Chapter 16 – Dakota
I’LL BEHAVE IF YOU DO. MAYBE. WE’LL SEE. PROBABLY NOT, IF I’M BEING HONEST - AND I’M ALWAYS HONEST WITH YOU
DAKOTA
All week long, Reese hissed and snapped at me like a feral kitten, and I honestly couldn’t remember a time when I’d been happier.
Winter break wasn’t officially starting until next week, but most classes had already ended and the majority of the students had already gone home.
It would be really nice if we ended up being the only two people left on campus. There’d be so many things I could do with him. Everywhere.
Though he’d deny it until he was blue in the face, he’d let his guard down around me.
Just a little. Just enough that I was able to get a toe in the door, and the feeling of being the one he’d cracked it for made my whole chest swell with this weird pride and a delirious joy that was incredibly obvious.
He kept telling me to stop smiling and laughing, and I’d never been accused of doing those things too much and I’d never been happier to be told to stop.
I’d never stop.
But he was getting more restless by the day. He was almost all better, it had been a fairly quick illness, but I still fussed over him.
He was a terrible patient.
Cranky and mean and I loved it.
“Can you put a shirt on? Why are you always half naked?” He snapped.
I smothered my laugh and shrugged. “It’s hot in here.”
“Then get a fucking fan or something! I don’t want to look at your nipples all the time!”
“Why, are they weird?”
I looked down at my chest, assessing my nipples. They looked normal to me.
“I just don’t want to look at them,” he grumbled, glaring at me like a pissy little cat.
But I knew that underneath all that standoffishness, he was desperate to be loved. Accepted. Touched. Validated. Praised.
He acted like he hated me waiting on him hand and foot, but his damn blushes gave him away every single time.
I’d let him keep pretending. For now.
“Fine,” I said, moving to my dresser and pulling out a shirt and some sweats. “I needed to change anyway.”
He muttered “thank god” under his breath while I unbuckled my belt, unzipped my pants, slid them down my legs, and stepped out of them.
“Are you serious right now Dakota?!” Reese’s voice went high as he screeched at me, and I couldn’t stop laughing.
I was very, very serious.
“What’s wrong?” I asked innocently.
I tugged my shirt on and stepped into my sweats, bending more than I needed to, dragging them slowly up my legs, letting the waist rest under my butt cheeks for a long moment, then yanking them the rest of the way up.
I’d pull out all the stops. I’d do whatever it took to get him to lower those walls for me. I was shameless and desperate and high on Reese’s attention.
Something soft hit my back, and I turned to find Reese so red he looked like he was about to explode. I bent down and picked up the pillow he’d thrown at me, then calmly walked to this wickedly flustered crankpot.
“Is your fever back?” I joked.
His chest heaved as he gave me the most baleful look he could. “Why the fuck do you wear jockstraps as underwear?”
I shrugged. “They’re really comfortable. Everything else rides up my ass and I hate it. Besides, I have a nice butt.”
“You have a horrible butt. It’s droopy and…flat.”
I laughed and sat down near his feet. “It’s okay, I know you like it. You know it, too. But sure, we can pretend.”
He was definitely getting restless and feeling cooped up because he’d been getting more and more pissed off the longer I made him stay here.
It was so damn cute.
I pushed him back into the pillows while he glared at me, then sat near his feet and rested my hand on his calf.
“You’re lucky you’ve got me here to pamper you like a princess, darling,” I said.
“You’re lucky I haven’t murdered you in your sleep. Or my sleep.”
“It seems like you just wanna have your wicked way with me in your sleep. Too bad it’s not the same when you’re awake.”
I turned my head to find him scowling at me, so I winked at him. His cheeks were a dark pink, and he tried to hide it by turning his head and throwing his arms over his face.
So mean and aggressive, and yet so easily embarrassed. I fucking loved that.
“Hey,” I said, tugging on the hem of his pants. I slid my hand over his ankle bone, then grabbed his foot when he didn’t respond.
What would he do if I bit his toes?
Probably kick me in the face.
“Hey,” I said again, squeezing his foot. “Are you hungry?”
“Stop trying to fatten me up.”
“Then can you fatten me up? Because I’m starving.”
He moved his arm and peeked at me, then rolled his eyes and sighed. “Ugh. Fine. Let’s go get some food.”
“Nope. You’re staying here, I’ll bring it to you.”
“I’m sick of being in here!” he yelled, punching the bed. “I want to get out of here, just let me come you bastard!”
