Page 33 of Reality With You (Arden Beach #1)

A s soon as filming for her “apartment hunting” scenes wrapped, Bruno dropped Lennon off at Erin’s luxury high-rise on the Arden Beach River. With only a couple of hours to prepare, Lennon raced to the elevator.

Erin answered the door of her twenty-first-floor condo wearing a baby-blue silk robe and curlers pinned in her blonde hair.

“I have fuel, dresses, and moral support ready for action,” her best friend told her, holding up a pink smoothie in a tall glass.

She invited Lennon inside with a tilt of her head.

“You’re a lifesaver.” Lennon accepted the frozen beverage. “All my evening gowns are in storage with my Grammys and multiplatinum record plaques.”

The sunset cast a cotton candy glow over the picturesque view beyond the balcony, turning the canal and other buildings shades of pink and orange. A pink punching bag hung from the ceiling in the corner, next to a little meditation altar with a floor pillow, candles, and crystals.

Erin, in a nutshell.

Having not had a break to eat that day, Lennon took advantage of the tiny sandwiches and snacks Erin had arranged to fuel them through the beauty process while Erin showed her the dress options she’d scrounged together in half a day.

All but one were from Erin’s collection from years of attending events like these with her family.

“This one is special,” Erin said as she hugged a black wardrobe bag and then lovingly unzipped it.

“It was my mom’s. She wore it to my dad’s Hall of Fame induction.

I’d planned to wear it someday, but it’s never felt like me.

” She carefully lifted the dress from the bag.

“But I thought it’d be perfect for you.”

A gasp caught in Lennon’s throat at the beauty of it. “Er, are you sure?” she asked, eyes wide as they devoured the gown.

Erin smiled. “There’s no one I’d be happier to see wear it.”

Purple lights illuminated the white facade and striking modern architecture of the Arden Beach Museum of Science, reflecting off the calm waters of the bay.

Royal palm trees lined the walkway as patrons poured inside.

Banners with Playmakers Quarterly’s logo on them—the famous sports magazine—welcomed them to their thirty-sixth annual awards ceremony.

Lennon and Erin walked arm in arm up the steps and into the aquarium wing, where guests mingled in tuxedos and gowns among white-clothed tables and glass cases showcasing colorful corals.

Massive, circular windows surrounded them, peering into a blue world of marine life that was engaged in its own slow-motion mingling.

A string quartet played an ethereal soundtrack fitting the otherworldly blue and green glow cast over the low-lit space.

Photographers and cameramen from various media outlets moved inconspicuously among the guests, wearing lanyards around their necks, including some Lennon recognized from the show’s production crew.

She was relieved the event’s organizers had only agreed to let the show cover the event as bystanders, like other press in attendance, and not as active participants.

As a result, she didn’t have to worry about wearing a mic pack or doing any additional prep for it.

She’d had enough of filming entrance scenes and cutaways. Besides, she had plenty of other things on her mind to worry about that night.

Starting with feeling like a tiny fish foundering in a sea of strangers.

“Dad and Dylan should be around here somewhere,” Erin said, declining a flute of champagne from a server in a crisp white jacket. “They had to be here early to get in as much elbow-rubbing as possible.”

Lennon also politely shook her head, and the server moved on. “Dylan must be loving that,” she remarked, sarcasm thick on her tongue.

“Shit. That’s one of my professors,” Erin lamented in a whisper.

“One of your favorites, I’m guessing?” Lennon followed her gaze to a woman with stick-straight posture and a pinched expression who looked like she was judging everyone in the room, including the fish.

“Apparently, her kink is to include stuff on tests she hasn’t covered in class and penalize you for getting them wrong. Because of her, I’m having an amazing time fighting to maintain my 4.0 GPA.” For Erin, that professor might as well have declared an act of war.

“Wow, everyone’s dream professor. Should we try to push her into one of these tanks? I can cause a distraction.”

“The sharks will probably mistake her for one of their own.” Erin sighed. “I guess I should go do some of my own elbow-rubbing. Maybe we can come to an understanding. Please bail me out if I’m still fighting for my life in ten minutes.”

“Sure. However, if you end up needing bail money , I’ll have to go find your brother.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

“Says the girl who kicked her fifth-grade P.E. teacher in the shin because he said girls couldn’t play baseball.”

