We pull up by the football field and get out of the car. Dylan and I are chatting casually, and everything’s going fine. Until I look next to where Dylan parked and see a large bus with the words “Red Rock Foster Care Inc” painted across it.

I start shaking. Like uncontrollably. And I feel like an asshole because I’m not one of those kids anymore.

But the flashback to being so young and helpless is just…

“Hey.” Dylan’s arm goes around me. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Jasalie, you’re trembling.” He stops so he can put both hands on my shoulders and look me in the eyes. “Talk to me.”

I take a deep cleansing breath and focus on my current whereabouts. I’m alive, I’m healthy, and I’m independent. I don’t need a parent to take care of me anymore. I’m okay.

“I’m all right.” I nod at him vigorously. “I swear.”

He gives me a searching look and then kisses my forehead before letting me go.

I march across the pavement with Dylan by my side. His team is up ahead, and Bill is waving at me madly to join him and Lilla.

Dylan points out the hummingbirds on a nearby rose bush.

“Isn’t this area of Arizona the hummingbird capital of the world or something?” he says.

“Really?”

“I read it in one of those hotel brochures they leave in the rooms.”

“I love hummingbirds. They’re always around my apartment in L.A.”

“They’re amazing, how they never stay still,” Dylan says.

Always moving, always safe.

I wave good-bye to him and head for Bill. He greets me quickly and then sends Lilla and me on one task after another: check on the food, check on the drinks, check in with the foster care supervisor to make sure they’re all set. Do this, don’t do that—I feel like my head’s going to pop off.

Every time I finish one thing, Bill texts me immediately and sends me to the other end of the field.

“Football fields are way too fucking big,” Lilla complains as she passes me. “And why did I wear these heels?”

“Maybe this is why Bill said casual,” I say.

“He didn’t say sneakers,” she points out. “I’m wearing pants and a cute top. I thought that was good enough.”

Marcus approaches us. “Hey,” he says to Lilla. “Can you help us out setting up the flags?”

“For what?” she says to him curtly.

“Flag football with the kids,” he says.

She sighs. “Fine.”

As soon as she’s gone, one of the kids runs up to me. “I got Dylan Wild’s autograph! And his picture with me, too.”

I look down into the little girl’s sweet face. “That’s great. Congratulations, honey.”

She beams. “Now I’m going to play football with some of the players—this is the greatest day!”

“It is a good day, isn’t it?”

“The best. Someday maybe I’ll have a mom and dad so I can show them the picture of Dylan and me.”

I bite down hard on my lip. “I hope so, too, honey. Have fun, okay?”

Dylan appears out of nowhere as I’m trying to find a quiet place to sit and hide for a few minutes.

“Hang out with me.” He sits down in the middle of the field and stretches out his legs.

“Just like home?” I tease him.

“Yeah.” He smiles. “Feels good. I miss it. I need the break, though. Especially my body.”

I sit down next to him and look up at the sky. It’s huge and infinite, and I feel so small. Dylan puts his arm around me, and as I start to lean into him, my emotions threaten to get the best of me. He makes me feel safe to be vulnerable, but right now, I need to stay focused on my job so I don’t screw up.

I stand up. “I should go back to work.”

“Okay.” He puts his hand up to shield his eyes from the sun and looks at me. “Everything all right?”

“Fine.”

He looks at me a little longer, and I feel like he can see into my soul. But he doesn’t say anything. He just gets up, and we part at the fifty-yard line.

For the rest of the afternoon, Lilla and I help Bill with anything he thinks needs tending to, which is just about everything. I’m returning from dropping some extra pamphlets off at his car when my phone rings.

I smile when I see who it is.

“Bella! How are you?”

“I’m in Maine.”

I laugh. “I know that, silly. But how are you doing, anyway?”

Bella used to work at Apex, and we would eat lunch together every day. We were just work friends mainly, like Lilla and me, but once she left L.A.—after the worst of breakups—we stayed in touch and actually grew closer. I always feel safer keeping a boundary between me and—well, everyone else—and chatting with Bella when she was three thousand miles away made it easier for me to get to know her.

“You know. I’m okay.”

She sounds sad and frustrated, but before I can ask further, she turns the subject to me.

“I wanted to see how you’re doing after Joel and all.”

“I’m good. Joel’s in the past. The long past.”

