I don't know what else to say, especially in a text message. So I don't say anything. Instead I walk toward the truck I'm driving tonight while on duty. Typically Levi and I are partners, but we had a call in and I picked up the shift, so I'm by myself tonight.
I'm walking in the parking lot, shoulders hunched against the wind, and cold of the night. I'm almost there, when I hear the voice that causes the hair to rise on my arms.
"Kota! Dakota! Wait!"
Turning on my heel, I see Molly running toward me with everything she has. Her arms are pumping as her shoes dig into the pavement. I plant my feet as she launches herself at me, and hold her tight. "Are you okay?"
She wraps her legs around my waist over the top of my duty belt, nodding. "I'm fine, but I just had to tell you something."
Worry traps itself within my gut, and even though she's right here with her legs wrapped around my waist, I'm terrified. What if she tells me this is all too much for her, that she doesn't want to see me anymore? "What?" The word is ripped from my throat, rough and raw.
"I like you Dakota, and I want to spend time with you. I don't want to hide anymore. Maybe not go out of our way to tell everyone, but I'm not willing to hide it anymore. I care about you, Dakota, in ways I never thought I'd care for another person," she whispers, caressing my face. "I always told myself I wouldn't date a man in a uniform, because I've always had anxiety with so many members of my family being in law enforcement."
"But you didn't see me coming, did you?" I grin up at her.
"No." She shakes her head. "I absolutely did not see you coming."
With those words, I move one hand from her ass, up her back and along her nape, before digging my fingers into her hair and pulling her mouth down. Mine takes her in hottest kiss I've ever shared with her. Every feeling I can't put into words, I put into this kiss. Slowly, I pull back, nipping at her bottom lip. "You taste good," I mumble, she must have had chocolate before she ran out here.
Her eyes lower to my mouth. "Oh yeah? What do I taste like?"
A slow smile spreads across my face. "Chocolate and mine."
She giggles. A low and throaty noise that goes straight to my cock. "Exactly what I want to be."
I groan because I don't want to let her go. "I gotta get back to work."
"I know you do. Be careful out there?" She swallows roughly, before leaning in and kissing me on the forehead.
"Always, you be careful too, Pretty Girl."
The rest of the night goes by slower than it probably should, but I'm amped up because I got to see Molly, and she admitted to me she no longer wants to keep this between us. It's weird, I never really thought about what that would mean for us once we decided we wouldn't keep our relationship secret.
What is that we do now? Gather our family and tell them all at once? Let them find out on their own? Do I tell Levi the second I see him I've been fucking his sister for months? It's a little more confusing now than it was before.
But I'm happy. Happier than I imagined I could be. I'll figure this out, and we'll live our happily ever after.
I'm making one last lap of the back roads, checking to make sure no one is doing things they aren't supposed to. As I turn onto route twenty-nine, I see a Laurel Springs Police SVU, and recognize it immediately. Pulling up beside it, I roll my window down. "How's it going?"
Darren gives me a jaw cracking yawn in answer. "Fucking exhausted. Nicole's had a rough couple of days, and I've been counting on my family more than I should be, but it's still not enough."
"I keep telling you. Come over to Fish and Wildlife. It's busy, but nothing like the PD and SWAT. You'd have more time with her, and we could use your experience."
He leans his forehead onto the steering wheel. "I've thought about it, I really have. What if it doesn't work out? What do I have to fall back on?"
"Come the fuck on." I tilt my head to the side. "You're one of the most connected motherfuckers in law enforcement around here. You're going to have a job, Darren."
He sighs heavily, running a hand over his face. "Forgive me if I'm not willing to just assume that things are going to work out for me after the last couple of years."
"I get that, I do," I start, but he holds his hand up to stop me.
"It's just more than me I have to worry about, Dakota. What if I fuck everything up not just for me, but for Nicole too? It's not like she can count on her mom," he spits that word out. "She has to be able to count on one of us, Dakota."
"And she can. She counts on you every single day of her life, and you don't disappoint her. Whatever you decide to do, I know you're going to be great at it. I just know that we'd amazing things together. You, me, and Levi? I mean can't nobody tell us a fuckin' thing."
He laughs, popping the tab on an energy drink. "You're right, and it might be fun to work with y'all."
"You know it'd be fun to work with us," I tease him. "C'mon over to the dark side."