Page 137 of Dream On, Ramona Riley

Dylan groaned. “But I should.”

“It would be a good look, yeah.”

“God, I don’t need this right now,” Dylan said. “My parents are still here too, which means she’s going to be parading around with Jack, talking about romantic song lyrics to matchmykissing scenes.”

Laurel was quiet for a second. Ramona came out of the bathroom in a plain lavender tee tied at her waist and formfitting black pants that hit at her ankle. She looked retro and adorable, and Dylan wanted nothing more than to pull her back into bed.

But then Laurel sighed loudly into the phone, bringing real life crashing down once again.

“Dylan, this is your job,” she said. “I know Jocelyn hurt you, but that’s on her. You wanted to remake yourself after everything that happened with her and the Mondrian. So do it.”

Dylan felt her shoulders drop. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

“I’ll see you in an hour?”

“Okay. Thanks, Laurel.”

She ended the call, dropped her phone in her lap. Laurel was right. She had to suck it up, stop letting other people’s issues become her own.

“You okay?” Ramona asked, slipping her phone into her back pocket.

Dylan nodded, scrubbed a hand over her face. “Jocelyn’s going to be here today.”

Ramona’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“Are you…is that…”

“A problem?” Dylan asked, then laughed bitterly. “No. I don’t know.” She looked at Ramona. “I never told you what she did, did I?”

Ramona’s mouth opened, then she sank down onto the bed, sitting on one leg. “No. But Olive mentioned something about a record deal with your dad.”

Dylan nodded. Of course Olive would know about it. The whole world knew about it. Ramona only hadn’t known about it because she didn’t read the gossip sites. Or at least, she hadn’t before she met Dylan.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you myself,” Dylan said. “It’s just…I didn’t react well. The Mondrian and the helicopter. The champagne and the pool. It wasn’t my proudest moment.”

She reached out and took Ramona’s hand.

“It’s okay,” Ramona said, staring at their fingers.

Dylan squeezed. “Good. And it’ll be fine with Jocelyn. I can be professional. I have to be, right?”

Ramona looked at her. Smiled, though there was something sad in her eyes.

“Areyouokay?” Dylan asked.

Ramona blinked. “Me? Yeah, I’m…I’m fine. But hey, can we talk tonight?”

Dylan tilted her head. “Talk?”

“Just…yeah. Just, like, talk. Maybe go to dinner?”

“Of course. I always want to talk to you,” Dylan said, though somehow she didn’t think Ramona meant simply shooting the breeze over some fried calamari.

But Ramona nodded, took a deep breath as she stood up. “Good. Great. I’ll…I’ll see you on set? We’re at the lake house again, right?”

“Yeah,” Dylan said as their hands slid apart. “Kiss?”