Dragonfly Kisses Read Free

of crudités away from her grungy flip flops.
    “He is perfect,” Lucy gushed.
    “Did you see those abs?”
    “Yep. And the muscles in his thighs?”
    “And his shoulders?” Bella blew out a breath. “I’d love to get a closer look. We should try to meet him.”
    “We?” Emily closed the book on her finger and pursed her lips. “Or you?” Of the four of them, Emily was, by far, the least likely to accost a strange man.
    Bella and Lucy—not so much.
    “He usually runs for about twenty minutes.” Lucy consulted her watch. “Let’s go down to the beach.”
    “ Usually ?” Cassie laughed. “Are you stalking the poor guy?”
    “Only a little.” How Lucy managed such an innocent expression—tinged with mischief—was a mystery.
    “It’s a new reality show. The Manhunters .” Bella waggled her brows. “Four hot chicks. One super-hot Highlander. Which lucky woman will win his heart?”
    “Not his heart I’m interested in.” This, Lucy offered in an aside. “Don’t look so horrified, Cassie. You haven’t seen him, so you don’t understand.”
    “Come on, you guys. Let’s go down to the beach. We can pretend to be, I don’t know, hunting for driftwood or some shit.” Yeah. Bella was always full of brilliant ideas.
    Cassie waved her sheet music. “Sorry. I need to get this down. It’s a new piece. You go ahead.”
    Bella narrowed her eyes. “Don’t be a stick in the mud, Frenchie.”
    “I’m not a stick in the mud. And don’t call me Frenchie.” Bella knew she hated the nickname Drew had given her. Drew gave everyone nicknames. Most of them were annoying. He’d even named her cello Big Bertha, which aggravated Cassie no end.
    “You can’t study and practice all the time.”
    “I don’t do it all the time.”
    She had no clue why all three of them felt the need to snort—in concert. Bella’s snort was the loudest. “If we let you, you’d practice until your fingers bled,” she added.
    Cassie frowned. The accusation was hardly fair. Her fingers almost never bled anymore. And if she was dedicated to her craft, well, there were reasons for her persistence. People depended on her. There were expectations.
    Bella, on the other hand, did what Bella wanted to do, regardless of other people’s objections or opinions or expectations. Cassie tried to bury the sting of jealousy the thought evoked. What she wouldn’t give to be free…
    “You’re coming, Cassie,” Bella commanded and then narrowed her baby blues on Emily. “You have to come too.”
    A blush crawled up Emily’s cheeks. Poor Emily. She was painfully shy around men. Especially around hot, hunky males. Not so much with the feral third graders she wrangled five days a week, nine months out of the year. With them, she was a Valkyrie. Hot guys, however, scared her to death.
    “I’m not a Manhunter,” she murmured.
    “It’s okay.” Bella grinned. “You can be our sidekick.”
    “You should come with us, so you know what you’re missing,” Lucy cajoled. “This guy is seriously hot.”
    When both Cassie and Emily shook their heads, Bella crossed her arms over her chest. “For God’s sake, it’s a walk on the frickin’ beach.”
    “Come on.” Lucy mimicked her stance.
    “Yeah. Come on.” They were, indeed, evil twins. Evil, insistent, stubborn, intransigent twins.
    Cassie and Emily exchanged a look. They’d known Bella and Lucy since freshman year in college. Those two wouldn’t let up until they got what they wanted.
    “All right. Just a short walk on the beach.” Cassie dropped the music onto the coffee table. “But in exchange, no grumbling when I practice tonight.”
    Of course, Lucy and Bella grumbled about that, but in the end, they agreed.
    Because they were getting what they wanted.
    A posse. For their Manhunting.
     
    Dylan focused on the thud of each footfall on the sand. One. Then another. Then another. It was the way he approached life anymore, and he found it strangely satisfying.
    One day at a