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“Then why haven’t you gone for it?”
Dylan shrugged. “You should’ve seen him with our brothers. It was like they were going to kick me out of the family and initiate him, but that was actually weirdly nice in a way. But… he was really close with Jake Murphy. Family-friend close.”
“I still can’t believe what happened to him. Brooks and Anderson were a mess about it for months, according to Mom. So sad… even though he was such a jerk to you. God, I still can’t believe he treated you like that.” She sighed. “Did you ever end up seeing him again after he called you to apologize?”
“No. I told him I wasn’t dating. I’m still not dating. Despite what everyone in the family thinks, I don’t need a boyfriend.”
“Hmm. All right. Let’s review.” She ticked points off on her fingers. “You spent two years obsessively renovating a house you bought on a whim and then got bored when it was done and rented it out so you could come and obsessively renovate our uncle’s apartment all while you amassed a bunch of hobbies but made zero local friends.” She held up a hand to shut him up. “Yeah, yeah, we’re all grateful you’re doing this, but we’re also all worried about you.”
“I’m fine.” He scrunched his face. “Doing this for Uncle Sean isn’t a big deal.”
Felicity took a long breath before speaking. “It is a big deal. So… back to what I was saying… now you have another project to drown yourself in, only this time there’s a complication that won’t allow you to avoid human contact. A complication who looks damn good in light-blue scrub pants.”
Dylan didn’t answer.
“Do you think maybe you’ve just gotten out of the habit of liking someone and maybe liking someone as hot as Derek scares you because of douchebag West Coast Chad and how he treated you?”
“Chase.” He rested his head on the wall behind him. “Yeah, I’m especially not looking for that kind of guy again.”
“And Derek seems like that kind of guy? The dude who bought a money pit for his sister—”
“I thought he did… at first. But you’re right. I don’t know. I just think after Chase and even that stupid night with Jake Murphy, I think it made me realize how much I need to be with someone I completely trust not to lie to me.”
“That’s fair.”
“And I guess there’s a small part of me worried Derek’s just acting nice or pity-flirting because he needs my help.” He hadn’t meant to voice this fear, but Felicity had that effect on him.
“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
He chuckled. “Uh—thanks?”
“Just because Chad—”
“Chase.”
“Don’t care. You can’t let a couple bad dudes ruin your willingness to trust anyone.”
“The biggest complication right now is that we’re literally living in seven hundred and forty-eight square feet. Shouldn’t I wait to make any moves until it all going totally wrong doesn’t mean I have to see his toothbrush every time I’m—I don’t know, taking a shit?”
“You should really keep toothbrushes in a cabinet. Flushing causes—”
“Lissy, focus.”
She gulped more water. “I think you feel like shit about yourself like eighty-five percent of the time, and you never acknowledge you’re the best-looking Gallagher brother, and any dude would be lucky to have you.”
“Okay, so—”
“While I can’t deny your reno skills are good enough and a hot man might use his penis wiles to get your help, that’s not what’s happening here.”
“I got stuck on penis wiles.”
“Don’t we all,” she said dreamily.
“Ew, please stop.” He picked at a worn sticker on the side of his water bottle. “But also, thanks.”
She grinned. “Let’s go pick up the stuff we need for the underlayment, okay? I need to swing by to grab a preorder at Curious Iguana, so we should do Café Nola for lunch first.” She swiped at her phone. “Oh. Does Uncle Sean still have a key?”
“Why?”