I wiped my hand over my mouth to smother my smile, sure that if he saw it he’d launch himself from the bed and rip me to pieces. “Are you throwing a tantrum right now? That’s adorable.”
He deflated in an instant, staring up at the ceiling with a sullen expression. “Don’t you have stuff to do?”
“What, trying to get rid of me so you can sneak out? I don’t have a single thing to do. I’m all yours, darling.” I bit his big toe, and then sprang off the bed with a laugh when he pulled his leg back to kick me.
“You fucking asshole,” he muttered, but there was a smile twitching at the corners of his mouth, and fuck did that make me feel like I was melting.
He covered his face with his hands, but I’d already seen it.
When my phone rang, I tensed, but it was just Val.
“Hey,” I said, glancing sidelong at Reese. He was watching me with a sour expression. Probably annoyed with himself that he’d almost smiled.
“Hey, how’s your roommate?”
I smiled, and Reese’s scowl grew. “He’s good. Getting a little cranky since he’s not into lying around in bed, but I’m taking real good care of him.”
“Okay, good. Does he know you’re the last person on Earth who should be taking care of anyone?”
“No, and don’t tell him that, either.”
“Don’t tell me what?” Reese asked.
I moved the phone away from my mouth and said, “That you should be nicer to me.”
“That’s definitely not what he said.”
“It is. I can put him on speaker for you.” Into the phone, I said, “Hey, Val, tell Reese what you just told me. That he should be nicer to the person who’s been going out of their way to tend to his every need and not bite the hand that literally feeds him—but let him know that biting other parts is acceptable. ”
Reese grabbed one of his pillows and threw it at me as I put Val on speaker.
“Look, I don’t want to know what weird things are happening over there.” Val’s voice resounded through the room, and I ducked when the pillow came sailing toward my head. “I just wanted to see if you were coming to the party.”
My mood immediately plummeted, and I took him off speaker and turned away from Reese. “No, I’m not going.”
I was sick of Albert’s annual holiday party. I didn’t have to go. I didn’t have to do anything anymore. I hadn’t since I’d turned eighteen; the only reason I kept up with them was because of Val.
He insisted on keeping with tradition, keeping the family together, and I loved him so I wanted to support him. No amount of trying to convince him to break away with me had ever worked. I didn’t know where he’d gotten all these family values, but it certainly wasn’t from our parents.
Val sighed. “Wish you would, but…I get it. I’ll miss you, then.”
I closed my eyes and tried not to let the guilt out from where it was locked up. “I’ll miss you too,” I said hoarsely, my throat too thick. I lay back and stretched out on my bed, pulling one knee up and throwing an arm behind my head.
“Do you need me to grab you anything before I go home?” Val asked.
I cleared my throat. “No, I’m good.” I glanced over at Reese, who was watching me with keen eyes. “I’ve got everything I need right here.”
“Okay, well the manor isn’t that far, so I’ll come visit.”
It was the first year I was staying behind, and Val was concerned about me. But I wasn’t going to be alone.
“I’ll be alright, Val,” I said softly, needing him to believe it. It was true; I’d be absolutely fine.
“Promise?”
“Yeah, I promise. Call me if you need anything, okay? Just because I’m not going back for break doesn’t mean I’ll never go there again, so if you need me to come, I’ll come. And if you even cough once—”
“Ugh, I get it. Go…do whatever it was you were doing before I called.”
I laughed and he hung up. My smile faded quickly when I thought about him being at that party all alone. Surrounded by selfish, arrogant people who didn’t truly care about him.
“What’s the matter?”
I blinked, then turned my head and looked at Reese. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, watching me, and I wondered how long he’d been watching me.
I loved it when he looked at me, when he turned his attention fully on me.
“What do you mean?”
He shrugged, and I caught him glancing down my body. His eyes flashed back to mine, and he knew I’d caught him. His cheeks flushed and he scowled at me. “Nothing. Never mind.”
He looked tired and restless at the same time, and I knew he wasn’t sleeping well lately. He’d been having nightmares again, but only sleepwalked once this week. It was probably because he was sick, and as he got better, so did the nightmares, it seemed.
But whether it was due to the nightmares or his restless feet, I went to his bed and held him or dragged him into mine. He always slept so soundly when I was holding him.
He pushed to his feet, and god knew where he thought he was going. I wasn’t done with him; I wanted more of his attention.
All of it.
“Let me hold you,” burst out of me before the words had even fully formed in my mind. “Can I hold you? Please?” I held my arms open and tried to look as unimposing and inviting as possible, although I wasn’t really sure what Reese would consider inviting. A cactus, maybe?