Chapter 18

18

“Just which guy are you here with tonight, anyway, you slut?” a voice said behind Dylan when she came out of the restroom stall. Dylan looked up at the mirror. At the four women who had now cornered her.

Sisters . Everywhere. Sheesh.

They moved quiet for such a large batch of green-eyed creatures. Devaney gave her most wicked grin after she asked it. She, Dahlia, Daisy, and Dixie were waiting. For Dylan’s answer.

“I am here with…no one, actually. Quade is technically my date, but something happened on set with three actresses, so he is running late. Mateo asked that I dance with him and if I would like something to drink. I told him I would dance with him in a little while.”

“And Fletcher Hot Guy Tyler?” Devaney asked. “The one you are shacking up in sin with? What about him?”

Well. That was the one man she did not want to think about right now, thank you very much. He had confused her completely, and she couldn’t figure out why. “He just gave me a lift, that’s all.”

And well, told her that it wouldn’t be so bad if people thought they were together. Talk about…different.

“Honey, that man did not look like an Uber,” Dixie said, drawling it out. “He was looking at you like certain parts of him were on fire.”

“I probably made him angry again. It seems to be a gift,” Dylan said. Even though she knew what Dixie meant.

Something about how he had looked at her, everything felt different tonight. Fletcher had been different tonight. She was almost certain of it.

“Yeah, not buying that,” Daisy—her sweetest, cutest, big sister—said. “I think we can all agree that that is a Tyler man. And we have seen how they look at beautiful women when they are feeling a bit randy.”

“How?” Dahlia asked, quietly. She wasn’t whispering. She felt comfortable with their sisters. That made Dylan happy, no denying that. She’d worried about how Dahlia would take her moving out—but her sister seemed to be adjusting okay.

“Like the last snack cake in the box,” Dylan muttered.

“Feeling a bit like a Little Debbie right now?” Dixie asked.

“This dress has some power. I found it at the second-hand store.”

“It isn’t the dress that has him looking at you like that,” Dixie said.

“Those Tylers are so, so beautiful,” Daisy said, almost dreamily. “We’ll probably all marry Tylers eventually, you know. There are plenty for all of us.”

“Yeah, never going to happen,” Dixie said. “Well, probably never going to happen. At least not all of us. Darcey, definitely not. Me, probably not. Daisy—you are so pitiful. This Tyler crush of yours is so limiting your options. Expand the horizons, chick. Expand.”

“I can’t. There are just so many of them.” Daisy started fanning herself like a lunatic. “Each one is like seriously the hottest man on the planet. It’s insane how hot they all are.”

“What about the four of us?” Dahlia asked.

“We should all marry Tylers just to spite Dad?” Devaney said. “Sounds like a plan to me, if they just weren’t all arrogant buttheads anyway. Talk about going from frying pan to the fire. At least the ones I’ve met. With the exceptions of Gil, Ben, and Fletcher, anyway.”

“Most of them are not buttheads, Dev,” Daisy said. “Or if they are, they are so hot I never notice. I’ll introduce you to the ones you haven’t met yet, if you want.”

“Well, I think we can all agree that as of tonight, Fletcher is Dylan’s special Tyler,” Dixie’s green eyes met Dylan’s. “Don’t be afraid. Go for it. Fletcher is the kind of man romance novels are written about. One of the best men I know.”

“I am just his housekeeper. And that is all it is ever going to be.” Dylan was just going to stick to that, thank you very much. She would have said more, but the doors opened.

Three more women walked in. Three beautiful ones, including her baby sister. Who was at the dance with Ridge Hauffman. Her sister’s very first date. Dorie looked so beautiful, so grown up. Dylan’s eyes stung.

They weren’t little girls anymore. They were a part of the real world now.

Talk about terrifying.

“So this is where we are meeting up? Going to all do the grand entrance—from the bathroom?” Dusty asked. “What’s shaking, ladies?”

“Just giving Dylan a bit of a man-pep talk,” Dixie said, moving over to let Dorie use the mirror. “We’re just having a little trouble narrowing down which particular gorgeous man our floozy little sister is actually with tonight. There seems to be multiple possibilities.”

“She’s such a slut,” Devaney said. “Dad is about to explode.”

“Oh, do tell,” Darcey said. She looked amazing again. Like she always did. She and Dusty had that whole easy, earthy sex-appeal thing going on. Devaney had it too. Or she would when she was a bit older. Dylan envied her that. She still felt like a kid playing dress up tonight. Even though Mateo had looked at her with real interest in his face.

And there had been that whole last-oatmeal-cookie look on Fletcher’s face too. That was an expression she wasn’t going to forget anytime soon. Or the way he hadn’t seemed like he wanted to let her go.

“The dress. The dress is where the power is at. I am sure of it,” Dylan told her sisters.

“It’s not the dress, Dyl. It just isn’t,” Dixie said. “I think, tonight you get your pick of the boys. So, throw caution out the window and go for it. Have fun. But…make sure you stay where we can see you. All of you. Safety in numbers, remember?”

“So, who are we talking about here?” Dusty asked. “Rumor has you with Quade, but I did not see him out there.”

“He’s running late. Something about a problem on set.” She really wished he’d get there. She needed reinforcements tonight. She just knew it.

“And there is Mateo Hauffman, who seems fascinated by her,” Daisy said. “Talk about hot. And you and Dorie can date brothers. That could be fun.”

“He’s a very beautiful man,” Devaney said.

“Wait a minute, didn’t you have a date with Logen too?” Dylan asked.

“Hmmm. No. He asked. I said no. No time.” Devaney had that look again. Dylan was going to have to ask questions—when they were alone.

“But then there is… Fletcher, ” Dixie said. “There is always that man you are shacking up with.”

“Then she and Dusty could boink brothers,” Devaney said as Darcey pushed open the doors and led the way out.

“Like you and Dylan did three years ago?” Dorie asked.

“You knew about that?” Dylan asked. She and Devaney had tried to keep that quiet so their father didn’t find out. He hadn’t liked those brothers at all—and had made it known. Well, kind of like the Tyler-itis he wasn’t hiding very much, now that she thought about it.

She wondered if he was starting to exhibit signs of Hauffman-itis yet. There might just be a pattern emerging.

“Of course, I knew about that. I wasn’t stupid,” Dorie told her. “I see everything, hear everything?—”

“And we know…you know everything, too,” Devaney said, rolling her eyes. “You have always been the brattiest of us.”

Dylan and her sisters stepped out of the restroom. Dylan looked out at the crowd. Right into diamond blue eyes.

“I think I am in serious trouble here actually.” The words came out before she could stop them. But only Dusty heard.

Her sister put an arm around her shoulders. “I can completely understand.”

Dylan looked into her sister’s beautiful eyes. “Why does everything have to get so complicated?”

“I’ll let you know if I ever figure it out.”

“This…this is so not what I planned.”

Dusty just patted her on the head…and commiserated.

Of course, she did. Ben looked at Dusty with that oatmeal cookie hungry look all the time. The difference was, Dusty just knew what to do about it.

Dylan didn’t have a clue.