more than obvious to everyone how I feel about her. I haven’t necessarily been inconspicuous in my pursuit.”
That earns me a soft chuckle. “No, no, you have not. But if you recall, Griff and I had feelings for each other for years before we realized how the other felt. Even though it was evident to everyone around us, we remained clueless.”
“Yeah, I remember. Katie and I had a front-row seat to the shitshow.” My chest pulls tight, the way it always does wherever I think back on the memories from that summer. “That’s not the case with Dakota, though. I’ve told her how I feel. I’m being patient and waiting for her to catch up.”
Mack’s face softens. “For what it’s worth, I think you’re going about it the right way. Building the foundation of your relationship on friendship will make a huge difference in her security within the relationship. Dakota told me once that her relationship with Aaron was very rushed, and she felt like they got married before she even realized who he truly was.”
Biting the inside of my cheek, I mull that over. When will we ever get a better opportunity to truly get to know one another than while we’re here spending uninterrupted time together for the next month? Probably never.
“So how do I show her that what she had with Aaron wasn’t love?”
A wide smile spreads across my sister’s face. “By showing her what it should be.”
My own grin mirrors hers before we discuss the logistics of our most important mission yet: showing Dakota Meyer what falling deeply and indisputably in love is like.
Griffin and I are standing near the clear half-wall railing at the hotel bar’s rooftop terrace that overlooks the city as we wait for Mack and Dakota. They opted to get ready together in our room, so I went over to change and shower in theirs. It didn’t take long for Griff and me to get ready, thus the two of us sipping on negronis, a popular drink in Milan.
Tan arms wrap around Griff from behind, and once he sees her ring, he turns to pull Mack into his arms but stops midway to take in her outfit. “Fuck, Sunshine. You know I can’t control myself when you wear red.”
“Not something I needed to know,” I mutter.
McKenna’s got her long blonde hair pulled back into a wavy ponytail. The short red dress she’s wearing, that has Griff looking like a lovestruck idiot, has red rhinestones all over it with straps that fall off her shoulders.
Mack’s returning wink tells him she knew exactly what she was doing. “I was just choosing an era. AndRedhappens to be one of my favorites. I love how your shirt turned out, baby,” she says innocently as she pulls him in for a kiss. Her makeup must be magic, because when she pulls away, there’s not a trace of her red lipstick on Griff’s face.
Griffin’s shirt says “Fearlessly in love with my wife” with an arrow pointing to the side, where Mack is now tucked beneath his arm.
I look around in search of Dakota, but when I don’t immediately see her I turn back to Mack. “Where’s Dakota?” I ask. Maybe I’m just in my head, but I’m worried that after what happened this morning, she’s going to pull away from me before I’ve even had a chance to convince her to stay.
“She was going to grab us a drink at the bar and then join us out here.”
The nod I give in response hopefully comes off indifferent when I’m really feeling anything but. I’m nervous as shit to implement phase one of my mission: leave nothing unsaid.
When I notice I’m repeatedly fisting the hand not holding my drink, I slip it into the pocket of my light blue shorts and fidget with the contents of my pocket.
“Carse, you need to chill the fuck out. You look like you’re playing pocket pool right now,” Griff grumbles.
Pulling my hand from my pocket, I tip my head back and finish my drink.
Feeling a sudden, inexplicable need to turn around, I do, and when my eyes find my dream girl, my heart begins to hammer in my chest. Dakota makes her way toward us in a lavender sequin dress with a plunging neckline that has me biting my knuckles to hold in the groan that wants to slip out. Her short hair is curled and pinned back on one side. As she gets closer, I can see she has a lavender eye shadow with little rhinestones around the corners of her eyes. She completes the look with those sexy rhinestone cowgirl boots of hers.
Dakota hands one of the wine glasses she’s holding to Mack. When she turns back to me and gives me a shy smile, I try to regain my composure. Clearing my throat, I tell her, “You can take the girl outta Texas, but you can’t take the Texas outta the girl.”
That makes a genuine smile spread across her face. “You like?” she asks, biting her lip and doing a playful spin so I can see her outfit.
The sun hitting off the sequins gives her an iridescent glow, and when she spins, the short flowy skirt of her dress moves to an almost indecent length. As she turns, I see the top of her dress is actually a halter top, leaving the tanned skin of her back exposed in the backless number.
Like? Is she serious?
Is death by attraction a thing? Because if it is, I think I’m on my way to my grave. My heart thrashes wildly in my chest, causing me to sweat and undo another button of my button-up shirt.
“I love it, Austen. You’re like a living, breathing lavender haze.”
That earns me a chuckle with a cute little wrinkle of her nose. “Thank you. Oh, and look. It even has pockets!” she exclaims, showing me the side of her dress where a concealed pocket is built into the fabric of the skirt. “And let me guess,” she pauses. “You’re in yourLoverera?” She gestures toward my pink and light blue tie dye button up shirt. I do my own spin so she can see the back of my shirt where it has the album’s logo across my shoulders.
“I’m never not in myLoverera,” I declare.
