The Love Square

by Jessica Calla

  She recognized half the people in line with her. They all asked about California. She was sort of the celebrity of Cliffville, now that she was spending a year in LA. All the questions made her tired, and when she couldn’t take it anymore, she took out her cell to call Lucas for a ride.

  She had three texts from Dylan.

  Dylan: Here in NY, you okay?

  Dylan: Did you land yet?

  Dylan: Please text me to know so I know you’re okay.

  Clare smiled and texted him.

  Me: Here, Lusty, having happy hour with the girls. Have fun in NY. Miss you.

  Then she called Lucas.

  ***

  Dylan

  Dylan checked into his hotel in Manhattan, showered, ordered room service, and got dressed for the party on Long Island with the guys. He downed a couple of drinks, courtesy of the room’s fully stocked minibar, and waited for his car service.

  On the ride to Long Island, Dylan watched the city pass by outside the car window, lit up and alive with people. He loved California, but he missed New York. He thought about Clare and how much fun he’d have showing her around. He dug his phone out of his pocket and called her.

  The phone rang three times, and then a man’s voice answered. “’Lo?”

  Dylan took the phone away from his ear to check to make sure he had dialed correctly. Clare’s name and face glowed from the screen, so he said, “Oh, uh, I was looking for Clare.”

  “She’s asleep. Passed out is more like it.”

  Passed out? Then he heard the guy whisper away from the phone, “Clare, sugar? It’s Dylan.”

  “Is she okay?” Dylan asked nervously. “Who is this?”

  “It’s Lucas.” Lucas. Dylan always forgot about the fiancé.

  “Oh, hey. Sorry to bother you two. I just wanted to make sure she made it home.”

  “Yeah, she shocked us all. We’re happy to have her. She got in, what? About dinnertime, I guess. Went drinking with the girls and then was too drunk to drive home, so I picked her up. She’s fine, though. Just passed out.”

  “Great,” Dylan said, his shoulders sagging. “If you wouldn’t mind telling her I called?”

  “No problem,” Lucas said. “Thanks for checking on her.”

  Hearing Lucas’s voice somehow made him real. While Clare and Dylan goofed around in LA, Lucas was easy to forget. Hearing him whisper to Clare, calling her “sugar,” threw Dylan right back into reality.

  He replayed images of her in his mind and shook off the idea they could be more than friends. She’d never given him that impression, exactly. She was nice, friendly, maybe a little flirty, but she’d never made a move. Isn’t that one of the reasons I like her so much?

  Being with Clare made him realize how much he missed being around people he loved. How he missed being connected to people. Even though she was taken and wasn’t the one for him, there had to be someone out there to share his life.

  As Dylan rode to Long Island, he decided not to let Clare dominate his thoughts. She was cuddled up in Nebraska next to her fiancé. In less than a year, she’d be leaving California for good. So instead of thinking about her, he thought about Alex and Steve, all the crazy shit they used to do, the day they graduated high school, the times they hung out at Club One. He thought about the last time they were all together, when Steve and Alex had driven him to the airport when he left for California. He missed his friends. He needed them in his life.

  Dylan stepped out of the car in front of Club One and smelled the salty air. The Atlantic smelled different than the Pacific, and it reminded him of home. New York. His sisters. The early days of modeling. Watching Alex’s games. Living with Steve after high school. Summers at the shore.

  As Dylan walked toward the club, he noticed curious looks from passing women and wondered if they were simply checking him out or if they recognized him. One of the things he loved about New York was that even if people knew who he was, they didn’t really care, or acted as though they didn’t and left him alone. He hoped he could fly under the radar that night. He didn’t want to deal with Sunrise, Sunset fans. He only wanted to hang with his best friends.

  The club was split into two sections—the quieter, calmer lounge side, where people sat in small U-shaped booths and stood at tall cocktail tables talking and drinking, and the crazier, darker dance-floor side with flashing lights and loud dance music. Dylan walked into the club on the dance side and searched the floor for his friends. He noticed a couple of heads turn his way and averted his gaze to avoid eye contact.

