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“I could take you for a ride too, Harley. Whenever you want. Just say the word.”

There was that damn low voice again. I pressed my thighs together and looked back out toward the window, but it was too late—he’d definitely seen me blush.

Laughing, Stephan went and joined Dylan in the kitchen. “Let’s empty the dishwasher, Dyl.”

I expected a groan and a huff, but to my surprise, Dylan emptied the dishwasher with way more zeal than he ever had in Atlanta.

Mia ambled over with a cup of coffee. She set it down at my elbow and raised an eyebrow. “Everything all right? Something going on?”

“Everything’s good.”

“You sure?”

I nodded. In the kitchen, Dylan was brandishing a dish over his head and ranting about something that made Stephan laugh wildly. My heart beat hard at the sight. He was so good with Dylan. And so kind to me.

I knew this was only a season, a moment—a fantasy, really. After the summer, we’d go back to Atlanta, and Stephan would go back to his dangerous life. But something about him kept drawing me in, and it was getting harder and harder to ignore it.

12

ACE

Istretched my arms up, then folded my hands and rested them on top of my head to feel the stretch in my waist. It was mid-morning, and the sun glittered off the lake.

Dylan was inside, getting dressed. Mia had started prepping lunch, and Harley was working at the dining room table.

Harley. There had been something different about her this morning. My dragon had noticed it first—the flush on her round cheek, the heat of her skin. Her blue eyes had been restless, dancing around the room, never lingering on me for too long. It was really fucking cute. It reminded me of the younger Harley, the one I’d met ten years ago. Back then, it was easy to make her flustered. All it took was my hand trailing across her lower back or a whispered promise in her ear, and her cheeks would turn cherry red. She’d pull away, blushing and stammering, but then keep drifting closer to me on instinct.

That’s how she was acting this morning. Maybe it had been wrong of me to tease her, but I couldn’t help pressing my body to hers for a moment, just to feel her heart rate spike.

If I couldn’t be with her, I needed those little moments to sustain me. If it was all I was going to get, I needed to savor it.

“I’m ready,” Dylan called as he raced out of the back door with a huge smile on his face.

My dragon thrummed with excitement. He was excited to meet his son—excited to show off a little. We both wanted to show Dylan what it was like to be a dragon. We wanted to welcome him into this life and make it a little less scary.

“You sure?” I said with a grin. “You haven’t met a dragon before, have you?”

Dylan nudged the dirt with his toe. “Yeah, I have.”

“You met a dragon in Atlanta?”

“Uh-huh. Mom’s friend, Suri, is a dragon. I’ve seen him a couple times, when I was a kid.”

My dragon roared with jealousy. We should’ve been the first dragon Dylan met. We should’vebeen there.I felt the weight of the years more than ever. I’d missed so much time with Dylan, so many experiences I should’ve shared with him.

Not to mention that his mother knew another dragon.

“Suri?” I echoed. “Is he your mom’s… special friend?”

Dylan laughed and rolled his eyes. “Dad, I know what boyfriends and girlfriends are. Suri is Mom’sboss.”

“Her boss, huh?”

“Yeah, at the bank. Mom doesn’t have a boyfriend. She says she works too much.” Dylan shrugged. “He tries to help me but my dragon doesn’t like him anymore.”

“I guess Suri’s not an alpha, huh?” It made sense. As Dylan’s shift approached, his dragon wanted his sire, another alpha—not a stranger. My dragon hummed in satisfaction.

“I dunno,” Dylan said. “But your dragon is definitely bigger.”