As I say it, I realize it’s the truth. I don’t hurt over the way we ended, and I don’t miss anything about being with him.

“He wasn’t right for you, Jase.”

“No. He wasn’t. You know, I kind of wish I’d broken things off sooner…”

She laughs. “Don’t we all?”

My heart hurts for her as I remember how her relationship blew up in her face.

“But that’s life.”

“I know.” I take a breath. “I met somebody on my business trip.”

She gasps. “He must be pretty perfect if you’re actually telling me about him.”

“He’s amazing. He’s gorgeous and talented, and also really kind and sweet. And we have fun together. But…”

“But what? So go for it.”

“You know me, Bella. I don’t go for guys. I usually take the bottom of the barrel and wait for the other shoe to drop. And it always does.”

“You’re such an optimist.” She chuckles. “You know, some day you’re going to have to drop the armor.”

“I guess so. But I’m not sure I can do that just yet. We agreed on a no strings thing.”

“Well, who is he? Did you meet him through work?”

“Sort of.” I laugh. “He’s kind of…a big deal to some.”

“Do not tell me you’re fucking an actor.”

“Not an actor. More like, an athlete.”

A small gasp through the phone. “Who is he, Jasalie? I need a name.”

“You know football players?”

A louder gasp now. “Name, please.”

“So demanding,” I tease. “His name is Dylan. Dylan Wild. He’s…”

Full-on scream now, directly into my ear. “He’s my best friend’s cousin! I’ve known Dylan my entire freaking life!”

“What?! You know him?”

“Tell him Bella Wesley says hi and she wants payback for the candy bar that he stole.”

For the next five minutes, Bella raves about Dylan and Colton and Ayden, her best friend from home. “All of the Wilds are hot,” she says. “Brayden, Cameron, and their friend, Jenson, too. But more importantly, they’re all good guys. You can trust Dylan, Jasalie. And I’m happy he’s found someone like you—he tends to choose badly. Not to mention that he doesn’t trust easily.”

“I’ve heard,” I say.

“So he’s letting you in.” She actually squeals. “This is so good.”

“I’ll keep you updated,” I say as Lilla comes over to me as I hurriedly tell Bella good-bye.

“We’ve been released from our job duties,” she informs me. “The kids have left, and Bill’s hanging out with Meagan. I’m going back to the hotel. You want to share a cab?”

I look over at Dylan. “Let me get back to you on that.”

I’ve paced back and forth three times in front of Dylan’s little social circle. He’s engaged with his teammates, and I don’t want to interrupt.

Finally, he separates from them and spots me. His eyes light up, and I wave him over.

“Turns out we know someone in common,” I say as soon as he reaches me.

His expression turns curious. “Who?”

“Bella Wesley says hi and that she wants payback for the candy bar you stole.”

Dylan’s eyes widen in surprise, and he lets out a low laugh. “How the hell do you know Bella? She’s Ayden’s best friend.”

I tell him how she used to work for Apex.

“She’s a singer-songwriter,” he says. “She never once told me the company name of her day job. She just said her boss was a dick.”

“Bill,” I say in answer to his raised eyebrows.

He nods. “We all love Bella. She’s Ayden’s girl.”

“She’s single.”

He chuckles. “She may be technically single, but trust me, she belongs to Ayden. And vice-versa. No matter how much those two try to deny it.”

Huh. Bella mentioned her best friend from home, who happened to be a guy, and I knew he’d visited her in L.A., but I never met him.

“I can’t believe she never said she knew you and Colton. Not that she’s a bragger, but...”

“Bella knows how much Colt and I value our privacy,” Dylan says. “Unless it came up directly, she wouldn’t have brought us up in conversation like that.”

Our eyes catch and hold.

“You okay?” he asks me. “You weren’t acting like yourself earlier.”

“I know.” I reach for his hand impulsively. “I wanted to apologize for acting weird before.”

“Maybe this has nothing to do with us. Maybe this is about stuff that happened long before we met.”

I remember the kids from today, and I bite down hard on my lip.

Dylan tips his forehead into mine. “Jasalie, what’s going on? I feel like there’s something you’re not telling me.”

“I’m flying back to L.A. tomorrow morning,” I say to him. “Our work here is over. And you know what that means.”

“No strings. No commitment.” A shadow crosses over his face.

“Right. Tonight is our last night together.”

