“Jeez.” Dakota winced at seeing my gallery filled with moments from our day. “You sure?”
“What? Oh, come on, you’re positively adorable.” I paused on my favorite photo of him today. It was one of the few where he was actually looking into the lens. He’d finished feeding the last goat and wore a wide grin on his face because the owners told him they’d never seen animals warm up to strangers as quickly as they did with him.
He pulled out his phone. “If you’re getting a new lock screen, I want one too.”
I held my hand in front of my face. “Wait a minute, I have minimal make-up on today. Let’s wait until later. Or I could send you one of my selfies. They’re pretty cute if I do say so myself.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it.” He still held up his phone. “You always look amazing. But I want one now. I haven’t been this content forever. I want to remember this day and how beautiful you look in it.”
I sighed and lowered my hand. “Fine. You have a way with words, so you win this one.”
“Thank you.” He turned to me, getting a better angle. I smiled, holding my cup close to my chin to take advantage of the warmth.
“How is it?” I leaned over to look and honestly, it wasn’t completely terrible. Definitely, nothing I’d keep, but he seemed rather pleased with the outcome so that was all that mattered.
“You look amazing.”
He set the photo as his background and stared at it for a few more seconds with a smile before locking his phone again. My cheeks turned warm from something outside of the tea. Dakota glanced at me, noticing my sudden shyness. He leaned in to rub his nose against mine before giving me a soft kiss.
“I really like you,” he whispered against my lips.
My stomach jumped at the tender tone of his voice. I breathed him in, smelling the sugar from his tea and the comfort of his natural scent.
“I really like you too,” I whispered back and leaned so my head rested on his shoulder.
Dakota rested his chin on the top of my head and wrapped his arm around my waist to hold me close against him. We sat in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the sounds of the farm and sipping our drinks.
“You can say no to this if you want. No hard feelings,” Dakota started after a while. I moved my head so I could look him in the eye as he continued talking.
“I know it’s early in our relationship,” he continued. “We haven’t even told your folks.”
“We will,” I promised, squeezing his hand. “After the big game.”
“Yeah.” He nodded, wearing an expression that told me he wasn’t worried about it. “My…um, sister’s coming to the game, and I was wondering if you’d be down to meet her. We’re close, and you mean a lot to me. She doesn’t know about us yet either. I’d like to introduce you.”
I took a breath, feeling all kinds of wanted. “Yes, of course. I’d love to meet her. I’m surprised your siblings haven’t come to previous games…or, have they?”
I remembered Dakota telling me he had five siblings. Three brothers and two sisters. He was the second youngest and explained he was closer to his sisters than his brothers.
“Nah, football’s not their thing. My family’s more soccer type of people,” he said. “My brothers prefer catching me on TV. Besides, money’s too tight to drive down for games. Most of them still live in the trailer park and share the same car.”
I nodded, understanding. “I see. Well, I’m excited one got a chance to come. Can I ask why she decided to come now?”
“Reese has a new boyfriend. He likes college football so she wanted tickets to impress him.” Dakota let out a small laugh. “She told him she loved the game too. I had to give her a crash course on how scoring works last night. She actually took notes. Highlighters and everything.”
I smiled. “Sounds like she’s dedicated.”
“Whenever she puts her mind to it.” He tipped his cup up to finish the last of his drink. “You all done?”
He glanced at my mug. I nodded and handed it to his offered hand. I watched him take the cups back towards the house where the small cafe had been set up. He smiled when one of the farmworkers greeted him and started a conversation with ease.
Like Dakota, I hadn’t felt this content in a long time. He glanced over at me, seeming to point me out to the farmworker who waved. They offered Dakota some muffins from their tray. He gave him a charming smile while taking the food. Once he was back in front of me, he said, “We got free food for being the cutest couple that woman has ever seen.”
I laughed, accepting the warm muffin wrapped in beeswax. “Free for being cute. I’ll take it.”
“You do most of the work,” he said as he re-joined me on the hay bale.
“Yeah, right. You’re tall with tattoos and dark eyes. Trust me when I tell you, the cute is you being entirely soft on the inside.” I unwrapped my muffin. “I’m the opposite. That’s why we’re perfect for each other. Yin and yang, filling each other’s gaps.”
