“More like an ex-boyfriend,” I confessed. “He got me into some trouble when I was in high school. Lawrence is good at that.”
His expression darkened. “So I’ve heard. What kind of trouble?”
I licked my lips and decided to go for it. Dakota opened up to me so much tonight. The least I could do was share something personal too. “I played bait for one of the teachers at his prep school. He was trying to catch this guy hitting on underage girls. I thought he was going to turn him in to the police, but he wanted to use the footage for blackmail.”
“Footage?” Dakota’s forehead wrinkled.
“Video proof is the best kind.” My laugh came out sounding hollow. “We didn’t go all the way. But the kissing got pretty intense. Lawrence told me it wouldn’t get that far. That he wouldn’t let the guy lay a hand on me. I thought we needed the verbal acknowledgment. Instead, I spent an extra five minutes in an office while Lawrence made sure he got what he wanted before coming in.”
“I can’t…” Dakota’s eyes narrowed, and he looked ready to fight for something that happened five years ago.
“I’m fine,” I assured with a wave of my hand. “I wanted you to know what kind of guy he is in case you’re thinking about dealing with him.”
“I’m not,” he promised.
“Good.” I nodded, still watching him. I could tell by the way he brushed his fingers across his lips there was something he was keeping to himself. After a moment, I decided I’d let it go. He didn’t come here to be grilled about all the bad things in life. I wanted to be a safe haven for him. I wanted us to be a safe haven.
“Maybe we should move back to calming waters?” I suggested. “I know you didn’t come all this way to explore the deep cervices of your past.”
He chuckled. “No, I didn’t. But if that’s what you wanted to keep doing, I’d try my best. I came all this way to spend time with you. Whatever that entails.”
My body warmed. “It entails, early-2000s dinosaur movies.”
Chapter 27
Wegotthroughthreemovies before I let out my first yawn. Dakota pulled me closer when he heard me open and shut my mouth. Sometime in the middle ofThe Good Dinosaur, I’d leaned in against him. His arm around my shoulder turned into a full-on cuddle. He leaned back against the pillows with me between his legs.
“Getting tired?” he asked, and I craned my neck to peer up at him. He smiled down with his free arm tucked behind his head. My hand pressed to his chest, thumb rubbing against him.
“A little,” I admitted, not wanting to move from this position. Being this close to Dakota and knowing everything that happened to him in the past made me never want to leave his side. I could lay here watching silly animated movies and listening to the steady drumming of his heart forever.
“Should I head out and let you get to bed?” he asked while massaging my shoulder.
I pressed my cheek against his chest again as I clung to him harder. He chuckled, the beautiful noise rumbled through his body, making me bob up and down.
“I’m taking that as a no,” he said.
“It’s a never,” I whispered.
He hummed, pleased at my response. His fingers found their way to the top of my head. I hadn’t given myself a trim in a while so I had a little more hair than usual. Dakota brushed his fingers across the tiny, coily strands. I closed my eyes, finding a surprising amount of comfort in his gentle stroking.
I’d never been held this long. I hadn’t dated a guy that sat down long enough to cuddle. Before tonight, I hadn’t even realized I was a cuddler myself. Being on the move all the time made me think holding someone in the same spot for hours was boring. It wasn’t. Not even in the slightest.
Or maybe it was simply Dakota who was the change. He was the new factor in the equation after all. He was larger than my previous partners, giving me lots of body to snuggle with. Whenever I moved to readjust myself, he opened his arms to give me plenty of space. I could always count on him wrapping me back in his embrace with the same amount of pressure whenever I got antsy. He’d murmur, “better?” or “all good?” with a smile on his face when I finally kept still. His fingers trailed up and down my arm when he noticed my goosebumps in an attempt to warm me up.
The back-rubbing was good but hands down, the most fun part of the cuddling was getting an up-close and personal feel for what I did to him. Partway into the first movie, Dakota’s cock became erect. He would curl his legs up and down every few minutes. When I asked him if I should move, he pulled me closer. It took another half hour for me to recognize he’d been attempting to hide his boner.
Dakota stayed hard for most of our movie marathon with no attempt to make a move on me. I didn’t expect any less from him. His commitment to acting like a gentleman was more than impressive. Especially when I adjusted myself every now and then to tease him. The guy could focus harder than anyone I have ever seen. When the end credits of the last movie of the night started rolling, I rubbed my hand across his sweats, dangerously close to his cock to mess with him.
“What’s up, Emmy?” he asked, grinning.
“What do you mean?” I asked, pretending to be completely oblivious.
“Seems like you want something from me,” he said in a lower voice.
“Just your wonderful company,” I teased and pulled the arm he had around me higher so I could lean my cheek against the back of his hand. He laughed and did something so tender I couldn’t hold back a sigh. Dakota pressed his lips on the back of my neck and gave me a gentle kiss. Something a boyfriend would do to his girlfriend. I bit my bottom lip, keeping in my burning question about him staying the night. Thankfully, he turned out to be the braver one and asked, “I could stay the night if you like?”
“I’d like that a lot.”
