Chapter 14 Gabe
GABE
“Hello?” I answer my phone, a little frantic without even looking at the caller ID. I was fast asleep in my bed, but I’m wide-awake now.
“Gabe?” The male voice takes me by surprise for a second, and then it clicks who it is.
“Dakota?”
“Yeah,” he breathes and sounds a little panicked, not at all how I pictured him when I thought about him using my number.
It’s only been a couple of days since I last saw him.
Travis told me yesterday he’s on the schedule for a hot tub but not until later in the week.
And that wouldn’t make him call at—I look over at the clock sitting next to my bed—almost midnight.
“What’s the matter?” I ask, already climbing out of bed and grabbing a pair of sweats to pull on. Hellbent to get to him.
“It’s Mavis . . .”
“What’s wrong?” I say as I put him on speaker and pull on some sweats, walking over to my closet to find a T-shirt.
“She was meowing really loudly outside my bedroom window. I don’t know how she knew that was my room—or if she even did.
” I smile to myself . . . kind of loving his rambling.
“But I went outside to check on her, and she’s lying under my window, and I think she’s in pain. Her stomach is moving and . . .”
“She’s in labor?”
I tug a shirt over my head and go to my bathroom, trying to smooth out my wild hair, but it’s really no hope. I grab a hoodie and pull it on, finding my keys with my phone back in my hand. “I think so.”
“Okay, I’ll be right there. She’ll be okay, Dakota. Don’t worry.”
“You’re coming here?” He sounds surprised but hopeful, and it makes me smile as I lock my door and head out to my truck.
“Yeah. I’ll be there soon. Hang tight.”
We hang up, and I make the quick drive out to his place, picturing Dakota’s face, all flustered with worry. And goddammit, I know he looks cute as hell right now. When I pull up, he’s sitting outside on the dewy grass, petting Mavis’s head as she lies panting on the ground.
I rush over to them and take a seat right next to Dakota, scratching Mavis’s head. “You doing okay, girl?”
“I think she’s doing better than me,” Dakota says, and he sounds totally serious. Poor guy.
“You know this can take hours, right?” I ask, kind of amused and certainly endeared by the sweet man. How could I ever think he was a grump?
“I can’t leave her though. What if something goes wrong?”
I notice he’s wearing a thin T-shirt and a pair of pajama pants, but that’s it. It’s been warm lately but chilly at night. “Okay, we won’t leave her side, but how about you run in real quick and get a jacket? Maybe a blanket?”
He looks down at how he’s dressed. It’s dark out here, but I swear I can see a little blush on his cheeks. “Oh, okay.” He stands up slowly, looking down at Mavis and then at me. “You’ll stay with her?”
I smile. “I promise.”
“O—okay,” he says a little shakily, and I honestly feel a little bad about seeing him rattled and thinking he’s cute because it’s clear he’s had quite a night. He heads very slowly toward the front door, looking back a few times before disappearing inside.
I sit with Mavis, trying to give her encouraging words and pets as she works toward giving birth.
It’s not long at all before Dakota rushes out the door with a hoodie on and a few fluffy blankets.
“I was going to get some hot cocoa or something, but I was . . .” He lays the softest looking blanket right up against Mavis—who takes the hint and crawls onto the fabric.
I guarantee he’s blushing bright red as he says, “I wanted to get back out to her.”
I smile and stand up, taking one of the blankets from him and laying it out next to Mavis. I gently take his hand to pull him down next to me onto the blanket. We use the other blanket to put over our laps as he checks on her, petting her softly.
“This is nerve-racking.” He looks up at me, and I wish there was more light out here, though the moon is pretty big. “Distract me?”
God, the things I would love to do to distract him. I’ve been thinking about those things nonstop, more and more each day. But I don’t think he means any of that. “So . . . trivia night was fun,” I say, leaning back against his house.
“It was,” he says. “I like your friends.”
I quirk my eyebrows. “Oh, yeah?”
He laughs. “I’m as surprised as you are. But yeah, they were really nice.” He laughs, but it sounds self-deprecating, and he shifts a little nervously, looking back down at Mavis and away from me. “Especially for the guy who overshared and had to look so pathetic to men like them.”
I can’t say I wasn’t surprised when Dakota told the guys about the assholes who used to torment him.
He didn’t go into detail, and I still don’t know all the details, probably not even close to all of them.
But the fact that he told them at all was a shock to me.
“I thought it was brave. And so did they. They think you’re great, Dakota. ”
It’s true. They couldn’t stop talking about him yesterday at the shop. Oakley wants to find every bully who ever dared hurt Dakota and beat them to a pulp. And I gotta say . . . same. They have his back.
