Faking It with My Bossy Ex (Sweet Christmas Kisses)

24. Dylan

Chapter 24

Dylan

My hands are clammy and my heart beats a hundred miles an hour. I feel more nervous than I did when I asked Amy to prom and that’s saying something. Back then I was a player, never spending more than a week interested in the same girl, until Amy. She changed my life.

“So, you figure out what you’re gonna do, lover boy?” Sam asks, nudging my shoulder. “Or are you just gonna keep pacing until you wear out the floor?”

“Yup. I took all your advice.” I grin and shake his hand. Now I just hope it’s enough. If it isn’t … I’m not going to let myself think about that. Even if I’ve done enough, will Amy accept me when she finds out there’s one more truth I haven’t told her? “My sister here?”

“Sure thing!” Sam points her out in the crowd. “She’s trying to decide what we’re going to buy. I think she'll spread a few bids out because she has her eye on several things. I don’t know what we’ll do if we win all the bids.”

“I guess you’ll find out. There’s a lot of things in there that won’t start a bidding war.” I throw my head back and laugh.

“Well aware.” Sam looks distraught.

“Okay then, I think I’m going to go and find Amy. It should only be around another half hour before they close the auction.”

“Save us a seat if there is one.” Sam waves to me as he hurries off to join up with Emily. I watch until they’re out of sight before going into the room where they’ve set everything up for the closing ceremonies and turning people’s purchases over to them.

It’s not hard to spot Amy. She’s sitting toward the back, dressed in a warm blue top and long skirt. She looks very elegant, something that I don’t consider hard for her to do. I slip into the seat beside her.

“So, anything interesting yet?” I ask.

She blushes and shakes her head. “You know they haven’t started yet. Is there anything you have your eye on in the auction room?” I shrug. She’s not going to know of my plans for this event until they’re happening to her.

“Not really, but there are a lot of people here. Did you bid on anything?”

“No. We won so many prizes in the couple’s competition and the cruise … It seemed selfish to try and get anything else.” Her eyes wander the room a bit before meeting mine once more.

“So, how many more days are you staying in town?” she asks, her voice coming out a bit strangled.

“I don’t know yet. Originally, I was heading out tomorrow, but because of the snowstorm and some changes, my plans are flexible. How about you?”

“I haven’t decided yet.” She looks over to where Jake and Tyler are sitting towards the front with their friends. “My brothers being here, I think they’d like to spend Christmas together.”

“You put up the last painting for sale.” I have to bring it up. I saw how she looked at it back at the cabin like it was a part of her.

“Yeah. I thought about it for a while, and even though I love that painting, I came here with the intention to say goodbye to it for the fundraiser.” She smiles, though sadness touches her expression. “It’s for the best.”

Before I can answer, Mr. Anthony, the man who was selected to handle the closing ceremony, takes the makeshift stage and taps the microphone.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am so happy to see such a great turnout this evening. Why don’t we get started with some of our smaller auction items?” He brings out some of the smaller things while people finish getting situated and finding their chairs.

As he starts to call out the winners, the people who won the bid walk up to the front of the stage. I told him to save mine for last.

Each time he calls a name, my heart jumps in my chest.

“I wonder if it sold. When I went through the hall, there wasn’t a single bid.” Amy’s voice has a nervous shake to it.

“Are you talking about the skating painting? That’s your best one, in my opinion.” Her eyes get big, and she parts her lips.

“You don’t have to say that just because I love it.” She tucks a strand of her perfectly silken hair behind her ear. “I understand that it won’t mean that much to everyone else.”

“It means a lot to me. That day on the pond, I still remember it like it was yesterday. You were so breathtaking I couldn’t focus on skating at all. I could only think about you, how to get closer to you, and what it might be like to kiss you.” My gaze drops to her lips, then right back up to her eyes. No one is paying attention to us. They’re all too focused on what’s going on up front, clapping and cheering for every winner of every bid.

“I couldn’t think about skating either,” Amy says breathlessly.

“Up next, we have one of our last items, but certainly not our least. This item brought in more money than any other tonight, at fifty thousand dollars.” A collective gasp goes up around the room, and Amy’s attention is yanked off me as she turns in her seat to peer up at the front of the room.

Mr. Anthony holds up a familiar painting of two young teenagers staring into each other’s eyes as they skate around the pond, hopelessly in love.