Page 21 of Forever Mine

Despite what Dakota kept telling me, there was no way his parents would be okay with their son dating the fucked-up street kid with a rap sheet as long as my arm. I knew I would lose my fucking mind if my kid brought someone like me home.

I still walked into the restaurant, holding Dakota’s hand like it was my lifeline. This was important to Dakota. They were important to him. I had to make this work. They’d probably never accept me, but hopefully they’d at least be decent.

We walked inside and started to go up to the hostess, but Dakota stopped me. “There they are.”

He nodded to an older couple that was sitting at a table against the wall and toward the back of the space.

“Okay.” My mouth was fucking dry. I swallowed, trying to get a little saliva, and forced my feet to move and follow Dakota to his parents.

His dad stood up as we got closer, and I almost did a double-take. Kota was his fucking twin. I had the perfect glimpse of what he would like in thirty years, and fuck, I wouldn’t becomplaining. He was a good-looking man for a guy in his sixties. His mom twisted in her seat before standing up.

“So good to see you, honey!” she exclaimed excitedly and threw her arms around Dakota.

He huffed out a laugh as he returned the hug. “Ma, I saw you a few days ago.”

“Still too long.” Dakota rolled his eyes at his mom over her head. I took a step back, unsure what to do.

“Jay, it’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you. I’m Patrick.” Dakota’s dad introduced himself as his mom still suffocated Kota with her hug. He held out his hand to me.

I took his, wishing like fuck I’d worn gloves. My hand tats never bothered me, but I’d also never met my boyfriend’s parents before. Patrick didn’t look down, though. He smiled warmly at me, his green eyes, which were one of the only differences I noticed between him and Kota, met mine.

“Thank you, sir,” I replied stiffly. I had no fucking idea how to interact with these people.

That was when Dakota’s mom, Shauna, seemed to remember I was there. She pushed her son away and turned in my direction. I went to shake her hand when thin arms wrapped around my waist.

“Oh, it’s so good to finally meet you, honey. Wow, you really are tall.”

I froze, arms out to my sides as I shot a helpless look at Kota. I—couldn’t remember the last time I was hugged like this…by a mom? Was I ever? We lived with my grandpa for abit when I was real little, but he died when I was four and I never knew my grandma. My ma sure as fuck never gave me this type of affection. Did I return it? Fuck…

“Shauna, let the poor boy go. You’re overwhelming him.”

My cheeks flushed, but they weren’t as red as Shauna’s as she pulled away. “Oh, I’m sorry. My kids keep telling me that I need to ask before hugging people, but sometimes I get carried away.”

“It’s okay…” I rocked back on my heels and pulled on the sleeves of my shirt.

Dakota took my hand, stopping me before I ruined this shirt. Which was a good thing. It was fuckin’ forty dollars. I had to return it.

“C’mon, let’s sit,” he said quietly and led me to my chair. I smiled when he automatically made sure I was sitting where no one was to my back. My man really did know me.

Shauna smiled at me with kind eyes as she sat next to her husband. Looking at them, they really were an odd pair. She was very tiny, probably only 5’1” or 5’2”, with reddish brown hair that had more gray than the other color. Dakota didn’t look much like her but it looked like he got his hair and eye color from her.

I put my hands in my lap and sucked on my lip ring while I waited for someone to start talking. The three of them seemed to pick up their menus immediately, but for some reason, I couldn’t move.

Dakota squeezed my thigh. “Hey, it’s okay. You’re doing great.” Yeah, I was having a fucking crisis over a hug. I was doing totally fine. “Do you wanna look at the menu?” I shrugged. Dakota didn’t get annoyed though. All he said was, “They have a really good chicken parm.” He knew how much I liked chicken parm.

“Y-yeah. That sounds good.”

“How’s Nora doing?” Kota asked his mom. I’d never met his siblings but he talked about them all the time and I knew enough about all of them to know she was the pregnant one.

“Did she have another appointment?”

“Yeah. The baby is a little big for how far along she is. They think he might be early. But other than that, they’re both doinggood.” Shauna said just before the waiter came up. We gave our drink orders—I just got water—and since we all knew what we wanted, we ordered our food too. It went way too quickly, and then it was back to being just the four of us again.

“So, Jay, Dakota said you work at the factory in the city?” The factory had a name, but since like half of the people in the area worked there, everyone just called it the factory.

I shifted in my seat, but somehow managed to answer. “Yeah. Um, yes. Beck, my best friend, got me a spot there a few months ago. It ain’t bad,” I flinched, “I mean, it’s not bad. Money’s decent. Overnights though.” Fuck, I was rambling. Why was I rambling?

Shauna smiled again. She had a very nice smile. Very mom-like. “Oh well, that worked out since Dakota works nights too.”

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