Page 91 of Your Last First Kiss

“For now,” I say. My mind is on Penny, though.

“We’re really doing this?” Miller asks.

“Looks like it.” I give him my complete attention now. “Thank you, Miller. I think we’re really going to make a difference here.”

He holds out his hand, and I shake it. “I know we will,” he says, but emotion chokes him up. “You’ve already made a difference, you know?”

“What difference?”

“In our lives. You more than tripled my salary. Do you have any idea what that will do for my life? And you love Penny. Whether you acknowledge that or not, I knew it the second I saw you teaching Kai how to execute a proper handshake. All those things matter, Dillon. You are making a difference.”

Now it’s my turn to suck down the emotions. I clap him on the shoulder, but it’s Remy who breaks us up with a huff.

“Get outta here, now. No one’s got time for ya blubbering. But, Dillon?” Remy calls. “That folder on the table is Landon’s. He left it here. I think ya should take a look. Seems like he could use someone too.”

Worry seeps into my heart, and sweat trickles down my back as Miller and I hurry to the folder, elbowing each other out of the way in our race to reach it first.

I get there half a second before he does and flip it open. We stare for a long moment.

Inside are…drawings. More accurately, sketches. I’ve seen something like this before in Nova’s studio when she was designing a dress. But he isn’t sketching clothes. He’s drawing buildings and their interiors.

“Holy shit,” Miller whispers. “He’s drawn the TAC.”

“That fucker Demon Face told that boy that only pussies draw stuff like that. I’m sure there’s more to it than that, but he keeps that part of himself hidden from the world now. Whatcha gonna do about that?” Remy stares at me with such intensity I feel the challenge of his words all the way to my toes.

“I’m going to fix it,” I promise. “And then we’re going to offer him an internship.”

Miller’s eyes slide to mine. “He’s eleven years old.”

“Exactly the age when childhood dreams start to die. But this?” I say, waving around his folder. “This is too much talent to be lost because of a misogynistic asshole. Even if that asshole is his own father.”

“Proud of you, Dillon. Now get the hell outta here. I got shit to do,” Remy rumbles. But his words catch, and he turns away. It’s the only show of emotion he’s willing to give, but it’s like a cannon shot straight to my heart.

I’m not sure the last time anyone said they were proud of me. It was probably when Ashton’s dad was alive. That means I was a teenager. Maybe that’s why it hits hard when he says it now.

With his words weaving through my heart like the magic from a wizard’s wand, I try to thank him, but he waves me away.

This town. These people. This family. They might need me, but I need them more.

CHAPTER28

PENNY

My front door swings open, and Miller walks in with four large bags full of food from Buttery Kuts, an amazing steakhouse in the next town over. I’ve only been there once years ago, and Eddy ordered for me, but I’ve dreamed of going back.

I had a salad while my mouth watered as steak after steak passed our table. It was only later that I realized he’d ordered the cheapest things on the menu, all so he could say he’d taken me there.

That’s when Eddy had been worried about appearances.

The scent of butter and spicy seasonings makes me salivate until my mind catches up with my senses.

“Miller, what are you doing?” I hiss. “I know for a fact that neither of us can afford to eat at this place.” What in the actual world is he thinking?

His smile is blinding as he leans down to kiss the top of my head. “Things change, Penny. Karma has a way of working out where to send the blessings, and today the blessings come straight from your crush.”

“Dillon paid for this?” I’m not sure what emotion I’m feeling. Anger because he has already paid for my groceries twice this week. Melty because he must have remembered me mentioning steak was one of my splurges. And fear because all good things have a habit of coming to a painfully abrupt halt. And they all war for top billing in my heart and mind.

“He did, but I would have.” Miller sets the bags down on my small table and his energy is electric when he turns around. “He also gave me a new job. Triple what I was making teaching, with some ownership in the TAC. Penny, what he wants to do?” Excitement pours from him as he nearly bounces on his toes, like a toddler about to get cotton candy for the first time. He clasps his hands over mine with a sudden seriousness, so I have no choice but to look into his eyes.