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“Listen, I came down here with a little bit of good news.”

At that her smile returned. And she had the best, most genuine smile. The kind that somehow lit up your soul.

“What’s that?”

“I just got off the phone with my parents,” I said. “And they want us down in the summer. The both of us, together.”

She looked skeptical. “Really?”

“Yup.”

“And who asked?”

I smiled proudly. “My momma.”

Her smile grew wider. Her face lit up even more.

“Seriously?”

“Totally. She asked specifically for you to come.” I looked back at her and shook my head. “I don’t know what you did while we were down there, but you must’ve made some impression.”

Sammara wiggled even closer and squeezed my hand. “I have my ways.”

“And whatever you said to my daddy…”

“Is

between me and him,” Sammara cut in quickly. “You have one hell of a father, Dakota. He’s a smart man. A great man.”

I chuckled. “And thankfully the only man on the planet with any influence over my momma.”

Sammara batted her eyes prettily. “That too.”

She leaned into me and my arm slid around her. It was a happy moment. A perfect moment. And yet…

“Dakota, I…”

Tears came. They streamed down her face from out of nowhere, dropping into her lap, flowing freely as I grabbed both hands in astonishment.

“Sammara! What is it?”

“I… I’ve been avoiding something,” she sobbed.

“Tell me!”

“I’ve been afraid…” she sniffed. “So afraid to find out—”

I crushed her against my chest, drowning out the rest of her sentence. Whatever it was, whatever was causing her pain like this, I wanted to obliterate it. To drive it instantly away, or take it from her, or—

“There’s… There’s…” She choked back a fresh round of tears. “I think there’s something wrong with me…”

I looked up quickly, scanning desperately for Kyle, or Ryan, or Briggs. I wanted their help. I wanted to fix things immediately.

“Dakota?”

I turned back to grab her by the face. Probably a little too hard, because it smushed her cheeks together.

She looked adorable anyway.