Dakotaclaimedusthebest cart for our shift. I whistled, impressed when he pulled up in front of me.
“Who’d you have to bribe to get this beauty?” I teased as I slid into the seat beside him.
“No one.” He smiled and handed me the walkie. “Pulled rank.”
“Dakota Wells pulling rank. I never thought I’d live to see the day. Are you currently being eaten up by guilt? Do you have the urge to rebalance the world by volunteering on the weekend?”
He laughed and put the cart into drive. “Very cute. I’m not half as virtuosic as you think.”
I snorted at the denial. “Oh, really? You telling me there’s a dark side to you, Dakota? Some bad-boy underneath all your sweet exterior.”
He started us down the sidewalk, in the direction of the student center where our patrol would start. “I seem to remember you calling my exterior dark.”
“It is,” I confirmed while taking him in. He didn’t wear his eyebrow piercing much lately. But even without it, he’d be intimidating if you didn’t hear a single word come out of his mouth. Once he spoke the exterior softened.
I smiled at him, feeling melancholy at the realization that softness had come at a cost. After learning about Dakota’s story of physical abuse and sexual assault, one could see what parts molded him into the person he was today. He was a mix of good and bad. Dakota did his absolute best to make the most of it.
“Thanks again,” I said in a lower voice. “For sharing your story with me.”
Dakota’s expression sobered a bit but he still wore a small smile. “Thank you for giving me a space to do so. It felt good, taking that first step.”
“Did it?”
I was happy to hear he still felt positive about the experience. I did my best to treat all my interviewees with respect. But I still had a lot to learn in terms of making sure how I could properly listen and help survivors feel comfortable.
“Yeah, definitely.” He reached over to squeeze my hand. “I feel I should apologize again for not coming to the screening. Talking to you in an empty room was one thing. Seeing people react was a whole other ball game.”
“There’s no need to apologize. You do whatever you feel like you can.” I leaned over to kiss his cheek. “I’m going to be here for you regardless.”
“I know.” He pulled me close to him. I rested my head on his shoulder, looking ahead as he drove us towards the outer edges of campus.
At first, I didn’t say a thing. Dakota still knew the campus far better than me. Plus he was the one who’d checked the board about which route we’d be on tonight.
After five minutes of not speaking and yards of space between us and the campus, I started to get suspicious. We were close to driving off campus now. Our cart sped across a suburb sidewalk. Most of the houses were decorated for Christmas. The holiday break was around the corner.
“Don’t get me wrong, I love looking at the Christmas lights,” I said while staring at an impressive set-up of Santa, his elves, and reindeer in one person’s yard. “But what are we doing this far off-campus? There’s no way the school lets us pick people up out here.”
“Took you long enough to question,” Dakota teased. He stopped at a stop sign and waved for a minivan filled with children in the backseat to go. Once they crossed, Dakota drove us further into the suburbs.
“Where are you taking us?” I asked.
“It’s a surprise.”
I moved closer to him, excited at the words. I lived for surprises, especially when they came in the form of me being able to step away from responsibility for a moment.
“What about work?”
“I signed us out for the night,” Dakota explained.
“Yara still let you take a cart?”
He held an index finger up to his lips. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”
“Our secret,” I swore, holding my hand over my heart. “Now, where are we going?”
“What part of surprise don’t you understand?” Dakota chuckled.
I shrugged. “I still like guessing. That’s the fun of it.”
