Chapter 22
TWENTY-TWO
DAKOTA
When my father disappeared inside Mrs. Hofstetter’s house, there was no other choice but for me to acknowledge the man standing on my front porch.
It had been a couple days since my father and I had moved into Lennon’s old house, and I hadn’t seen Roe since he and the rest of the Wraiths had moved us in.
I’d tried telling myself repeatedly I didn’t care, but it would have been a lie.
With each passing hour, I grew more disappointed that I hadn’t seen him.
Now that he was here, it felt like a riot of butterflies had sprung to life in my belly.
I closed the distance between us, suddenly remembering I closely resembled a drowned rat, thanks to my Dementor fight with Darnell and Aretha’s kids. They’d been too damn cute to deny after they came knocking on my door.
Oddly enough, playing with them had been the most fun I’d had in a long time.
Lifting my arms, I did my best to pull my hair into some semblance of a normal ponytail before tying it off. There wasn’t anything I could do about my soaked clothes.
As I came to a stop in front of him, he rose to his feet, his full height causing me to have to tip my head back.
“Uh, hi.”
His smile hit me like a static shock. “Hi back.”
I spotted the bag resting beside the chair he’d been sitting in and pointed at it. “What do you have there?”
He lifted it up, and I noticed a Tupperware container in the bag. “Uh, well?.?.?. I made you dinner.”
My lips parted, my eyes widening in surprise. “You cooked for me?”
He looked downright bashful as he ducked his head and scratched at his scruffy cheek. “Yeah, well. It’s probably not as good as anything you can make.”
I didn’t care if it tasted like cardboard. He’d cooked for me. I’d never had a man cook for me. The blow of that one shattered the protective wall around my heart to smithereens. There was nothing left standing. He’d managed to decimate it and claw his way right back in.
“Do you, um, want to come in? Maybe share whatever you made with me? I don’t think Dad’s going to be back for some time. Apparently Mrs. Hoffstetter is a fan of tying one on and is funny as hell when she’s toasted.”
Roe chuckled and nodded. “Yeah. I’d really like that.”
I opened the door and he followed me inside. “Give me a second. I need to change into something that?.?.?. isn’t dripping all over the floor.”
He gave me a tender look, his lips curving up into a grin. “I’ll be here.”
I hurried to the primary bedroom that my father insisted I take over and made quick work of changing into a dry pair of yoga shorts and a T-shirt.
I let out a muted shriek when I glanced into the mirror and saw mascara streaked beneath my eyes, making me look like an extra in a zombie movie.
I rubbed beneath my eyes to clean it away, and once I was satisfied, headed back out to the kitchen.
I stuttered to a stop at the sight of Roe moving confidently around the kitchen, heating the food in the microwave and plating it up for us.
The familiar smells filled the kitchen, making my mouth water. “Oh my god. Is that butter chicken? I love butter chicken. How did you know?” Indian food wasn’t exactly something my unrefined nineteen-year-old pallet had been able to appreciate, my preference for it developed in adulthood.
“I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t know it was a favorite. I just saw the recipe and thought it sounded really good.”
Speaking of recipes, I suddenly discovered why it smelled so familiar. “Wait a second. Is this my recipe?”
Roe watched me closely, hope and uncertainty swimming in those deep blue eyes. “It is.”
“So, you know about Foodie Bee?”
“I do.” His back was to me as he said that, pulling the plates from the microwave and placing them on the island in front of the barstools.
“I couldn’t stand not knowing anything about your life, so a few years ago, I had Bane do some digging.
He found your YouTube channel, and I’ve been watching ever since.
That’s how I actually learned to cook.” He jerked his chin toward one of the stools.
“Sit down and eat. You must be hungry after fighting off all those Dementors.”
I smiled, a giggle working past my lips as I slid into the stool and picked up my fork. I still couldn’t believe this man cooked me dinner. And he taught himself by watching my videos. He was making it damn near impossible not to fall for him all over again.
“Ah, that’s where you’re mistaken.” I speared a piece of chicken with my fork and used it to point at him. “ I was the Dementor.” I put the bite in my mouth and let out a moan as the flavors exploded on my tongue.
“Oh, wow. Holy shit, Roe. You nailed it. This is delicious.” I stuffed another bite in my mouth before tearing into a piece of garlic naan. Everything tasted divine.
After a few seconds of savoring all the warm spices and rich sauce, I realized the kitchen had gone completely silent.
