Page 35 of Art of Love

He glance out and watched as Nate left the bookstore and headed across the street. He knew it was petty of him, but just in case the man glanced over, he shifted even closer to Dylan. “After a particularly bad flu the year before her death, things turned worse.” The closeness of Dylan somehow made the pain of the loss sting less.

“My dad got pneumonia a few months before he went. I came home to watch over him.” He saw her eyes turn sad and shifted slightly towards her, wanting to comfort her. He knew how it felt.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t wish I could pick up the phone and talk to her.” He sighed. She frowned and glanced away.

He stopped playing with the ends of her hair.

“I… when I went away for college, I…” She shook her head. “I was too busy for calls.”

He nudged her. “You were there when he needed you most.”

She turned and met his gaze, and he forgot all about making another man jealous. Instead, his entire mind and body focused on her. Just her. How the light made her hair shine and warmed her skin, turning it a light pink. Her eyes almost glowed.

He was falling hard and fast for her, even though he knew deep down that he couldn’t fully trust her. She still carried secrets. Deep down, she was hiding something else from him. What? Why? When would she trust him enough to open fully for him?

Her eyes seemed to be searching his as if looking for answers herself. Did she think he was hiding things from her? Did she really believe him when he told her he had nothing to do with Kara’s death?

She moved ever so slightly towards him. Maybe it was in his mind? Maybe it was nothing more than a breeze blowing her towards him. Either way, when she was nothing more than a breath from him, he knew that he was lying to himself.

He was no longer falling in love with Dylan. No. That moment had come and gone in the blink of an eye. Abe Collins was one-hundred-percent already in full-blown love with Dylan Beck. And he had only kissed her twice.

Now, all that was left was to seal his fate with a kiss.

“Dylan,” he whispered, but then someone called her name and Dylan blinked, breaking the moment.