  As he scanned the dance floor, his eyes stopped at a mass of thick, dark hair falling onto the back of a spectacularly short blue dress, toward the longest legs he’d ever seen. He watched her dance, and the rest of the club seemed to disappear. As he walked toward her, he willed her to turn around so he could see her face.

  Hello, Lady in the Blue Dress.

  Chapter 9

  Jenna

  Jenna grinned from ear to ear from a mixture of happiness and alcohol. After a couple of quick drinks, she’d dragged Penny, Scott, and Dom to the dance floor, leaving Steve and Alex at the bar. As they moved, she surveyed the men in the club for prospects. She caught a handful of guys checking her out and did some flirting from the dance floor. The music beat to the pulse of her blood racing through her body, and her hands tingled, wanting to touch someone.

  Then her eyes found Alex. He watched her from the bar, not flinching away from her stare.

  Do I try this again? His gaze tempted and intrigued her, dared her. Feeling invincible, she engaged.

  The music changed, but she stayed locked on Alex. Even as the lights flashed on and off, coloring the dance floor in rhythm to the bass, he continued to stare.

  Come to me. Let me love you, she begged silently from across the room.

  When Alex’s lips turned up into the smallest smile, Jenna thought she won. She grinned back, anxiously anticipating him. When he tilted his head and started to move, Jenna felt all powerful.

  Until he turned his back on her.

  What the fuck? Again? Why is he always walking away from me?

  She needed to get over it and accept that it wasn’t going to happen with Alex. Disappointed, she spun and found herself staring into a pair of new eyes. Golden-brown this time.

  ***

  Alex

  Alex couldn’t play the game anymore. He was done. No matter the consequences, he was in, full force. He wanted Jenna. Simple as that. Every man in the bar, probably some of the women too, couldn’t take their eyes off her, but she’d picked him. She’d made it clear that night at Hank’s and now by flirting with him from the dance floor.

  He placed his glass on the bar and signaled to Steve that he was moving. When he turned back to find Jenna, she stood still, her back to him. What is she doing?

  Then he saw a man’s hand on her waist.

  Not gonna happen, jerkoff.

  He made his way down the few steps to the dance floor and pushed through the crowd toward Jenna. He wove through the dancing bodies, determined to get to her and scare away whoever was touching her.

  When he finally reached her, the jerkoff’s face appeared over Jenna’s shoulder. Dylan.

  Dylan!

  Alex scanned the bar for Steve, but he was already on his way toward them, his red hair moving through the crowd.

  Dylan.

  Dylan swayed with Jenna, his lips at her ear, smiling as he talked to her. Her hair fell over her bare shoulder as she listened.

  Shit. I should have seen this coming.

  ***

  Dylan

  He moved close enough so the Lady in the Blue Dress could talk into his ear.

  “I know who you are,” she said. She smelled like flowers, and he had to stop himself from kissing her earlobe. “Do you know who I am?”

  “The woman of my dreams?” he murmured as he wrapped an arm around her waist. She didn’t object to his touching.

  “Weak,” she said in a musical, thro
aty voice. “Does that usually work? Alex warned me you weren’t good with pick-up lines.”

  Dylan pulled back. “Alex? You know Alex?”

  Just then, he jolted from a slap on his back, and Blue Dress pulled away. Alex and Steve grabbed him into an embrace, and the three of them stood in the middle of the dance floor huddled.

  “I’m so damn happy to see you guys,” Dylan yelled over the music.

  Alex waved over Blue Dress and her friends. He introduced Dylan to Scott, Dominic, and Penny, and then said, “And I think you met Jenna.”

  Jenna smirked as Dylan took her hand and pulled her closer. He leaned into her ear, keeping hold of her hand. “Jenna,” he whispered.

  Her thigh brushed his as she crooned, “Nice to meet you.” Her breath on his neck made him dizzy.

  Alex and Steve pulled Dylan away from her toward the bar. Jenna didn’t follow. When Dylan turned back, she was dancing again.

