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“Oh, I don’t want him to stop,” she said, fiercely.
I laughed.
Then she blushed. “I mean… that sounded wrong. It’s just that, well, he’s who he is, and I’m who I am, and I mean, I don’t dislike it.”
That put a whole different spin on it. “Girl, I totally get where you’re coming from. If you enjoy some casual flirting with a famous quarterback, have fun with it. Let him star in your late-night fantasies, if you know what I’m saying.”
She nodded. “I know exactly what you’re saying.”
“Are we done here?” Teri asked. “Or should we go out for drinks for the girl-time talk?”
I made a face. “Relax. You’re the one who asked her why he was calling her Kitty.”
“And I regret getting involved. But if you want the advice of an older woman with much more experience, just be careful.”
I was pretty sure Eloise hadn’t asked for Teri’s advice, but I wasn’t going to point that out.
“Same goes for you, Dakota.”
“Me?” I asked, startled. “What am I doing?” Well. That was kind of a dumb question. I was doing a lot.
Teri gave me an incredulous look. “Anyone with eyes can see that you’re not just the nanny for the coach’s children.”
I remained silent. I was pleading the fifth. Then, because I was curious and still a woman who wanted to think she could inspire giddiness in a man, I asked, “What makes you say that?” I wanted to know if Brandon looked like he was happy with me.
As opposed to say, him stating he was terrified at the thought of a real relationship with me.
“Because he was clearly jealous of North. He looks at you and it’s territorial.”
“Yuck,” I said. That was not the answer I was searching for. Yes, I wanted him to want me. To be possessive and manly and want no other man to touch me. That went without saying. But I didn’t want that to be it. The only thing that drove him—not really wanting me himself but not wanting other men to have me.
Teri actually laughed. “Why is that yucky? I would think that’s what you want. He’s staked a claim on you.”
“Because I don’t want him to stick his pole in me,” I protested.
Then we all looked at each other and burst out laughing.
I had meant it as a space metaphor. Landing on the moon.
“Oh my God,” Teri said, holding her sides. “Dakota. I can’t breathe.”
“I meant I don’t want him putting the flag down like I’m the moon and he’s the astronaut,” I said, laughing, and making it worse. I made a motion with my hand that was supposed to be the flag being planted on the surface of the moon but looked more like a blowjob gesture. Definitely making it worse.
“We knew what you meant,” Eloise said, lifting her glasses to wipe tears from under her eyes. “Oh my gosh, that was funny. So what is it that you do want?” she asked.
Because my guard was down from laughing, I opened my mouth and a truth came out that I hadn’t even been aware of until that very second. “I want to be his one true love.”
Eloise’s jaw dropped.
Teri shot me a look of horror. “Oh, shit, Dakota. Sweetie.”
I sat there, stunned. I couldn’t believe I had said that out loud. I couldn’t believe I felt that way.
But we were where we were against the odds. Twice we’d met. Twice we’d parted ways. Now we were together, in a way, and that had to mean something, right? Brandon had said we would see each other again if fate had allowed, and well, fate had allowed it. In a city of eight million people.
Though why I had to say that out loud, here, with two people I didn’t even know that particularly well, was a mystery. A horrible mystery.
“Just forget I said that. I’m going to try to scrub it from my brain.” I tried to resist the urge to glance behind me and see what Brandon was doing, but I failed. I turned around.
