Chapter 1
Dakota
"Hey, hey, hey, fucking stop!" I yell as I hold my hands up to the truck that's backing up, and not paying attention to what's behind them.
"You don't have to yell at me," the teenage girl says through the rolled-down window. "I'm not going to hit you, I can see you in the back up camera."
In the fucking back up camera. No one knows how to actually put their arm over the passenger seat and turn around anymore. "Look cupcake, there's a fucking blind spot right here. Do you see me in the camera, or do you just know I'm here?"
"Don't call me cupcake," she argues.
I roll my eyes. "You didn't answer my question."
She makes a noise that sounds like a frustrated goat, but I don't mention that. "I can't see you, but I know you're there."
"Okay then, even though the back up camera does a lot for you, it doesn't do everything. Which is where your personal responsibility comes in. You've still got to check your surroundings, and that's what I want you to do."
God, I don't know why my parents thought I'd be the one to do this.
Teaching my little sister how to drive was not on my bingo card for this year, especially not the first full day of the new year.
Not after I was up late as fuck last night, or was it early morning?
I don't remember what time I left Molly's. But here we are.
She huffs and makes a big production out of putting her arm on the passenger seat, and then turning so that she's looking out the back window. "Happy now?"
"Not yet, you need to check your mirrors too, then I'll be fucking happy."
I don't know how the two of us are going to make it through this. We're going to kill each other.
"Fine Dakota!"
There's the bratty teenager I know and love. "Yell at me all you want, but at least you're doing what I ask you to. All I want is for you to drive safely. Is that so bad?"
"Ugh," she rolls her eyes. "I guess not. I just hate the way you act so superior to me."
"I'm older than you," I explain, not for the first time in our relationship. "I've seen much more than you and experienced more than you. There's no reason for you to be so irritable about it. Someone had to teach me too."
She sighs heavily and blows her hair out of her face.
I never had this type of attitude when I was her age.
At least that's what I keep telling myself.
I'm sure I was a pain in the ass, but I blame the fact that no one knew how to deal with my dyslexia back then.
It's still hard to deal with, but back then I'd been so fucking ashamed that I'd failed a grade twice that I had no confidence in myself.
But my sister? She's smart as fuck, doesn't have the same type of issues I had, and here she is with this shitty attitude.
"Dakota, am I doing it right?"
Her annoyed voice gets my attention. That's when I notice she's done exactly what I've told her to do. She's got her arm behind the passenger head rest, and is looking behind her. "Yes, that's what I wanted to see you do."
But that's the last thing I say, because when I glance across the street, I see the woman who has been driving me crazy for over half my life. I'd know that ass bent over the trunk of her car anywhere. Because Molly's got the nicest ass I've ever had my palms on.
"You might want to pic your jaw up off the ground, Kota."
There's her voice again. "Shut up, Lucy."
But I don't take my gaze off the woman I've been spending all my time with lately.
My body is starting to respond and I'm glad I have on a pair of baggy jeans.
Even though we're in Alabama, it's still cold, and I've layered up because I knew I'd be out here with Lucy.
That's when Molly straightens up, closes the trunk, and then turns to face me.
It's like she knew I was watching her, judging by the way her eyes twinkle. I can see it even from where I am.
"Hey Dakota," she yells as she waves.
"Hey," I answer her back.
"Working hard or hardly working?" She questions.
I swallow roughly. She had to use the word hard when talking to me, didn't she? "Working very hard. Teaching a sixteen-year-old how to drive isn't the easiest thing in the world."
"But I'm doing okay."
Lucy has put the car in park, turned it off, and gotten out. She's standing next to me, and I didn't even notice. Reaching down I tousle her hair. "You're managing, but you're going to have to do better to pass that road test."
Molly swings her hips as she walks across the street, a smile on her face as she looks at my sister. "You'll get it. Driving isn't as easy as everyone makes it out to be. It's a big responsibility. Don't let him rush you. That's the worst thing someone can do when teaching you how to drive."
"I'm not rushing her," I argue. "I'm trying to teach her how to back up without having a camera. That's a lost art," I defend myself.
"He is slightly rushing me," she deadpans. "But I've got to get used to it, if I ever want to drive myself."
I tuck my hands in my pockets and rock back on my heels. "Why don't you go inside and get warm. Let me talk to Molly."
Lucy rolls her eyes. "I know you just want to be by yourself with her. I don't know why y'all just don't go out on a date and get it over with." She sighs, heading toward the house.
"So dramatic." I grin at Molly. "A lot like you."
"Fuck you, Dakota." She throws at me, laughing. "She's a really good sister, you're lucky."
"I know I am, but I think you know better than anyone else that I got little to no sleep last night, and this was the last thing I wanted to do. Not because I don't love her, but because my thighs are aching from where I was on my knees thrusting into you. Or do you not remember?"
I'm doing my best to break her. To make her admit that she feels the same way I do. The way she gets this look on her face that says she's not as affected by what the two of us have like I am. I want to rattle her the same way she rattles me.
"I remember," she admits, her voice low.
We're in the middle of my parents driveway, on a busy street, and I can't risk doing what I actually want to. Instead, I say the words low enough for her to hear them. They're for her only. "Good, because if you're not still feeling me between your thighs, then I didn't do my job right."
She opens her mouth, closes it, then opens it again. "Damn Dakota."
"Yeah, now that I have you, I plan on making you my personality, Molly."
She laughs, shaking her head. "The question is, are you going to be able to keep this secret? You and I both know that you can sometimes have loose lips."
How do I tell her that I'll do whatever it takes to keep her in my bed, and texting me at every free moment she has? I don't want to sound desperate, so I shrug. "I guess you'll just have to trust me."
There's a bright sheen left on her lips when she rolls them together. "I do trust you, and maybe that's what scares me the most."
Neither one of us say another word. We just stand here, the silence stretching between us.
There's one thing I've learned about Molly and me.
With her I can have silence. Before it was always so uncomfortable and I was fighting to fill those moments all the time.
My brain was going ninety miles a minute, and I could never get it to turn off.
The first night with her though? The one where we decided to throw caution to the wind?
My brain finally quieted, and whenever I need it now, I know right where to go.
Although I want to, I don't reach over and cup her chin in the palm of my hand. I'm doing my best to give her the emotions with my eyes. "Don't let it scare you, Pretty Girl. Lean into it, and give me the benefit."
She tilts her head to the side, those green eyes of her twinkling bright. "Maybe I will, Chief."
I roll my eyes. I hate it when she calls me Chief, but there's another part of me that likes it.
She doesn't give many people nicknames, and I know how much she respects the real Chief, her grandfather.
"See you tonight?" I question, digging my hands further in my jeans to ward off some of the cold.
"Maybe. I'll let ya know. Maybe I'll be washing my hair."
A laugh works its way up from my chest. "You let me know, and I'll be there."
"I know, Dakota. You never disappoint."
And for her? I never want to.