Meant To Be

  Light My Fire Series

  J.H. Croix

  Contents

  1. Piper

  2. Dylan

  3. Piper

  4. Piper

  5. Dylan

  6. Piper

  7. Dylan

  8. Dylan

  9. Piper

  10. Piper

  11. Dylan

  12. Piper

  13. Dylan

  14. Piper

  15. Dylan

  16. Piper

  17. Dylan

  18. Piper

  19. Piper

  20. Piper

  21. Piper

  22. Dylan

  23. Dylan

  24. Piper

  25. Piper

  Epilogue

  Find My Books

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

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  Copyright © 2023 J.H. Croix

  All rights reserved.

  Cover design by Najla Qamber Designs

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  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. No part of this book (in any and all formats, including print, audio, translation, and other formats) may be utilized for training for any form of Artificial Intelligence (AI).

  Created with Vellum

  To the detours in life.

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  Chapter One

  Piper

  “You’re breaking up with me?” I sputtered.

  My seconds-old-sort-of-ex couldn’t hold my eyes. He had his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jeans. When Kent finally looked back at me, I could instantly see he would be a coward about this. “If that’s what you wanna call it,” he muttered.

  “What the hell else would it be?”

  The backpack slung over my shoulder was jostled when someone walked by me at the airport. We had just landed here. We were on the way to a weekend together to watch one of my favorite bands. I’d gotten us the tickets months ago. This was one of those once-in-a-blue-moon opportunities. A popular bluegrass band was playing for the holidays at a small inn in the mountains in North Carolina.

  I stared at Kent. He wiggled his jaw and shrugged. “It’s been fun,” he finally said.

  “Fun?!” I exclaimed and threw my hands up in the air. As they fell, my backpack slid off my shoulder and landed with a thump on the floor. Someone else passing by kicked it out of the way.

  I didn’t even know if Kent heard me. He was already walking away. It was official. I had just been dumped in the freaking airport.

  It wasn’t like I thought he and I were on track to be together long-term. I had plans to move out of state soon as it was. But we had been dating, at least on and off for a while. We had a lot of fun together. I had tickets for a concert and a room. Just for me now.

  For maybe a second, I wanted to scoop up my backpack off the floor and chase after Kent. I hated the humiliation churning in my gut. I didn’t follow him. He was walking fast, quickly disappearing into the cluster of people moving through the airport like a rushing tide. We were at the airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I had another flight to catch. I sensed Kent already had different plans, and he hadn’t bothered to tell me about them.

  “I paid for your ticket, asshole!” I shouted.

  If he heard me, he didn’t look back. Whatever.

  Someone else bumped into me from behind as they passed.

  With righteous anger buzzing through me, I scooped up my backpack and fumbled for my phone in my jacket pocket. For good measure this time, I slipped both arms through the straps of my backpack, so I didn’t drop it again.

  “I’ll just go by myself,” I said to no one as I began walking.

  I found a little alcove between the airport concourses with white-painted rocking chairs. Not the most comfortable seating, but I suppose they were going for the original feel. There wasn’t a chair available, so I found a spot by the wall and sat on the floor.

  I had three hours to kill before my next flight, which would take me to Asheville. We already had a car rental lined up. Ugh. I needed to stop thinking of “we” and realize I was on my own now. I would be driving to Merry Falls Inn for the concert all by myself.

  I had just visited my older brother in Stolen Hearts Valley, North Carolina, and gone out of my way to rendezvous with Kent here. I got the sinking feeling he had asked me to meet him here solely so I would pay for his flight. This whole holiday thing was my idea. It was supposed to be fun. I was beyond relieved I had already had my visit with my brother. He would have opinions on this fiasco.

  This was just a stopping point on the way to Alaska because I was moving there. I had scouted it out during a visit with my friend Delilah a few months ago and already had my plane ticket from Asheville to Alaska after this weekend. My brother Wade would probably be gleeful if he heard Kent dumped me in the airport. He hadn’t been a fan.

  “Whatever, whatever,” I muttered to myself.

  Just then, a pair of boots appeared in my line of sight.

  “Piper?” a voice prompted.

  My eyes traveled upward along practical leather boots and denim-clad muscled legs to a black T-shirt and an open lightweight down jacket.

  I knew that voice. Dylan Tayton was one of my brother’s best friends. He was also inconveniently handsome and sexy.

  I met his startlingly blue eyes, a contrast to his rumpled dark curls. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

  “Waiting for my next flight.” I stretched my legs out, crossing my ankles.

  “Are you headed to Stolen Hearts Valley?”

  I shook my head. “Nope.”

  Dylan dropped his backpack on the floor. “Mind if I wait with you?”

