"I'd like to not be reminded of that."
She laughs, getting up and walking around the living room. "Let me go to some place where he won't be interrupting us."
I'm thankful for that. I love my brother, but sometimes I need to talk to my friend, and I need to do that without him being around. "Okay, now that he's not around. What would you cook for someone you've never cooked for? It's not that I expect to get freaky with him tonight, we've been doing that more often than we probably should be. Tonight I just kinda want to show him there's more to us than that."
"Okay, so you really do want to impress him?"
"I do." It feels good to admit that to her. "What should I do?"
"I'm going to assume he eats healthy, this is you we're talking about."
"He does."
She nods. "Okay, if I were you, I'd make some baked chicken and veggies with that balsamic glaze you make. My mouth is watering thinking about it right now. That will be the way to his stomach."
My brain is already working as I think about what she's saying. "You're right. That's one of the best things I make, and I'm sure he'll like it."
"So?" She questions. "When are you going to tell me who this is?"
I want to tell her, really do. Over the past few weeks, especially, I've been wondering why Dakota and I have decided to keep it a secret. If it were a normal relationship, I'd be spilling all the tea to her, but instead he and I have kept things between us. "I hope to tell you soon," I say with a shrug of my shoulder. "Until he and I agree to it, I can't break the confidence."
"You must really like him." She grins. "I've never known you to not talk about any part of your life before. We've always shared everything."
"We have," I agree. "Until this, and I know I started it, but I also know that you're keeping things with my brother close to the vest, too."
"Only because I don't want to jinx it." She pulls her thumbnail into her mouth, biting down. "I've had such bad luck..."
"I know, and I understand it, but it still feels weird. The two of us keeping secrets from each other." I'm rolling the sentence around in my head. "What if I were to start telling you things about him, but not mentioning his name?"
"I'd love that, Moll. I've missed that part of our friendship. I haven't shared a ton about Levi, because I'm scared I'm going to overshare."
This right here feels like how our friendship used to. "So, about this guy I'm seeing. He's hot as fuck."
She laughs, throwing her head back. "I didn't expect anything less from you. You've always had the hottest boyfriends. You're having a good time?"
"Yes," I answer, closing my eyes. "A great time. So many people need help from me, especially in the line of work I'm in, that sometimes I just want to shut my brain off. With him, I can do that. He doesn't expect me to entertain him, or to be anything other than the person I am, Magnolia."
"You've needed that," she whispers.
"I have. He's really been the answer to some actual prayers I prayed."
Magnolia smiles, and we sit in a comfortable silence with each other. Both of us are in places we never thought we'd be. But they're the best places we could have imagined.
Chapter 5
Dakota
I park down the road, the same way I've been doing since Molly and I started seeing one another. The only night I haven't parked down the road was last night, and that was because I drove my on-duty vehicle. If anyone had passed by, they would've assumed it was Levi.
Tonight though, I drive my own truck. Which is why I'm hoofing it to her house, holding the dessert I bought from The Café. It was apple pie night, and their apple pie is my absolute favorite.
As I walk up to the front door, it flies open, and she ushers me in with a smile on her face. "Hey, I was watching for you."
"Because you didn't want anyone to see me on your doorstep?" I ask, eyebrows raised as I toe off my shoes by the front door.
"No." She slips her arms around my waist. "Because I missed you. Which is crazy since I saw you last night, and again this afternoon. You're becoming a big part of my life, Dakota."
I put the apple pie on the table next to the door, and hug her tightly. Tucking my chin down so that I can drop a kiss to her forehead, I hold her to me. Back when she and I started sneaking around, it was sexy and hot because no one knew what we were doing. But the more I've gotten to know Molly outside of her being my best friend's older sister, the more I realize just how attractive she really is. That includes her brain, the way she cares about people, the job she does, the sarcastic comments, and the way she looks at me from across the room. Everything about her turns me the fuck on. "You're a big part of mine too."