My heart stopped when my bedroom door re-opened. For a second, I thought maybe the guys had come home early and Silas was dipping in to annoy me. Instead, Dakota reappeared with a glass of water and a heating pad in hand.
“I saw this on the couch.” He handed me the heating pad. “And thought you probably needed to hydrate after last night.”
I smiled and welcomed him close for another kiss. “You’re so sweet. Thank you.”
“Of course. Now, I’m actually leaving. I won’t be long, but text me if you need anything else.” He nuzzled his nose against my cheek and placed a final kiss on the top of my head before heading out.
I sighed with satisfaction as I placed the heating pad on my back and sipped on my water. Mornings were quiet with no one in the house, so when I closed my eyes, it was easy to drift back to sleep. I woke to the smell of hot pancakes, hash browns, eggs, and bacon. Dakota set the bags of food on my desk.
“Are you ready to eat?” he asked as he unloaded the boxes from the takeout bag.
“Give me one sec.” I yawned and slipped out of bed. For a moment, I completely forgot I was still naked. Dakota didn’t seem to mind when I walked past him in nothing. In fact, he got distracted enough to reach for my hand and pull me against him. I laughed and let him kiss me. He held the back of my head with one hand while his other explored my curves, ending on my ass.
“I’m such a fucking lucky guy,” he said as he squeezed my ass cheek.
“You are,” I teased, pecking a kiss on his chin before pulling away. He groaned, protesting my absence. I felt like a princess the way he looked at me.
I looked so cheesy when I saw myself in the mirror. My eyes were bright, full of post-sex energy. I scrubbed my face clean and gave my teeth a quick brush even though I was about to eat, and Dakota had already gotten a sneak peek of my morning breath. Still, I felt better after freshening up.
Dakota had our food laid out and ready once I got back. I tugged on one of my robes hanging on the back of the chair. He gave me a disapproving look, but I smoothed it over with a kiss.
“Did you buy the whole restaurant?” I joked when I got a closer look at how much food was waiting for us to consume.
“I might have gone a little overboard,” he confessed while taking in the spread. “But I wanted you to have as many options as possible.”
“Very sweet.” I moved closer to him on the bed so our thighs pressed against each other. “You’re going to spoil me rotten.”
“That’s the goal.” He handed me a plate of blueberry waffles with a container of syrup.
As we ate, Dakota recounted last night’s game for me. He seemed relieved that the team was finally working as one. The players from Amber U offensive team were starting to build trust in Westbrooke’s original offense starters.
“Kai’s been working hard on the field to get us back on top.” Dakota stretched out on the bed and rested his head in my lap. I fed him leftover blueberries from what was left of my enormous pancakes.
“I think a lot of the guys are going to vote for him this week,” he continued.
“Really?”
“Yeah, we’re late on naming captains this season, and I think a lot of us know he should be one of them.”
“He’s going to pretend like it isn’t a big deal.” I smiled at the thought of my brother getting what he wanted and pretending like he wasn’t enthused.
“He deserves it. Don’t tell him I said anything yet. I’m not sure how all the guys will vote so I don’t want to get his hopes up.”
I nodded and popped another blueberry in his mouth. “Hey, why aren’t you up for one of the captain positions?”
Dakota took a moment to chew his food. Once he swallowed, he asked, “What?”
“You as a captain, has that never crossed your mind?”
“Uh…” He looked off in space and clearly the answer was ‘no.’
“You were here last year. You know the trauma your guys went through,” I said the last part as carefully as possible. As special as last night was, things got heavy too. I wanted to make sure I proceeded with caution when it came to his past because there was still a lot of stuff he needed to work through. A lot of pain that wasn’t quite healed.
“You’re a natural leader and have a rare ability to empathize with others.” I ran my fingers through his hair as I spoke. “You’d be a shoo-in. Those guys love you. They’d follow your lead in a heartbeat.”
Dakota seemed to consider my words. “It’s not my place. Besides, usually, the captains are the starting quarterbacks. There are only two spots.”
“Really? Amber U typically had four captains. Did my dad not want to keep it that way?”