  “Of course not.”

  I didn’t mind Dylan waiting with me. Except I didn’t want my situation to get back to my brother too quickly. He and Dylan had met when Wade was in college. They still stayed in touch. Wade and Dylan played online video games while they chatted and kept each other up to speed on everything in their lives.

  “What are you doing in North Carolina?” I asked as Dylan sat down on the floor beside me.

  He fished a water bottle from his backpack and took a long swallow. “Just passing through. I’m going from here to Stolen Hearts Valley, and then I’m headed up to Alaska.”

  My eyes whipped to his. “Seriously?”

  He lowered his water bottle, setting it on the floor. “Seriously. Why are you so surprised? I move around a lot.”

  I studied him for a few beats. “After this weekend, that’s where I’m going.”

  “Seriously?” His eyes twinkled as he lobbed my question back at me.

  I laughed softly as I nodded. “My friend Delilah moved out there a few years ago. I went to visit, and I loved it. Another friend who I met in vet school offered me a job at a vet clinic there. It all works out, so I’m going for it.”

  Dylan flashed a grin, and I tried to ignore the way my belly shimmied. “Nice. You just graduated from the veterinary program in Raleigh, right?”

  “Uh-huh. Alice was ahead of me in vet school, and then I interned at a clinic where she worked. When I mentioned I was visiting Alaska, she told me about the job. So why are you moving out there?”

  “I took a firefighter position on a hotshot crew. You know me, I like to travel.”

  “That’s what Wade tells me.”

  I hadn’t noticed my concert tickets had slipped out of the pocket of my backpack. Dylan’s eyes landed on them where they lay on the floor between us. “Oh, I love the Lost Ridge Ramblers. Who are you going with?”

  I wanted to play it cool. I contemplated making something up, but Wade would find out what happened one way or another, so I might as well just tell the truth. “I was supposed to go with my ex.” I tried to keep my tone as nonchalant as possible, all whatever.

  “Is he meeting you there?”

  Dylan’s sharp gaze held mine. I shrugged, feeling my cheeks heat. “He literally just dumped me here at the airport.” I rolled my eyes.

  Dylan’s eyes widened. “Wow. What a fucking asshole.”

  “I agree.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “Is that the guy I met over the summer?”

  “Dylan,” I ground out. “Don’t give me shit about this, and don’t tell Wade.”

  He held his hands up. “Hey, no worries. Wade didn’t really like him.”

  “I know he didn’t.” I couldn’t mask the sigh that slipped out. “I never like to admit when Wade is right.”

  Dylan chuckled. “Fair enough. So what will you tell Wade?”

  “Nothing. Not now. I’ll tell him when I’m ready.” I lifted my chin.

>
  “So that’s how we’re gonna play this?”

  “Whatever.” My vocabulary was wildly limited when I was annoyed. I let out another little huff.

  He studied me. “I could go with you.”

  “To Alaska? You’re already moving there.”

  “To the concert.” He gestured to the tickets. “You have two tickets. I bet they weren’t cheap. I hope the asshole bought them.”

  Yet again, I wished I could play it cool, but my grimace must’ve given me away.

  “Aw, hell. Did you buy them for both of you?”

  “We’ve been dating for months,” I pointed out.

  He let out a little whistle. After a beat, he added, “I’m sure you’re embarrassed. But it’s for the best, and you don’t seem too heartbroken.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I am embarrassed and hurt, but I mean, it is for the best if he’s going to pull something like that. We were just dating and having fun. I thought the concert would be fun.”

  Maybe it was impulsive, or maybe it was stupid and definitely foolish, but Dylan was a decent guy. Even if I sort of had a crush on him a few years ago, I was over it. We could go to the concert. I didn’t really think it through when I said, “You should come with me. I have the tickets already. I have a car rented and everything.”

  Dylan’s slow smile sent my belly into a spinning flip. He lifted a hand in the high-five position, and I slapped my palm against his.

  Chapter Two

  Dylan

  I stared down at Piper Ellis. With her big brown eyes, silky brown hair, and freckled cheeks, she was downright cute when she smiled. I ignored the sizzle of desire I felt whenever I saw her.

  I’d had a crush on Piper ever since I’d met her. Fortunately or not, it had never gone anywhere because her brother was one of my best friends. Even though Wade and I were rarely in the same place since we’d finished college, we stayed in touch. I traveled a lot, so my path didn’t cross Piper’s often.

  It was probably beyond reckless and foolish to propose I spend a weekend with her at this concert event. But the Lost Ridge Ramblers were a good band, one of my favorites.

  “So why are you flying through North Carolina?”

  “My plan was to land in Asheville and surprise Wade with a visit.”

