Page 84 of Heartland

“I’m on your emergency contacts list. And Ellie’s parents said it was okay for me to collect both of you.”

“Can we go outside?” Ellie asks. “I feel drunk again.”

“Let’s take you home,” I say, stepping away from Dylan’s hotness.

“Good idea,” she babbles. “I’m sorry you had to spring us out of jail, Hot Farm Boy. We were a little naughty. We went to a fraternity party.”

“Really,” Dylan says, sounding amused.

“Which one?” the security officer asks.

“I forgot,” Ellie says cheerfully. She won’t throw Alf under the bus, I guess. “It doesn’t matter, because I turned down sex with the vegans.”

“Oh, Alpha Mu,” the officer muses.

“So did Chastity!” Ellie continues. Our coats are hanging from pegs just inside the front door, and I lunge for them, hoping she’ll stop talking. But no. “Chastity didn’t have sex with a vegan, either,” she says. “But they were very interested.Very. Are you a vegan?” She blinks up at Dylan.

“I’m a dairy farmer,” he points out. “So that would be a no.”

“Good!” Ellie says, reaching up to give his biceps a little squeeze. “I think both Chastity and I are meat lovers.”

“Ellie!” I yelp, and I’m cringing inside. “Let’sgo.” If we could just get out of this building, I could send Dylan on his way.

Or that was my plan, anyway. But his truck is at the curb. “Climb in, ladies.”

“Oh!” Ellie says. “But I smell like vomit.”

“This truck has seen a few things in its day,” he says easily. “Just sit by the window so you can open it if necessary.”

“Great idea! And that way Chastity can sit next toyou.” She winks.

I should really make a point to choose friends who can hold their liquor.

We climb into the truck, and it’s just as awkward as you’d think it would be to be sprung from fake jail by the man who doesn’t love you back.

“Hey—great concert tonight!” Ellie says. “I wish I could have heard the whole thing!”

“You were there?” Dylan asks, giving me a sideways glance.

“Only for a minute,” Ellie chirps. “But I don’t have a fake ID, so we had to watch through the window!”

Oh, kill me already. I can’t even shush her, because that would make it worse than it already is. So I just sigh, instead.

Blissfully, it’s a short ride back to the dorm. “Nice chatting with you, Ellie,” Dylan says as he stops at the curb.

“The pleasure was all mine!” she says, as if we were all just out at a party together.

“I need to talk to Chastity for a second, though. Would you have a seat on the bench for a sec?”

“Sure!” she says, and then wobbles over to it.

I’m already unbuckling my seatbelt and sliding toward the open door.

“Chass, wait. I really am making caramels tonight. And I’m sorry I didn’t reach you in time to ask you to join us.”

“Us?” I ask, meeting his eyes for the first time tonight. His are brown and bottomless. And now I remember why I’ve been avoiding them.

“Me, Rickie, Keith, Daphne. For some reason Kaitlyn tagged along, and I’ve been trying to get rid of her. But if you come with me, I’ll ask her to leave.”