The air thickens around us as we stand in silence and stare at each other.

“I want more than one night with you, Jasalie,” he murmurs as he strokes my hand with his thumb.

That little motion has me so turned on I nearly moan. “More than one night,” I whisper. “That would be…”

He increases the pressure with his thumb, and my entire body ignites with heat.

“That would be nice,” I get out.

His gaze locks on mine. “So as I’ve proven already, I’m no better at navigating this thing between us than you are,” he says in a hoarse tone. “But how about we extend our affair?”

I tilt my head. “What do you mean?”

“Will you stay in Arizona an extra night?” he asks, his eyes filled with vulnerability. “With me?”

My heart comes into my throat as I realize what he’s asking me. “So I stay here tonight as planned, and then I stay tomorrow night as well?”

“If you’re comfortable. If not, I’ll pay for you to stay in your own room one extra night, and we’ll hang out. We wouldn’t be breaking our no-strings promise—remember, what goes on in the desert, stays in the desert. We never actually said when we’d leave the desert.”

I have images of moving into the hotel in Tucson, just to be able to be with Dylan but not worry about a future with him.

Dylan’s eyes are open and honest when he says, “I hope you feel this, too. Or even close to it. Because if you do, I can’t imagine you leaving without giving it a try.”

“I feel it, Dylan.” I touch his hand. “Our connection has been pretty much impossible to ignore.”

“So, what do you say? Will you stay?”

“Yes.” I put aside the warnings of my mind. For once, I’m going to give it a go with my heart. “I’ll stay.”

And before I can change my mind, I text Rosita to make sure she can take care of Bessie and Balaster.

Lilla and I stand together and wait while Dylan says good-bye to every single teammate.

“Isn’t he seeing them all soon enough?” I say.

She shrugs. “These team things are like cults. Gang mentalities.”

“Lilla!” I laugh. “Come on.”

“Seriously. Why do you think Dante threatened you? A threat to one is a threat to all.”

“Weird.” I have no concept of what it’s like to be in a group, or a family.

“Yeah. But that’s the way it is.”

I guess each way of life has its pros and cons. If you’re in a group, you get the love but the responsibility. If you’re out, you get neither.

“Okay, guys. Sorry.” Dylan comes up and puts his arm around me. “Let’s go.”

“I think you should give it a little time, Lil,” Dylan says to Lilla from the front seat of the cab.

She and I are in the back together, and Lilla hasn’t shut up the entire ride home about Marcus and how much he wants it both ways. If I hear her say “have his cake and eat it, too” one more time, I’m going to scream.

“I know you say that, Dylan, but you don’t know what it feels like to be tossed aside like a bowl of soup,” she says.

“Bowl of soup?” I say to her.

Dylan catches my eye in the side mirror and chuckles.

“That’s fine, you two lovebirds,” Lilla says. “Just laugh at the single girl.”

“In all seriousness, though,” I say. “Please believe me when I say you deserve better than Marcus. He’s not treating you right, Lilla. You should be treated like the wonderful person that you are.”

Lilla sniffs. “I don’t know.”

“I do,” I say firmly. “Don’t settle for a guy who can’t decide if he wants to go out with you or his girlfriend. You know you’re better than that.”

When we reach the hotel, we say good-bye to Lilla in the lobby, and I confirm my check-out tomorrow with Leo, the attendant at the front desk.

“Yep. You’re all set,” he says after I flash my keycard at him.

“That’s it?” I stall. “Nothing for me to sign or anything?”

“Nope. Quick and easy,” he says.

My hand is shaking as I take the keycard back and turn around to look for Dylan. He’s sitting on a couch waiting for me while he signs an autograph for someone. And I know he’s not pressuring me, but it feels like everything is suddenly happening way too fast.

I head over to him. “All set.” I keep walking toward the elevators before he’s even gotten up off the couch.

“So,” Dylan says as he catches me, “where to?”

I don’t look at him as I press the up button for the elevator. “What do you think?”

He grabs my hand as the elevator doors open and we get in. “I think,” he says, bending down so he can look me directly in the face, “you seem a little anxious.”

“Let’s go to my room. It’s closer.”

“Jasalie.” His warm brown eyes meet mine. “Are you sure?”

The heat between my legs makes my answer easy. “Yes.”

His breath is tight and quick. “Me too.”