  Alex found them a spot to stand near the bar, and when Steve ordered three beers and six shots, Dylan knew it was going to be a rough night. He downed his first shot as they stood together, for the first time in years, laughing and talking.

  Soon, Scott and Dominic joined the group, and then Penny.

  Dylan looked around for Jenna. “Where’d Jenna go?”

  “Dunno,” Alex said.

  “She’s cute. Are you two close?”

  “She’s fucking beautiful,” Alex slurred. “We’re friends.”

  “Just friends?” Dylan asked.

  Alex grinned at Dylan. “I take it you’re interested?”

  “Yeah. You’re not?”

  Alex grinned again and looked to his phone, and Dylan turned to the others. A couple of shots later, Alex showed Dylan a series of text messages.

  Dylan squinted to focus on the screen, his head spinning from the shots.

  Alex: Dylan thinks you’re hot.

  Jenna: Kind of in a situation here.

  Alex: You ok?

  Jenna: Yep. Tell Dylan to come save me and I’m his.

  Dylan’s body tightened with the promise of Jenna in the Blue Dress being “his.” For a second, he thought about Clare. Then he remembered she was in bed with her fiancé. It’s time to move on. Clare would always be his friend, but he wanted more than a friend tonight.

  He stood and lifted his beer in a mock toast. “Gentlemen,” he said to the group, then added, “and lady,” for Penny’s benefit. “I have to save a damsel in distress, and she’s a lot better looking than you guys. Except you, Penny.” Penny smirked as he patted Alex on the back and slammed down the rest of his beer.

  “Dude, where are you going?” Dom shouted as Dylan stood to leave. “Alex. Don’t let this happen.”

  “Let what happen?” Dylan asked.

  Alex shook his head. “It’s fine. Go. Don’t fuck with her, okay? She’s a good friend.”

  “No worries,” Dylan said as he winked at Alex and walked away.

  Dylan scoured the bar but didn’t see Jenna in the Blue Dress anywhere. He walked across the dance floor and almost gave up until he noticed her in “the situation” she had referred to. She stood near a corner while some guy in a suit hung sloppily over her.

  He walked behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. She spun around, an annoyed look on her face.

  “Hi, beautiful,” he said over the music, flashing his best Hollywood smile. She squinted her big, brown eyes through long, black lashes. He put his hands behind her neck and rubbed his thumbs along her jaw. She looked confused, but before she could object, he pulled her in for a quick kiss. At first she stood frozen, but then she softened and kissed him back.

  When they pulled apart, he noticed the little mole by her right eye. He turned to The Suit and said, “Thanks for taking care of my girlfriend. I’m going to take her home now.” The Suit smirked but returned to his friends without incident.

  Dylan took Jenna’s hand and led her through the dance floor, past the bar, and outside onto the almost-empty patio, and then spun around to kiss her again. This time, she didn’t hesitate to kiss him back.

  He couldn’t care less who she was or what she was about. He simply wanted her. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d felt so physically attracted at first sight.

  “So you’re Dylan,” Jenna whispered between kisses.

  He tangled his hands in her hair and moved his lips to her ear. He touched her hair and tasted the salty air on her skin as he kissed her, all thoughts of his friends flying away with the ocean breeze. “I am. Spend the night with me?”

  “I don’t even know you,” she said, “and I don’t have one-night stands.”

  The wind blew her hair in her face, so he brushed it behind her ear. He stood up straight and cleared his throat, holding out a hand for her to shake.

  “Hi. I’m Dylan. I grew up with Alex and Steve. I live in California, and I don’t do one-night stands, either. But I’m here for two nights. Wanna have a two-night stand with me?” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers, then the inside of her wrist and then up to her elbow. “Tell me about you.”

  She smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m Jenna,” she said as Dylan kissed her neck. “Alex is my best friend. I live downstairs from him.”

  “He didn’t tell me about the gorgeous woman downstairs.” How could he not mention Jenna?

  “Well, I’ve heard a lot about you. Two nights, huh?”

