She’s wearing my T-shirt.
“I hope you don’t mind,” she says, handing me a water and using two fingers to pull at the fabric.
“Not at all.” In fact, it’s the sexiest thing I’ve seen her in yet.
“So, um…” Dakota twists off the top to her water and takes a drink. She points back toward my bedroom. “Should we talk about that? Or act like it didn’t happen?”
“Neither.”
Her head tips to the side as she attempts to understand.
I set my water on the counter and take her free hand in mine. It’s cold from the bottle, so I rub my thumb over her skin to warm it. A deep breath fills my lungs as I search for a way to describe how I feel, but eventually I end up with the most basic of all things—the truth. “Something happened just now. When I was with you it felt like I could breathe again. And that’s a feeling I like. It’s been a long time since I felt anything other than pain and regret in my chest, and you took some of that away.” I let go of her hand and step closer, wrapping my arms around her body. She looks up at me, her palm running the length of my back. “The truth is, every time I’m with you I feel a little more like my old self. The person I haven’t allowed myself to be because I didn’t think I deserved it. But when I’m around you, Dakota, you look at me like I’m someone worth caring for.”
“Because you are, Wes. I wish I could take away what hurts you so deeply.”
“I don’t think anything can. But you’re the only thing I’ve ever found that makes me feel better.”
She smiles up at me, but her grin devolves into a yawn. She tries to cover it, but I’ve already seen it.
“Come on.” I lead her back to my bed, and she climbs in. Before I follow, I look down at her. She pulls off my shirt and pulls the sheet over her, tucking it under her arms.
“You look damn good in my bed.”
“If you like it so much, maybe I’ll do it again sometime.”
I lie down beside her. She rolls onto her side to face me. I tell her, “I’d like that,” when what I really want to say is, Stay here forever.
Her fingertips slide over my jawbone. “Penny for your thoughts?”
How can I say what I’m thinking? I want to cancel our agreement. I want you to love me and I think I’ve loved you from the moment I laid eyes on you five years ago. And the second I saw you again everything I’ve been working so hard to keep locked up began to shake and now I’m starting to not want to contain it anymore.
I reach between us, gripping the sheet and yanking it down. For the second time tonight, I cover her like a blanket, and talk with my body because words fail me.
I kiss her lips, slide inside her, and hope like hell she hears what I cannot seem to say.
I am broken. I am hurt. I am terrified. You make it all more bearable.
27
Dakota
My eyes blink open. A smile curves my lips. Unused muscles protest their soreness when I stretch.
Wes.
He’s responsible for my sore thighs. And my smile.
I reach out, sliding a hand over the flannel sheets. His side of the bed is empty, but still warm. He hasn’t been up long.
At the foot of the bed, I find the same T-shirt I donned in the middle of the night and pull it on. I lift the fabric to my nose and inhale deeply. It smells of Wes.
Slipping out of bed, I locate my pajama bottoms on the ground and slide them on. My nose picks up the scent of coffee and I follow it out to the percolating machine. Through the window I see Wes on the front porch, leaning against a beam. He wears pajama pants, no shirt, and the air of a man whose burdens recently got smaller.
Last night helped him. I don’t know how, specifically, other than taking his mind off his problems for a while. I don’t know what it means for our agreement.
I wait for the coffee to finish brewing, then pour two cups and join Wes outside. He watches me walk, and I’ll be damned if there isn’t the biggest smile on his face.
I hand him the coffee and blatantly take in his beautiful upper half. His corded, ropy