“I said let’s hope. ”

Erin untangled her arm from Lennon’s and approached the couple standing beside one of the floor-to-ceiling, circular windows showcasing the main tank.

As Erin flashed the rigid woman a megawatt smile, Lennon, now left to her own devices, fought the urge to run after her.

She drifted aimlessly through the crowd, attention latching on to one of the coral exhibits in the middle of the room to help her feel less awkward.

She read the accompanying information, then peered into the cylindrical fish tank, the size of a small car, and studied the beautiful, vibrant structure around which tiny fish floated.

A figure in a fitted black tux appeared on the opposite side of the vertical tank as the small blue tang she’d been watching swam around the coral toward him.

Dylan smiled as their eyes met through the glass, the water’s cerulean glow refracting on its subtle ripples, encapsulating him in a dreamlike bubble. Her breath caught in her throat. His thick, brown hair was styled in graceful waves, his short beard neatly trimmed above a black bow tie.

Damn, he looked handsome.

For a moment, they were the only two people drifting among the coral, the tension in her head and heart floating away.

If only they could stay in that bubble forever.

Dylan moved to his right and she to her left, meeting each other at the end of the glass.

He reared back slightly as they came into full view of each other.

His lips parted, eyes taking in the strapless, black sheath gown that clung to her figure, a slit cutting a line from her left thigh to where the fabric pooled around a simple pair of stiletto sandals.

Fitted detached sleeves hugged her arms from her biceps to her wrists, an elegant updo leaving her shoulders bare.

“Wow,” he released on a breath.

“You recognize it?”

Dylan’s gaze rose back to hers, somewhat dazed. “What?” He studied the dress again. Recognition sparked a second later. “My mom had a dress like that,” he recalled quietly.

“It is hers. Your mom’s. I didn’t have anything to wear, so Erin let me borrow it.”

“She wore it the night my dad was inducted into the Hall of Fame. I have a photo of them.”

Lennon scrutinized his dark eyes, trying to read the emotion in them. “Are you OK?”

The corners of his mouth gently lifted. Dylan nodded. “Yeah.” The muscles in his neck strained, like he was holding back.

Lennon began to lift her arm to touch him, but another server—this time a woman—appeared at her left with a small tray of champagne flutes. “Good evening,” she said with a pleasant smile. “Champagne?”

Dylan cleared his throat. “Uh, no. Thank you.”

Observing the tension in his shoulders he was trying to hide, the realization swiftly hit her. “Do you have any sparkling water?” Lennon asked.

“Yes, ma’am. How many would you like?”

“Three, please.” Lennon looked at Dylan. “One for Erin when she gets back.”

Once the server had excused herself and glided away, Lennon took a step closer to Dylan. Quietly, she asked, “Is this your first event like this since …”

Since the accident .

His wistful expression was all the confirmation she needed.

“Eddie wants the board members to see my progress,” Dylan explained, tugging down the cuffs of his jacket. “Which is the nice way of saying, try to get the board to hate me a little less so there’s a shot in hell they’ll let me back on the team next season.”

“That’s a lot of pressure for one evening.”

His lips curved in a wan smile, watching the little blue fish swim back around to the other side of the tank. “Could be worse. You could’ve said ‘no’ to coming with me.”

Lennon’s chest swelled, and her heart floated in the vacant space, turning all the vibrant colors of the sea life surrounding them.

The server returned, handing them the flutes of sparkling water before gracefully departing again.

Lennon raised her glass. “To fresh starts.”

Dylan smiled. “And old friends.”

They clinked their glasses together.

The string quartet played a cover of Billie Eilish’s Ocean Eyes as they wandered the exhibits. Erin soon caught up with them, hopeful she’d successfully charmed her professor.

As they viewed a stingray and a shark gliding across one of the large picture windows, a crisp male voice commented, “It looks so peaceful in there. You’d never know one was the other’s predator.”

They all turned to Edward Carmichael as he stepped in next to Dylan.

Rhett put his arm around Erin. Eddie stood a few inches shorter than the other two men, but what he lacked in height, he made up for in quiet, palpable confidence.

Growing up with a silver spoon in his mouth had imbued him with the composure of a man who knew the power a simple flick of his pen could wield.

“Interesting way to describe baseball,” Dylan quipped. “Good to see you, Mr. Car—Eddie.” He corrected himself off a look from the older man.