He snorts a quick, unsure laugh at that. “They’re all so . . .”—he looks at me, I think searching for the right word—“manly.”
It’s my turn for an awkward laugh. “Oh yeah. Especially Missy and Sarah.”
He rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean. And I’m sure those two could kick my ass.”
I laugh earnestly at that. “Same,” I say in agreement. “I wouldn’t mess with either one of them, but they really like you too. And they’re tough nuts to crack. They still can’t stand Jackson. Barely put up with Oakley.”
He grins. “I get that.”
“Me too.” I laugh but then turn serious, lowering my voice a little so it’s not too intense, though I need him to know. “You know it has nothing to do with being manly or not, right? That you shouldn’t be ashamed of what those pricks did to you?”
I hear him audibly swallow as he looks at me, licking his lips nervously. “I felt weak.”
“But you’re not. You’re brave. So brave, Dakota.” I want to kiss him. I know it may not be the best time, and I still don’t really have a good read on how he feels, but the way he’s looking at me—his eyes shining with hope—I want nothing more than to kiss him.
But he looks vulnerable, so I stay put. “They hated me. For no reason at all. They just set their sights on me and went on the attack.”
My blood boils, but I don’t think he’ll respond well to any kind of aggression—even if it’s not aimed at him. “They’re assholes. Probably sad little men now, living in their mothers’ basements.”
He laughs. “A couple of them are local cops. And one is a high-school baseball coach.” He shakes his head sadly. “I hope they aren’t torturing anyone else. I can’t imagine them growing up, but who knows?”
“I hope for the sake of the town, they have, but one thing I do know . . .”—he lifts his eyes to meet mine—“you’re safe.” And God, I hope he knows it. Knows that he doesn’t need to hide away. Knows now that he’s under my skin like this . . . I’m not going anywhere.
Whether we’re friends or more, it doesn’t matter. Until he tells me with 100 percent certainty that he wants me to leave and never come back, I’m here.
He licks his lips again, and I can’t help but track the movement.
“Oh, I forgot to ask.” His voice is raspy, and I have a hard time pulling my attention to this change of subject.
“Did you have your daughter this weekend? Please tell me you didn’t have to shuffle around your schedule because I’m having a freak-out. ”
A smile tugs at my lips. “Nah. I get her tomorrow afternoon.”
“Good.” He looks relieved, and I’m reminded how thoughtful and kind the man actually is.
“Yeah. That reminds me I have to mow tomorrow before she gets there.”
His nose wrinkles in question. “She doesn’t like tall grass?”
I chuckle. “No, she does.” She really does. The kid isn’t afraid of anything, I swear, not even snakes. Though I about had a heart attack when she nearly stepped on a big black snake in the backyard last summer. She wanted to name it. “She just loves dandelions.”
I watch his face morph into deeper confusion. “So, you’re going to mow over them?”
“Well not all of them.” I laugh at him looking scandalized. “But they’re covering my yard, and the kid will cry if she sees me mowing them down. I have to cut the grass.”
He doesn’t look too certain about that. I think Amber and he would get along just great. “If you say so.”
I let out another hearty laugh. “Hey, I make sure to leave her plenty!”
“Sure you do,” he says, the teasing lilt to his voice only making me laugh more.
“I’m just supposed to not mow all spring and summer, huh?”
He shrugs, stroking Mavis’s head. “I mean . . .” It’s nice seeing this side of him, but soon he’s become pretty quiet and serious. I wonder what’s going on in his head but don’t have to wait for long. “Gabe?”
“Hmm?” I ask.
“The other night . . . trivia.”
He stops, his voice barely above a whisper, and I move a little closer to him, pleading silently with him to continue. “Yeah?” I watch as he takes a deep breath.
“Was that a date?” My eyes widen in surprise that he’s asking, but I think he takes it the wrong way because he hurries to say, “Because it’s fine if it wasn’t. I didn’t really think it was, but I . . . well, I mean your friends were there, so of course it wasn’t.”
“Dakota,” I stop him from rambling and smile, putting my hand on his that’s resting on his thigh.
“Yeah?” he squeaks.
“I wanted it to be a date,” I say firmly because hell yeah, I wanted it to be a date. Maybe I chickened out by inviting friends. Maybe I don’t understand it. But yeah . . . I wanted it to be a date.
“Oh,” he breathes, staring into my eyes.
And I can’t take it anymore. I have to have a taste. I wrap my free hand around the back of his head, feeling his soft, short hair glide through my fingertips as I lean in slowly, giving him every opportunity to stop me. But he doesn’t.