I couldn’t say the dinner got any easier for Dax. He and his mother kept sparring throughout, acting out a familiar battle, but Nance and Keegan seemed more entertained by it than anything else, transfixed even, as though we were witnessing drama on a reality TV series. After dinner, Keegan accosted Serena in the living room, wanting her to detail her past in Hollywood, while Dax and I managed to escape onto the backporch.
I kissed him, pushing him back against the wall. I savored the moment before pulling away and gazing at his eyes, sealed shut, but then they opened, and his smile, which had been scarce throughout dinner,returned.
“How you holding up?” Iasked.
“Much betternow. Surely you can understand why you haven’t met heralready.”
“She’s definitely…charming.”
“To everyone butme.”
“She came all the way out here to meet the man in your life, so at the very least, she’ssupportive.”
“Supportive.” He snickered. “Yeah, I guess. She wasn’t this way when I came out. I don’t think she was the worst anyone could have been about it, but as you can imagine, it wasn’t about how I felt. It was about what we could tell other people. How I should keep it hidden. I didn’t even want to be in the business anymore, but it was all: ‘What if you try to make a comeback?’ Or, ‘The press will try to make this about me and what I did.’ Wasn’t the most encouraging conversation in theworld.”
“I’msorry.”
As I’d noticed throughout dinner, and from what I knew of their relationship, I could see in his expression in that moment his genuine desire for the love of his mother, to have her in hislife.
“Sometimes I have to remind myself it’s not what it once was. She’s gotten help. She hasn’t been using. And this…well, this is quirky compared to what it used tobe.”
“Well, if it makes you feel any better, this nose is fucking gorgeous,” I said as I stroked my thumb across it. “And under your eyes is just fine too.” I kissed them gently, one at a time, before pulling away and gazing into his much calmerexpression.
“And I don’t care if you’re a Donnie or a Dax…you’re still a sexymotherfucker.”
“I’m surprised I hadn’t already mentioned that about my name. Guess I just want to forget about that part of my life. Thanks for not making a big deal out ofit.”
“Thank you for bringing your mom here. It means alot.”
“I kept telling myself it was just to get her to quit harassing me about it, but I know the realreason.”
“Whichis?”
“I wanted her to meet this pretty incredible guy I’m falling for.” He snickered, but then his gaze returned to mine, his dark eyes glistening with the porchlight.
“I’m falling for you too, DaxMunro.”
There was something so exhilarating about confirming our feelings, yet so relaxing at the same time. This sensation stirred in my gut… Jesus, was this what butterflies feltlike?
“It’s hard to be surprised by it when you are the way you are,” Dax added. “I never believed a man like you could reallyexist.”
“I didn’t know a man like you could really exist either,” I admitted. “But I’m glad youdo.”
We kissed again, Dax relaxing in my arms, allowing me to slide my hand around his hip, to his ass, which I hoped to be inside of later thatnight.
As I pulled away from our kiss, I rubbed my nose against his. “The most beautiful nose ever,” I muttered, and helaughed.
A stray impulse seized control of me, and I added, “My boyfriend’snose.”
His expression sobered, and he licked hislips.
What was I saying? I’d never had a boyfriend before. It was the first time, outside of the speculation in the media, that either of us had brought the word up in relation to what we were doing, and as I said it, it felt so fuckingright.
“Yeah, your boyfriend’s nose,” hesaid.
Surely, by the fact that he was standing there, having come all the way to Fever Falls to visit me without a work-related reason, we were stating something we both already knew, but it meant the world tome.
Dax had taken me by storm, amid the chaos my life had become. What were we doing? I wasn’t sure, but all I knew was I wanted it sobadly.
