“You promised me a full date, and a full date is what you’re going to deliver, sir.” I scolded him, knowing he wasn’t being serious about not taking me out. He hadn’t given me a reason to doubt his word yet, and I didn’t think he ever would.
“Let's get going then, before I change my mind,” He offered me his arm as we left the house, opening the door to his Jeep and making sure I was settled before getting in himself.
Dinner was wonderful. Daxton had taken me one town over to a new Italian restaurant just to get away from Elston Hollow for a few hours. The rustic restaurant was located in the heart of the neighboring city. Candles were lit on every table while a live violinist played in a corner, setting the ambiance for a romantic evening. The lighting had been romantically dim, the perfect atmosphere for our first date.
My anxiety was starting to view fewer threats from Daxton as I got used to his reactions instead of Craig’s. Never had I compared the two, but after years of suffering from someone's unpredictable reactions, it’s taken a little bit of time to get used to someone being consistent.
Daxton talked about his family, though there wasn’t much to say. He grew up in a happy household as an only child. His parents both tragically died in a car accident when he was away at college. His office used to be his dad’s hardware store, and his apartment was used for overflow stock and storage. He had converted itafter he had graduated as a way to keep the building in the family and pursue his passion for helping people.
My family had already been discussed a lot in our therapy sessions, so there wasn’t much for me to elaborate on. I told him a lot about work, the fascinating things that happened, as well as the horrible things. My job wasn’t about the money. It was rewarding in its own way most days, impossibly hard on others. He looked forward to meeting more of my friends—an unspoken promise he intended to keep hanging around—which I was finding I was more than okay with.
When we got back to my place, we walked around the back. I wanted to sit on the porch swing and enjoy the night a little longer before we went inside. The porch light in my backyard was always left on in case Riley needed to go out at night. I didn’t like not being able to see outside my house. Daxton took a seat beside me and gently started pushing us with his long legs. Crickets chirped in the background, and there wasn’t a breeze to be found. Seeing the leaves piling up in my yard reminded me I needed to get the rake out soon.
“Is your sister still planning on staying at another friend's house tonight?” Heasked.
“That’s the plan,” I didn’t elaborate. Michelle stayed with different people when Daxton stayed over. She handled her trauma by taking it out on herself in a much different way than I did. She craved sex, yet didn’t want a relationship. So her perfect setup was multiple friends with benefits. I didn’t ask her a lot of questions about it; she would talk about it whenever she felt she was ready. It just wasn’t my business to tell Daxton.
“Good. Selfishly, I like spending more time with you.”
“Be careful, you keep hanging around me too much, you're going to get sick of me.” It was meant as a joke, only maybe there was a real concern beneath my words.
“That will never happen, Rae,” he said adamantly.
I nodded, conceding by not arguing with him because I wanted to believe in what he was saying. Not everyone was going to leave me.
“Have you given any more thought to what I suggested?” He asked, still rocking us back and forth on the swing, the chains creaking quietly as we moved.
“The security cameras?”
“And a security system,” he added, waiting for an answer. He had brought up the suggestion after I was almost run over by a car, but I hadn’t given him an answer yet.
“I have, and I don’t think I’m ready to go through with that yet.”
He stiffened beside me, obviously not liking my answer.
“And why is that?” He asked,his tone dark.
“I don’t think a security system is going to do much good. Everything that he’s done has been outside of my house. And I have Riley, he’s not going to let the psycho anywhere near me.”
“As good a guard dog Riley is, he's not invincible, Rae. You need to have security, especially since you insist you and your sister can take care of each other.”
“Because we can,” I defended, “We’ve been taking care of each other for a long time; this is no different.”
“So you’ve had a psychotic stalker before?” My teeth clicked shut in response, refusing to answer. “That’s what I thought,” he continued. “This isn’t a matter to be taken lightly. Your ex is dangerous.”
“You think I don’t know that!” My voice raised slightly as I stood up from the swing, dropping my sweater into my abandoned seat. “I have lived with him in my head for years, Dax, fucking years.” I don’t know why I was starting to get worked up; his suggestion was nothing short of reasonable, given what had been going on.
“You might want to watch it before I follow through with the punishment I told you that you would face the other day for not listening to me.” He stood as well, his eyes dark. I knew in my heart he only had my best interest in mind. He just didn’t understand how badly I didn’t want cameras in my house. I didn’t feel like they would do any good.
“Punishment, huh? How are you going to do that? Spank me and send me to bed with no dessert?” I mocked.
“Get on your fucking knees,” he growled, obviously not as pleased with my attitude as I was.
“Excuse me?” I balked, crossing my arms over my chest in defiance.
“If you’re going to run that mouth when it comes to your own well being then it’s going to be taught a lesson. So get on your knees, Rae, and you will learn better things to do with that mouth other than argue.”
I turned away from him, muttering, “Punishment my ass,” even though I had been the one to taunt him with it on the phone.
