Brotherly Love - Part 1

In the cab on the way home Thursday evening, I called Dylan. I was aching for him and after deciding to put all of my effort into making it work, I wanted to see him as soon as possible. I offered to come down to Philly for the weekend and he readily agreed, which is how I found myself on an Amtrak Friday afternoon.

The ride to Philly was quick and familiar, and I stepped out of 30th Street Station just after 8 o'clock. Dylan was waiting in the passenger drop off, still in a polo and khakis from work, leaning casually against a sleek black BMW sedan. I didn't even bother to slow down as I barreled towards him, as if we had been apart for months.

"Hey gorgeous," he said, his joyous laugh tickling my ear as he lifted me off of my feet.

He removed my weekend bag from my shoulder and tossed it in the back seat before opening the passenger side door for me. How gentlemanly, I thought as I sat down on the buttery leather seat. He got into the drivers side and leaned over towards me, his scent filling the car. Cupping my chin in his hand, he ran his thumb over my lips. It was a sweet torture when all I wanted was his mouth. Finally, he leaned in and kissed me slowly, with a gradual intensity that warmed my whole body. 

"How far is your place?" I asked as we pulled apart. If he said more than 10 minutes, I wasn't above doing it in a car..

"Just over in Rittenhouse," he replied with a grin, referring to one of the nicer areas of Philly just a short drive away. I put on my seat belt and took in the views of the city. I adored Philly and could definitely see myself moving back one day. It was a much more manageable size than New York, not to mention the cost of living was about half of what it was in Manhattan. Plus it had the bonus of my family being just 30 minutes away in the suburbs. But when it came down to it the career opportunities were far more abundant in New York.

"I'm so glad you came," Dylan interrupted my thoughts. I turned over to look at him, his one hand on the wheel and the other resting casually on my knee. It took me by surprise almost every time I looked at him how irrationally good looking he was.

"Me too," I replied, thankful he had encouraged the impromptu trip. 

"I hope you like my place, I tried to clean up a bit before work this morning," he said sounding nervous. By the looks of his car, I figured he had no reason to worry about me not liking his house.

"Hey as long as it has a bed and running water, I'm set," I said back, reaching to place my hand on top of his. He flipped his palm up and intertwined his fingers with mine. 

"The gang is going to Ladder tonight, I figured if you were up to it we could grab a bite and then join them?" he offered, referring to a popular bar in center city.

"Sounds great," I said, secretly hoping Kara was not one of "the gang". 

We slowed down along a long block of row homes and he expertly parallel parked the car in front of a three-story brick house. I remembered him saying he lived with Ryan (the engaged one) and one other guy who I had not met named Mike. Grabbing my bag from the back, he lead me up the short steps to the front door. 

The house was narrow, but had clearly been recently redone. Exposed brick covered one wall, while shiny wood floors swept from the living room, through the dining room and back into the kitchen. A windy set of stairs led us to Dylan's room. I eagerly pushed it open, curious to see what it looked like.

The room was spacious with high ceilings and the same exposed brick along one wall. His furniture was all black, with a blue comforter covering his freshly-made bed. The walls were filled with black and white images from all over the world, Dylan himself featured in many of them. 

"They're from a six month stint in Europe," he said as I examined a shot of him in front of the acropolis. 

"I didn't like Athens much," I remarked, moving onto a photo of him in Florence. I noticed a blonde girl in many of the images and made a mental note to ask him about ex girlfriends. It was one topic we had not yet broached. 

"Me neither, very dirty," he said, spinning me around so that my back was to the photos. He wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me firmly into him. "We have thirty minutes until our reservation, you know what we can do in thirty minutes?" he asked.

"Twice?" I replied with a grin. 

After a delicious sushi dinner, we walked over to Ladder 15 where most of Dylan's friends were waiting. I had texted Laura to make sure she would be there so that I would at least know someone in "the gang". 

We weaved through the crowd and up to the second floor where Dylan's friends were waiting. I spotted Laura over by the bar, ordering a round of beers. 

"Dani!" she yelled over the din of the crowd. 

"Hey Laur!" I said, returning her strong hug. 

"Here," she said after breaking the embrace and thrusting a beer towards me. "You're going to need it, Kara is here and she is not happy about Dylan moving on."

I felt a nervous knot twist itself together in my stomach. Great. I didn't even know the girl and she already hated me. 

"Awesome," I replied my voice heavy with sarcasm. Taking her advice I downed almost half of the beer at once. Just then I felt Dylan's strong arms come around my waist from behind and I turned around to face him. Being so close to him made me crave his lips on mine again, but I refrained from any PDA in case Kara was watching us. 

"So that girl Kara is here," Dylan started as I continued to house my light beer. "I should probably warn you that she wasn't very...pleased with me when I ended things."

"Laura alerted me to that fact," I said as he raised his eyebrows at me. I had finished the beer in under two minutes. 

"Thirsty?" he asked with a laugh. 

"More like nervous," I said, shifting my weight from left to right. "I wasn't planning on having to beat a girl up tonight, otherwise I would have worn more destructive rings," I gave him a small smile to let him know I was joking. 

"I doubt she'll say anything to you," he said, tightening his arms around me and lowering his face into my hair. "Plus if she does, then that's just our excuse to duck out of here early." I felt him nuzzle my neck and the spinning in my head started again, that lightheaded, soaring feeling I got anytime he touched me.

He gave me a quick kiss, light as a breeze on my lips before grabbing my hand and leading me back towards the bar. He ordered me a whiskey coke and I smiled at the fact that he knew my drink, when I had only ever ordered it that one time in front of him at the shore. 

We made our way over to where Laura was sitting with Dylan's roommates, Ryan and Mike, Ryan's fiancee who he introduced as Erica (and who I instantly felt empathetic towards knowing what happened between Ryan and Ashley), and Kara. 

"Dani," I said, extending my hand towards Kara last. She gave me a chilly stare but shook my hand. 

We all exchanged polite conversation for about thirty minutes while I tried to focus most of my attention on charming Dylan's roommates and avoiding eye contact with Kara. She was even prettier in person than she was in the Instagram, which wasn't doing great things for my confidence level.

After finishing my drink, I excused myself to the bathroom. Once inside the safety of the stall I sent a quick text to Ash.

SOS that girl he used to hook up with is here and she's gorgeous and hates me. 

I waited a few minutes but it was clear Ash was probably out and not checking her phone. With a sigh, I pushed open the stall door and stopped in my tracks at the sight of Kara's back towards me, washing her hands in the sink. I debated fight or flight for a quick second before she raised her steel blue eyes in the mirror and met mine.

"Hi," I said, giving a meek smile and choosing the sink furthest from hers. 

She smiled but returned to her thorough scrubbing - I still had yet to hear this girl speak - so I tried to wash up as quickly as possible and high tail it out of there.

"Just so you know," I heard her sing-song voice and assumed it was directed at me, seeing as we were the only two in the bathroom. I shifted my eyes over to meet hers in the mirror. "Wednesday meant nothing," she said as she reached for a towel to dry her hands.

Wednesday?

"He really likes you and we'd just had too much to drink," she continued and I could see a mischievous glint in her eyes. She was enjoying this. With that, she stalked out of the restroom leaving me alone.

Wednesday was the night he had gone to SIPs with all of them and I had seen the Instagram. The same night he had never called me back.