DYLAN\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve got to be kidding me,\u201d I muttered under my breath. It was like the universe had a personal vendetta against me. Why were they always showing up wherever I went? Either fate had a twisted sense of humor, or I was in the middle of the worst streak of luck imaginable.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah clicked her tongue and strolled deeper into the boutique, that familiar mocking smile tugging at her lips. \u201cWe keep running into each other lately. Don\u2019t you think it\u2019s a bit too many coincidences? Or is it you following us, huh, Dylan?\u00a0<\/p>\n
1 let out a sharp breath through my nose. \u201cGet off your high horse, Sarah. I was here first\u2013doesn\u2019t take a genius to figure that out. So if anyone\u2019s following anyone, it would be you, don\u2019t you think?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her smile faltered for a fraction of a second, irritation flashing in her eyes. Beckett shifted awkwardly beside her, clearing his throat like he wanted to intervene but knew better than to step between us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah tilted her head, studying me from head to toe, as if trying to find something to claw at. \u201cWell, isn\u2019t this cute,\u201d she said, her voice dripping with false sweetness. \u201cTrying on wedding gowns without your husband? Or did Hunter finally get tired of babysitting you?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My jaw clenched, but I held her gaze steadily. She wanted to get under my skin. She wanted to poke at the parts of me she thought were weak.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Not today.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMy husband is a very busy person. Besides, he trusts my taste,\u201d I replied calmly. \u201cI hope I can say the same to you. Oh wait\u2026 Trust isn\u2019t exactly your strong suit, is it?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Beckett\u2019s eyes widened slightly. Sarah\u2019s smile snapped tight. And for a moment, just a moment, she had nothing to say.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I straightened my shoulders, smoothing the gown at my waist and turning back toward the mirror, refusing to give her the satisfaction of seeing me rattled.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But I could feel Beckett\u2019s gaze lingering on me, warm and conflicted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
And Sarah\u2019s <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Alchemist of Broken Dreams by Sienna Rose Blackwell 51 DYLAN\u00a0 \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be kidding me,\u201d I muttered under […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[69],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-alphas-golden-cage-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24402\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}