She's right about all of it, and against my better judgment, I'm completely honest with her. "I thought you were going to say that you were embarrassed to be with me, and wouldn't want to tell anyone."
"No." She shakes her head, eyebrows coming together. "Not since I've started developing real feelings for you. Has someone hurt you like that before?"
This isn't something I talk about. It happened when I was a teenager, but if we're laying everything out, she has to know. "Yeah, my first serious girlfriend in high school. I got a really bad grade on a paper. It was a bad day for me when I wrote that paper. I was more tired than usual and it was hard for me to use all my tools with my dyslexia. She made a much better grade than me," I chuckle. "When she saw my paper, she couldn't believe how bad the grade was, and she made a comment about how I had to try really hard to make a grade that low. She broke up with me the next day, saying she couldn't be seen around people who weren't as smart as her." I rub at the couple days of stubble on my chin. "I could read between the lines. She thought I was a dumbass."
"Dakota," she says, her voice full of understanding, and an underlying tone of pity. "You're not a dumbass. You're one of the smartest people I know, and you're innovative too. Remember when I was trying to build that shelving unit and a piece was missing? You fixed it where I wouldn't even need that piece."
"That's nice, Molly, but you don't have to give me more credit than I deserve. I'm sure most other people would've figured it out, too."
"No." She shakes her head. "I don't like you doing that to yourself. You're not allowed to talk down about yourself like that. Not about someone I care about."
My chest tightens. "Okay, I'll stop talking about myself like that if you come over here and give me a kiss."
Chapter 6
Molly
Walking over and giving him a kiss will either be the best or worst decision of the night. It'll either end sweet, or dirty, and we've promised to try and keep the dirty to a minimum. But that doesn't keep me from going over to where he sits. When I get close enough, he stands up, and gets rid of the chair, then takes me into his arms.
God, they are becoming my favorite place to be. They're warm, and safe, and everything I've longed for since I realized what adults can be to each other. He stands to his full height, which is over a head taller than me. My forehead comes up to his collar bone. When he dips his chin into his chest my heart speeds up. His eyes are hooded as he looks down at me. Mine flutter closed as he moves one hand up to my waist, the other into my hair.
"Don't let it get outta hand, Molly. We promised." His voice is low and the tone is teasing, like he expects this to get steamy quick.
Licking my lips, I lift my eyes. "I won't, but you gotta promise too."
He chuckles deep in his throat. "We'll see."
Tilting my face up to him, I let his mouth take mine. And take it he does. With authority, his lips cover mine, and our tongues tangle. Reaching down, with his hand around my waist, he palms my ass and lifts me so that my legs go around his waist. Now he's just showing off, lifting me one handed, but damn if its not hot as fuck. He tugs slightly with the fist in my hair, and then nips at my mouth as he breaks off the kiss.
"The cornbread should be done in a few minutes," I whisper.
"Yeah." He licks his lips. "We promised we wouldn't let it get out of hand."
That we did, and I know that if we keep going much longer, we'll do what we said we wouldn't. So I reluctantly unhook my legs from around his waist and put my feet on the floor. Turning toward the stove, the timer goes off, and I reach in to grab the chicken and the cornbread.
"Oh shit," Dakota says as he comes over, and looks at the top of the stove. "Did you make green beans?"
"Yeah, and I put a little bacon grease in them."
"Oh my God, I'm so excited for this meal."
"Me too," I admit, reaching over and grabbing two plates.
A few minutes later we're at the table, and digging in. Dakota groans as he eats a bite of the green beans, and I'm pleased with it. "Babe, this shit is so fuckin' good."
He doesn't call me babe very often, and it always makes my heart trip slightly. "Thanks. I love doing things for people. Acts of service is definitely my love language."
"That probably has to do with you being a labor and delivery nurse. I've always wondered why you didn't decide to be an ER nurse."
This is a question not many people have asked me. So it takes me a moment to get my thoughts together. "I did some work in the ER, I did a few rounds in the ICU, just to see what I wanted to do. Once you get your RN, you decide your specialty. I was happy doing all of them, to be honest. But once I got to Labor and Delivery, it was like everything clicked and I loved all of it. Seeing the mothers have kids, and then seeing those babies spend their first few hours in the world? In a world where things don't make a lot of sense, that does." I stop for a second and take a drink. "There are some moments that break my heart, but for the most part? I get a smile put on my face every day, and I get to help people out in some of their most vulnerable moments."
His eyes meet mine. "You can tell that you love it. The way you light up when you talk about it is something that everyone should have when they talk about their job."
"You love yours too?" I question. "Levi hardly ever talks about it."
"Yeah, I can't imagine doing anything else. It was rough to get through the academy, and there had to be a few concessions for my dyslexia. I hated that." He shakes his head as he takes a bite of his cornbread. "Didn't want to be treated differently than anyone else. I felt like I'd been doing that my entire life. Here, in this job, for the most part, I can be exactly who I am, and it doesn't have to take into account my learning disability. The only time I've had to deal with it was during the academy, and I love that I'm an equal when I'm out there on the street."
Playing with my chicken, I ask him one of the questions I wish I could ask Levi, but he's never been open to me doing so. "Have you seen anything you haven't been able to forget yet? Have you two been in a dangerous situation that you weren't sure you could get out of yet?"