As Dawson held Layla close, moonlight streamed in from behind the cracked curtains of her window. It was late, he knew, since he'd had to wait until everyone was asleep to sneak over. The first time he'd tried, Kenzie had been in the hallway heading downstairs for some water. Given that there was a bathroom attached to his room, his only excuse was to say he was thirsty too, and follow her down to the kitchen where she talked his ear off about wedding plans for thirty minutes.

He knew he'd nearly been caught, and was lucky he hadn't been in the midst of knocking on her door, or stepping inside. So the second time he tried, he waited until he knew everyone would be asleep to slip over to Layla's room. Now the two of them were laying together in the guest bed, skin to skin, tired and sated.

"Dawson?" she spoke his name against his chest as his fingers toyed lazily with her hair.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think I was wrong for agreeing to be Kenzie's bridesmaid?"

His brows furrowed, the question grounding him from cloud nine. "What?"

"I'm lying to her." She murmured. "About Colin, about us. It just doesn't seem right."

"I guess I didn't think about it like that," he said as she adjusted herself, moving up to rest her head on the pillow so they were eye to eye. "All I know is she's been a lot happier with you around. I mean, she loves Marshall to death, don't get me wrong. But you and Annie... she never had that many friends growing up, and she's never been that close with the ones she does, apart from Gabriela. Actually, I see the same joy in her now that I saw in her when she first started hanging out with Gabby. Like she's found more of her own people."

"Do you think she'll be mad?" Her gaze fell as she seemed to ponder the question. "That she'll regret asking me?"

"Well..." he ran a hand over her hair, let it trail down to caress her shoulder. "That's assuming she finds out. Which is pretty dependent on if you decide to tell her or not."

"If I stay in Red View, I'd have to come clean. To everyone, about everything." Her eyes shot to his at that. "Are you okay with that? With your family knowing we kept this a secret? That you lied for me?"

"Layla, I'd be happy with anything if it meant you'd stay."

The slow smile on her face was accompanied by a flush of color. "You're sure?"

"Positive. And I wouldn't worry too much about my family being angry. I know them, and I know they'll understand. Besides, the only one of them who's any good at holding grudges is Jack."

"Annie told me about the meeting," she said. "Said you two were really at each other's throats, but that you both apologized to her for it."

"Jack apologized?" Huh. He hadn't expected that. But then, what did he know about his brother anymore?

"Mm-hmm. It's kind of funny, actually. I don't know him very well at all, and from you I hear he's a jerk, while from Annie I hear he's a sweetheart."

That had him letting out a laugh, one that he quickly smothered. They had to be quiet, given that Kenzie and Marshall's room was just behind Layla's. "I think Annie should get herself checked for something mental. A sweetheart? She didn't say that. She could not have said that."

"She said he was sweet," Layla corrected. "Same thing. Of course, Kenzie got all wide-eyed, reading too much into it. And Annie went bright red, saying she didn't mean it like that."

"Well, that's hardly a surprise. For one thing, I'm the better looking twin."

Layla hit his chest with a quiet giggle, shaking her head.

"What, you don't think so?"

"Oh, I think so. But I hardly think you're the modest one, now." She grinned as he grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers. "But really, why shouldn't she be attracted to Jack? I think they'd be kind of cute, actually."

"No way. He's too much of a hardass for her. If you want to set her up with someone, set her up with Cliff. There's a guy who could use a good woman in his life—he's been single since he was born. And he wouldn't walk all over her the way Jack would." At the look she gave him, he elaborated. "I'm not saying it to be an ass, Layla. I've seen Jack in relationships, and so far no one's been stubborn enough to be a good match. I like Annie, but she's..."

"Docile," Layla finished with what he thought of as a much nicer way of saying "a doormat."

"Exactly."

"You and Jack... did you ever get along?"

He nodded, letting himself think of the way things used to be. "We were best friends as kids, all the way through high school. He's always, always been headstrong like he is, but it never used to get between us. I guess he used to respect me enough to bend it a little." He smiled at the thought of them in school together, never too concerned with studying or acing tests. They had a future, and getting A's and B's wasn't going to affect it. "We always talked about running the orchard together when we grew up."

Her voice was as soft as her touch as she asked, "What happened?"

Dawson shrugged, wishing he had an answer. "I went off to college for a bit like I told you, and when I came back... things were like this. Jack was different. Stone cold serious, you know? I'd try to talk to him, try to goof off like we used to, but..."

But Jack would shut it down. Old inside jokes that used to make them howl with laughter fell flat. And if Dawson did anything wrong, even so much as organize the shelves in a way that wasn't right, Jack would give that annoyed sigh that used to be reserved for other people and fix it without even sparing him a glance.

"Mom and Dad retired that year and handed down the business to us. I think maybe he hates me for coming back home. Like he wanted to do this on his own, and I ruined his plans. I dunno."

"You should talk to him, Dawson." Her voice drew him back to the present. What was he doing, dwelling on something that was clearly beyond repair when Layla was in his bed, in his arms?

"I will, if it'll make you happy," he offered with a grin.

"That's not the point." She shook her head, but couldn't help from smiling. "It's so you can be happy."

"In case I haven't made it clear, I'm very, very happy. But," he let his hand trail down her arm, feather light, "I'll talk to him. I didn't know he apologized to Annie, so... Maybe he's not as cold as I thought."

She leaned down to place a kiss on his lips—silent, sweet approval. He knew she was probably right; it had been a long time since he'd tried making amends with Jack. Somewhere along the way the hostility had just become natural, something he figured would always be there.

But he'd felt the same about the sting of betrayal that had him avoiding moments like this for so long. Now that he knew even a wound that deep could be fixed, he had a hard time imagining anything that couldn't be.

Another random edit I just wanted to update you guys on: in a previous chapter Kenzie said she and Marshall were dating for seven years. That's now been changed to four years for... reasons 🤭🤫

I can't believe it's almost chapter 30!! I want to tell you guys how many chapters are left, but I also want it to be a surprise lol 😆