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I was going to have to stop playing this game.
So, I walked away from the kitchen and toward the couch, desperately hoping they’d follow.
When I heard their footsteps behind me, I let out a sigh of relief.
By the time the three of us sat down, I had foolishly assumed it was over. Dakota’s cookies were safe from my brothers’ clutches, and I wouldn’t have to beat the crap out of either one of my siblings for taking too many of them.
But it took a matter of moments for me to be reminded of what happened when one assumed.
Both Carson and Dylan shot me expectant looks. Apparently, this wasn’t finished. My brothers wanted an explanation, and I had a feeling they weren’t going to leave until they got one.
Before I had the chance to figure out how to tell them anything, Dylan decided to speak and take the straightforward approach.
“What’s going on, Jack?” he asked. “We know those are not store bought, and we’re relatively certain that you haven’t suddenly decided to take up baking. Where are the cookies from?”
For a moment, I shifted my attention away from them and allowed my eyes to look out the window toward Dakota’s cabin. I wondered what she was doing now. I hadn’t seen her since she left here two days ago, and I hated the way it felt.
“Is somebody in that cabin?” Carson asked.
I brought my focus back to my brothers and nodded. “Yeah.”
“What’s her name?” he pried for more information.
“Dakota.”
In the next few seconds, I watched as something washed over both of my brothers’ faces. It was hard to read. I couldn’t quite decide if it was relief or worry or something else entirely.
“How serious is it?” Dylan questioned me.
I shook my head. “There’s nothing going on.”
Confusion marred their expressions. “You’ve got a tray of cookies sitting out on your kitchen counter that says differently,” Carson noted.
“I’m serious. There’s nothing going on. Nothing like that,” I insisted. “We just… she’s had a few instances where she’s needed some help lately, and I stepped in.”
“How so?”
I went on to tell my brothers about Dakota’s encounter with the wild bison and the fire in her chimney. I then explained that she merely brought the cookies over as a way to show her appreciation for me having stepped in to help her out.
“Were you hoping she’d want to show her gratitude another way?”
Fuck.
The thought of being with her like that almost felt foreign to me. I couldn’t say the thought hadn’t crossed my mind, especially after I’d had the chance to spend a bit of time with her two days ago when I introduced her to the animals.
“No,” I lied.
“Bullshit,” Carson spat.
My brows shot up, silently questioning him.
“She baked cookies that you wanted to nearly rip my head off for even thinking about touching, and then you looked out at that cabin with more longing than I’ve seen on your face in quite some time,” he clarified.
I didn’t refute his point, but I also didn’t know what to say.
“You’re allowed to be happy, Jack,” Dylan said. “You deserve to be happy.”
I clenched my teeth together, wondering how I wound up here. “I’m interested in her, and that’s more than I’ve had in years,” I finally confessed. “I never thought I’d ever be interested in another woman again.”
