I’m not the only one thinking of someone else. Dolly’s gaze is fixed behind me, and I don’t have to turn to know who’s there.
“Not him,” I murmur, tightening my grip on her waist.
“Who?” She draws back, her eyes widening.
“Whatever you do, Dolly, as someone I care about, I’m pleading with you to find someone else. Go, travel the world, do your thing. Don’t step in my family’s quicksand.”
Our eyes meet, and we sway to the music for a minute, neither of us speaking. She’s so close I can smell her bubblegum. But even with her plump lips inches from mine, I couldn’t summon even a twitch of my cock for her if I tried. That doesn’t mean I want to see her—or my cousin—repeat my parents’ mistakes.
“You chose your destiny,” she says at last.
“Did I?” I ask, pulling back with a frown. “If I had, I think she’d be here right now.”
“You’ll find a way,” she says.
For a minute, we’re silent again. This time, I speak first. “Will you?”
“I don’t know,” she says. “I’ll find some way. I’m just not sure what way it’ll be yet.”
“Well,” I say. “Be careful. His destiny is to follow his father, and his father’s father. Our job here isn’t to commit the sins of our fathers and forefathers all over again.”
“I think the sins of our forefathers is slavery,” she says.
I wince. If he really wanted to teach us shame, my grandfather should have started with that instead of whipping us for taking off our clothes when we got wet in a mud puddle. “Yeah, well, let’s not repeat any of their sins,” I tell Dolly.
“I guess gettin’ out of here is a good way to avoid our parents’ mistakes.”
“You know what’s here,” I say. “I think you’re fucking brave to leave.”
“Me, too,” she says.
They make an announcement that dinner’s about to be served, but we finish out the song. Looking down at Dolly, I see what my life would be if I took the easy road. Like Mom said, I could do a lot worse than Dolly Beckett. She’s a bombshell, and in these last few months, I’ve seen her transform. Not from a caterpillar to a butterfly—Dolly’s always been a butterfly—but some other winged thing. Something fierce and brave, who goes after what she wants, flying free of her cage and into the unknown.
If she stayed, if we did what our parents wanted and took the easy road, we could be content. It would be a comfortable life with all a guy could ask for. A nice home, a family, a wife that other men coveted and who could also challenge me. Ironically, that’s the one thing she was always missing, and I know who I have to thank for it.
The girl who I’d give up every comfort for, who might not bring me contentment but will challenge me until I lose my fucking mind half the time. The girl who keeps me on my toes, who is so strong she can make even a soft, sweet little southern belle like Dolly reach deep down inside and find her strength. A girl I will fight to be with every day of my life, even if it means giving up everything guaranteed in this life. That girl ismydestiny.
“What about you, Dolly?” I ask. “What’s your destiny?”
“I’m destined for great things,” she says. “That’s all I know.”
“If that’s all you need to know, you’re braver than me,” I say.
“I could have told you that,” she says with a grin.
The song ends, and I pull her in and kiss her forehead. I lock eyes with Preston over her cloud of hair, sprayed with enough product to choke a horse if it inhaled near her. “Just don’t do anything stupid before you get the chance,” I say. “I’d hate to see you get hurt.”
“I’m a big girl, Devlin,” she says, pulling away. “You don’t have to look out for me anymore.”
“Well, I know you,” I say. “And I don’t want to see him get hurt, either.”
“Devlin Darling,” she says, giving my shoulder a playful push. “I think there was a compliment buried deep, deep, deep in there.”
“Maybe,” I say with a little smile, offering her an arm. “Don’t tell on me.”
“If I was going to tell on you, it would be for running around on me with Crystal.”
I tense. “I don’t think my grandfather cares who his progeny fuck around with, as long as they marry who he thinks they should and don’t have illegitimate children.” I know I’m being a dick even as the words leave my mouth, no matter how true they are.