  “Does he know you’re coming?” Piper asked, her eyes widening.

  I shook my head. “Nope. I’ll do this instead. I can swing by and see him after the weekend.”

  “Are you sure?” She caught her bottom lip with her teeth, sending a fiery jolt through me. I ignored it.

  “I’m sure. I love this band, and I’ve never been able to see them live. Do you want me to reimburse you for the ticket?”

  Piper laughed and shook her head. “Nope. Already paid for it. Consider it your Christmas gift from me.” She paused before lifting the tickets off the floor and studying them for a moment. After she tucked them into her backpack, she asked, “When’s your flight to Alaska?”

  “The week after next.”

  She studied me before shaking her head slowly. “It’s so weird we’re both going to Alaska.”

  I ignored the sizzle of electricity I felt in the air between us. “Definitely. Where are you headed there?”

  “Willow Brook.”

  “Seriously?” This time, I wasn’t teasing her.

  She angled her head to the side. “Are you going to Willow Brook?”

  When I nodded, she snorted. “It gets even weirder.”

  “I didn’t even know you were going to Alaska,” I said.

  “I just accepted the job a few days ago. I’m sure you’ll hear from Wade soon.”

  I chuckled. “I will.”

  “When’s the last time you talked to him?”

  “Last month. I just finished a stint with a crew in Montana, so we didn’t have our weekly game because I wasn’t online.” Wade and I usually chatted when we played an online video game together. It was an easy way to stay in touch.

  “Oh, that makes sense.”

  “So why did you fly here if you were already closer to Asheville?”

  “Because I was meeting Kent,” Piper ground out.

  “When we get to the inn, we’ll toast his goodbye,” I said lightly.

  She snickered. “We will. Should we get something to eat? If you’re on the same flight as I am, we have some time to pass.”

  “Works for me.”

  We stood together. I ignored the way my eyes wanted to linger on her curves as her T-shirt stretched across her breasts when she slid her arms through the straps of her backpack.

  Chapter Three

  Piper

  Rumor had it that plane seats were shrinking. They were small, to begin with, but I was short. This was one of the few times in the universe when being short was a benefit. Maybe the only other benefit would’ve been if I was skinny. I was not skinny. I was decidedly curvy. Most of the time, I tried to be happy with my size. But as I waited at the airport, I was feeling frumpy.

  Perhaps it was getting dumped by my boyfriend at the airport when he had so clearly planned it. Or maybe it was having my brother’s best friend waiting with me.

  Dylan offered to drive when we conferred over the car rental situation while we had a meal at the airport.

  “I’ll drive. You deserve a drink,” he said with a brow waggle for the ages.

  “I don’t need a drink to recover from Kent dumping me at the airport,” I said tartly, feeling a little stung Dylan was teasing about it.

  He studied me for a beat. “Are you suddenly all broken up over it?”

  I felt my lips purse. My brother called it my “prissy teacher look” when I felt like this. I immediately stretched my jaw open. Dylan watched me quietly.

  “No. I just said I don’t need a drink to get over him.”

  “I wasn’t implying you did,” he countered pointedly. “Even if you were about to dump him, it’s still shitty that he pulled this at the airport.” He shrugged. “If I’d been planning a weekend with someone, even if it wasn’t that serious, I wouldn’t be in the greatest mood if they sketched out at the airport. Kind of cowardly, all things considered.”

  I rolled my eyes and snorted. “So true. Are you sure you don’t mind driving once we land in Asheville?”

  “Definitely not.”

  “I should probably add you to the car rental,” I said, lifting my phone.

  “Yeah, we can do that when we pick it up.”

  I was three margaritas in when we boarded the plane. All in all, I suppose I was grateful I had a meal before those three margaritas.

  Once seated on the plane—coincidentally, or maybe not, beside each other—I glanced at Dylan. “Who knew that restaurant at the airport would have such good margaritas? I think they might be the best ones I’ve ever had.” I smiled up at Dylan. “I feel much better,” I added with a giggle and a hiccup.

  He glanced down, his lips quirking with a smile. “You don’t drink much, do you?”

  “Nope,” I said, emphasizing the P. “Do you drink a lot?” My voice was on the loud side.

  A woman in front of us glanced over her shoulder as she was getting situated in her seat.

  I sensed Dylan was about to laugh, but he didn’t. He merely shook his head. “Not really.”

  When the woman glanced over again as she shimmied around whoever was in the center seat in the row in front of us, I smiled up at her, offering, “Don’t worry about me. I’m very friendly.”

  Dylan chuckled as he slid an arm around my shoulders. “She really is.”

  Her gaze bounced back and forth between us, and she smiled, replying, “Y’all make a cute couple.”

 

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