Love Me If You Dare (Safe Haven) Read Free Page B

twins who were polar opposites. But despite how
much we’d looked alike, that was exactly what Ella and I had been. And
obviously I wasn’t happy that she was gone, but the fact remained that, in her
absence, I had been able to become.... different. To be things that I hadn’t
felt free to be before.
    But
I didn’t want to get into any of that, not right now. No, I just wanted to
dance.
    “Here’s
to you coming home!” Caroline accepted the cup of vodka and seven that I handed
her and lifted it, toasting me. Though her toast made me squirm a bit, I
shrugged it off.
    I
was here to have fun. But before following her to the space that had been
cleared for dancing, I spat out the question that had been on the tip of my
tongue since I’d walked in the door.
    “Dylan
McKay.” I felt like I’d shouted, though I’d tried to keep my voice down.
Caroline turned, her face suddenly intent on my own.
    Nervously
I ran my tongue over dry lips.
    “Is
he still in town?”
    Caroline
nodded with apparent sympathy.
    “Yeah.
He’s still around. Jax too, and Nick,” she added, naming the other guys, the
ones who had been Dylan’s best friends since grade school.
    “Right.”
I lifted my cup to my lips and gulped at the liquid. I’d gone heavy on the
vodka, adding a splash of seven just for form’s sake, and it burned my nose and
throat as I swallowed.
    I
was thrilled. I was terrified.
    Some
of the latter must have shown on my face, because Caroline squeezed my arm with
comfort.
    “He
comes to these parties once a while, but not often.” Of course, she thought I
was worried about seeing him because he’d been Ella’s best friend, her
co-conspirator. She had no idea what had happened between us that final night,
what we’d finally given in to... and what had happened as a result.
    I
wasn’t about to tell her, so instead I forced myself to smile. Slamming back
the rest of my drink, I gestured to the dance floor.
    “Let’s
dance!”
    Caroline’s
face showed a flicker of surprise, but it quickly melted into fun.
    “Let’s
do it.” Chugging the remains of her own drink, she took the hand I offered her
and let me lead her onto the dance floor. As we found a spot amongst the knots
of people, as the bass of the song made the soles of my spiky heels vibrate,
relief was a potent drug, dripping bit by bit into my veins.
    I
was reminded of why Caroline and I had become friends in the first place,
though on paper it seemed she would have been a better match with Ella.
    She’d
always just accepted me at face value. If I wanted to hang out in my room and
study in my free time, she didn’t see anything wrong with that. If I needed to
run away to a college on the opposite side of the country, well, she’d keep in
touch with text messages and dirty e-mail forwards.
    If
I wanted to wear a dress that no one in this town would have expected me to and
dance sexy to forget about my problems, well then, she’d just join in the fun.
    We
danced through song after song, fast, slow, in between, stopping only to get
fresh drinks. Sweat made the clingy fabric of my dress catch on my skin, and
had my once silky curls plastering themselves to my cheeks, but I didn’t care.
    As
I’d learned when I’d finally left this town, letting go of control could
sometimes just feel good .
    “Uh-oh.”
    I
had been swaying to a song by Bruno Mars, my arms in the air, when Caroline’s
voice filtered through. Opening my eyes, I saw her looking over my shoulder
with apprehension.
    A
big hand was on my shoulder before I could ask her what was wrong. That hand pulled
me, spinning me around on my heels. With three vodka sevens in me, I lost my
balance, falling against the rock solid chest of the guy who had grabbed me.
    The
scent of soap and something that was uniquely him combined in my nose
and told me who it was before my eyes actually took him in. My pulse quickened,
my heart beginning to beat double time, as I looked up and my vision confirmed
what I’d