Page 10 of Playing the Backbeat

Dylan

“All partied out?” I ask, dropping into a chair in front of the fire pit, across from Dee. Dominic and Ellie’s vow renewal ended several hours ago, the small party now in full swing, with everyone lingering around the food in the kitchen.

I made my way outside to steal a moment of quiet. I was so distracted by the sky, painted with orange, pink, and purple streaks as the sun lowers closer to the tree line along the perimeter of Dom and Ellie’s backyard, that I almost missed Dee sitting alone around the fire. I catch a look on her face that has my intuition flaring to life. “What’s wrong?”

Her mask effortlessly slips back into place. Relaxed shoulders, wide smile…but it doesn’t reach her eyes. Whatever strain remains, she can’t hide it completely. At least not from me.

“Me? Partied out? Not possible. It’s like you don’t even know me anymore.”

I wait. Unsure how to approach this. Dee and I don’t normally do serious. Teasing barbs and playful joking? Sure. But for once,she doesn’t look up for it. Her defenses are down and I have no idea why.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s none of my business.” I shrug, trying to play it off like I’m not actually worried. “But you don’t exactly seem yourself tonight.”

She huffs, rolling her light brown eyes before meeting mine in a challenge. “Dylan, are you going soft on me?”

I smirk, because the brat just couldn’t help herself. But I see the light coming back into her eyes, so I won’t push. I’ll give her exactly what she expects from me. Keep it light, playful. “Oh, honey, going soft isn’t ever something you need to worry about with me.”

She laughs that full-bodied laugh that always does something to my stomach. The warmth melting into my chest, making my head swim. She tucks her dark brown hair behind her ear, the soft curls just barely hitting her shoulders. “What a gift to society you are.”

The light drains from her eyes as quickly as it reappeared, and she’s left looking…exhausted.

I clear my throat and adjust in my chair. “Okay, well, you know you could talk to me. If you wanted to, I mean. Not like you need to.”

A soft smile tugs at the side of her lip. “Are you trying to have a heart-to-heart?”

“Fuck off.” I laugh with her. “Forget I said anything.”

Her laugh tapers off as she studies me. I take a drink and start peeling the label off my beer, unsure how to handle her focused attention.

“Thank you for asking,” she says, surprising me. “Sorry I couldn’t make it easy for you.”

“That just doesn’t feel like you.”

“No.” She shakes her head, grinning. “That doesn’t sound like me at all.”

“Seriously, what’s brought the queen of sass and mayhem down?”

Dee takes a deep breath, letting her head fall against the reclined back of the Adirondack chair, and closes her eyes. “I got laid off,” she admits softly.

I sit up. “No shit.”

She laughs again, without humor this time. “Yes.Shit.”

Dee’s been at Keller’s as long as I’ve known her, meaning she has to have been there at least…

“Eightyears. All that effort. All thatass-kissing. All that fighting the glass ceiling. And for what?” Her head rolls to the side, eyes meeting mine, still soft with defeat. Something Ineversee in Dee. “It’s fine. I’ll figure it out,” she says, waving her hand dismissively. “But it happened three weeks ago, and I didn’t want to spoil Ellie and Dom’s vow renewal with everyone’s fussing.”

“There would be fussing,” I agreed.

“Loads of it.” Her smile is sad now, like she couldn’t possibly stand it if her friends were worried about her.

I get it. The only thing worse than going through shit, is having people watch you go through that shit, knowing there’s nothing they can do to fix it for you.

She shakes her head and laughs bitterly.

“I’m sorry, Dee.”

“What? No jokes? No digs? No nothing? Youaregoing soft on me.”