  “Two nights.”

  “You are in luck because two-night stands are my specialty.”

  “That makes me so happy,” Dylan said as he moved his lips from her neck to her bare shoulder.

  “The way your lips feel on my skin makes me happy.”

  He ran his hands down her sides until they were at her thighs, where he played with the hem of her dress. “I like your dress,” he said.

  “Thanks.”

  “Let’s leave so I can take it off you.”

  Jenna feigned shock. “You California guys move fast.”

  “You’re beautiful, and I only have two nights.”

  Jenna smiled. “We have to say good-bye to the others.”

  Dylan called the car service as he led Jenna back to the bar. They scanned the crowd, but the whole group had disappeared.

  Jenna texted that they were leaving and would meet them tomorrow. When she hid her phone and grinned his way, Dylan couldn’t wait to get her alone.

  It’s time to move on.

  Chapter 10

  Clare

  Clare woke around midnight, startled and disoriented. Her head pounded and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. Lucas sighed and stretched next to her, shirtless, asleep on his back.

  Oh yeah, she thought. I’m in Cliffville. Happy hour. Lucas. Clare resisted the urge to push his dark hair over his ears. She tried to reconstruct the ride home, but her brain hurt and the memory part of it wasn’t yet working properly.

  Thankful she was fully clothed, she stumbled in the dark to Lucas’s bathroom. She splashed water on her face and scooped some into her dry mouth. How much did I drink? She opened his medicine cabinet, found the ibuprofen and popped three, then crawled back into bed.

  Lucas looked peaceful sleeping under the quilt her mother made him years ago for his twenty-first birthday. She admired his chest as it rose and fell with his breaths and stopped herself from reaching for him. I have to talk to him in the morning. I can’t touch him now.

  Memories of Lucas flooded her mind, all their firsts, all the times they’d said forever. She wasn’t sure she had the gumption to break his heart. With Lucas, she settled. His mere presence calmed her, and she sank into his comfortableness like sinking into the quilt her mother had made.

  But Dylan? With Dylan she fought butterflies.

  This is all so confusing. Way too confusing to deal with in the middle of the night.

  Lucas opened his eyes and caught her looking. “Are you really here?” he asked groggily. He reached out and touched her cheek. “You look lik
e a dream.”

  Clare grinned. “Sleep, Luke. I’ll be here in the morning.”

  He fell back asleep as they faced each other, and she flirted with the idea of calling Dylan. She drifted off instead. It’s Saturday already, she thought as her eyes closed. I’ll see Dylan tomorrow night.

  ***

  Jenna

  Jenna woke tangled in sheets, forgetting herself until she saw Dylan next to her. Sunlight filtered through the edges of the windows, but the room remained dim. She looked at the clock—9:15—the latest Jenna had slept in years. She couldn’t remember the last time she had woken feeling as satisfied or content.

  She couldn’t resist touching Dylan. She inched her face closer to his body, near his shoulder, until she felt the heat from his skin warm her cheek. He didn’t respond.

  She moved even closer and let her nose touch his shoulder. Nothing.

  She puckered her lips and kissed his arm gently. Again, he didn’t move. “Heavy sleeper,” she whispered and then left him alone, content to lie next to him and bask. For now.

  The foggy details of the night before crept into her mind. She’d recognized Dylan immediately from Alex’s photos and Google-stalking. In person, though, he gave off an irresistibly charming vibe, and Jenna fell under his trance immediately. When he’d kissed her, she shivered from her head to her toes, having forgotten how amazingly awesome the opposite sex could be. And now those beautiful lips were inches away from her.

  Jenna wiggled around to attempt to wake him up, but Dylan didn’t budge. Maybe he’s not a morning person.

  Giving up, she sat on the edge of the bed and stretched, then walked into the bathroom and turned on the shower, setting the showerhead to massage. She stepped in, letting the pressure of the hot water relax her muscles. She closed her eyes and soaked her hair, thinking of how perfect Dylan’s touch had felt on her body just hours ago.