I opened my eyes and found his gaze riveted on my mouth, the black of his pupils swallowing up all but a thin ring of blue around the very edge.
His throat worked on a thick swallow as he clenched his hand around the fork into a tight fist.
“Roe?” I asked through a full mouth, and he jerked his gaze back to mine before shoving a bite into his mouth.
“Glad you approve,” he said gruffly a few seconds later before changing the subject. And damn if that twinge of disappointment didn’t reappear. “So?.?.?. it looked like you were having a lot of fun over there.”
“I was,” I replied on a small chuckle, using a piece of naan to scoop up some of the sauce.
It might have been rude to talk with my mouth full, but this food was too damn good to stop.
“They’re cool kids. I think Cassi would get along great with them.
” Because from what I’d seen, Cassi, as well as the Klein boys, had more than a little wild and untamed in them.
“Speaking of, I’m surprised to see you without her today. ”
“Today was the first day of wilderness camp, so she’s learning to make a fire, recognize trees, survive off the land, and punch little shithead bullies in the throat.”
A bewildered laugh bubbled out of me, and I had to slap a hand over my mouth to keep from spitting butter chicken everywhere. “What?” I mumbled around my food.
His smile was totally unrepentant as he explained how Cassi had taken down a bully and made him pee his pants, and I didn’t blame him one damn bit.
“Man, you might have the coolest kid on the planet,” I informed him sincerely.
He chuckled, reaching back to massage at the nape of his neck. “I tend to think so, then again, I’m a little biased.”
I gave in to the urge that was making my palms reach out and touch him, placing a hand on his forearm. “Rightfully so. She’s cool as hell, knows her own mind, has incredible fashion sense, and stands up to bullies? You’ve got one hell of a little lady on your hands, sir.”
The way his cheeks pinkened at my praise of his daughter made my belly swoop and my chest ache. “I appreciate you sayin’ that. Truth is, I worry a lot of the time that I’m fuckin’ everything up and I’m going to do something to hurt her or destroy her confidence.”
Hearing him so vulnerable about such an important aspect of his life only managed to endear the man to me that much more.
“I think that’s a parent’s job. You know, to constantly lose sleep over the fact they’re afraid of ruining their kids.
If you aren’t scared, you’re probably doing something wrong.
Being scared means you care. And it’s obvious you care, Roe.
It’s written all over you. You aren’t hurting her.
I’ve never met a more self-assured kid in my life, and that’s because of you.
You made it safe for her to be herself. That means everything to a kid. ”
I hadn’t expected it, so I didn’t have time to brace when Roe lunged at me, grabbing me around the nape of my neck, and jerked me closer so he could slam his lips down on mine. I could taste all the delicious flavors of dinner, but also something that was very distinctly Roe .
I lost myself in the kiss easily. Too easily. Leaning in to him and moaning into his mouth as his tongue swiped against mine. It took an embarrassingly long time, but my brain finally reengaged and I became aware enough to pull back from the kiss and jump off the stool.
I tripped over my own two feet and would have gone down if Roe hadn’t moved faster than a man his size should and caught me before I landed flat on my ass.
“Roe, we can’t,” I objected pathetically, my voice sounding weak even to my own ears.
“We can,” he said on a growl. “Dakota, you’re the only goddamn thing I’ve been able to think about for weeks. It was bad enough, pining for you for sixteen fucking years, but having you back here and not being able to touch you is torture.”
God, he was killing me. I wasn’t sure how much more of this I could withstand before I caved.
A-freaking-gain. “This will never work,” I insisted, stepping around and forcing him to let me go.
He dropped his hands down at his sides, opening and closing them into white-knuckled fists.
“ We won’t work.” I waved a hand between us, my tone pleading.
“Or have you forgotten that we already tried this and it failed. Epically.”
“It didn’t fucking fail,” he barked, the muscle in his jaw pulsing as he clenched his teeth, searching for his calm.
“We ended, yes, but not because we didn’t work.
We were fucking perfect together, Kota. You can deny that all you want, but you know it’s true.
We were perfect, and I fucked it all up.
” He took a step closer and I had to hold my hands out to stop him from taking another.
Heat and hunger filled his eyes, and I felt like I was drowning in them.
“But we didn’t fail. To this day, you are the only woman I’ve ever loved, and how I feel about you has never changed, not even a little. ”