Page 22 of Forever Mine

“True.”

Patrick huffed a laugh, “You already lasted longer than me. I got fired from that place after a week for showing up drunk.”

I flinched. That was the biggest no-no for the place. No one wanted to deal with the lawsuit if you got fucked up from the machinery because your dumb ass wasn’t alert.

Shauna rolled her eyes. “Yeah, my Patrick was a wild one back then.” She patted his arm. “Tamed him right up.”

Patrick flashed his teeth at her. “Not that tame, woman.”

That shocked a laugh outta me while Dakota groaned. “Eww, Dad, can you not say that, please? Ugh, I apologize for them.” Dakota told me with another squeeze. But really, I didn’t mind. I’d never seen anything like how they all interacted with each other before. It was fascinating. Everyone was so relaxed, so comfortable together. Shauna and Patrick were still so in love, even my cynical ass could see it. And they loved their son. It was so fucking apparent it took my breath away.

Somehow Dakota’s awkwardness and Patrick’s confession relaxed me some. Kota had told me plenty of times that his dadhad a past, but hearing him freely talk about it, at least some of the more innocent parts, made me feel like less of a shithead. Maybe Dakota was right about how his parents would react.

The food came soon and all the awkwardness was erased. For the most part, they didn’t ask me questions, which I was grateful for. They talked about Dakota as a kid, about his siblings, and their grandkids. Dakota’s niece was apparently a killer dancer and was invited to join a travel team where typically no one under twelve was allowed. They were all very proud of her.

It left a real bittersweet feeling in me. It made me happy that families like this actually existed. I loved that Kota got to grow up in a caring family with lots of siblings and lots of love. That they got all these opportunities I never even dreamed of having. I’d never in a million fucking years want Dakota or anyone to go through the shit I had, and I wished I could shield him better from the affects it still had on me.

Still, I couldn’t act like I wasn’t a little jealous. Not that I would’ve ever wanted to be in dance class, but I did remember a kid in my second-grade class was in soccer. I even got to go to his soccer practice once. It was so cool, and I was real excited to go back home and ask my ma if I could join soccer. My ma just laughed in my face and shuffled to the fridge for her boxed wine. My mom’s boyfriend at the time, Nick…no Noah? Ned? Something with an N, heard me asking, slapped me over the side of the head, and told me to stop being such a dumbass, ungrateful piece of shit. I couldn’t remember his name. But I did remember that. Then he spit in my face and threw his half-empty beer at me. I never asked about soccer, or anything else again.

The table got quiet, and I realized everyone was staring at me. I cleared my throat. “Um…sorry. Did I miss somethin’?”

Kota smiled softly at me. He seemed to give me a full assessment with his gaze. I guess he decided that I was justdistracted and not in the middle of dissociating or some shit because instead of dragging me away, which he looked seconds away from doing, he just said, “Dad just asked if you had any siblings.”

I turned toward Patrick. “Sorry,” but he waved away my apology. “Um, not that I know of.” I was sure I had some out there I didn’t know existed. I’d never met my dad. I just knew he was twenty-six and my ma was sixteen, and he ghosted her and the entire town when he found out she was pregnant. Probably so my grandpa didn’t murder him. Wouldn’t be a surprise if he’d done that to other girls. “Though I guess Beck and Riley are like my brothers. Ri sure as hell—heck acts like my annoying kid-brother.”

Shauna snorted. “You can curse, sweetie. You won’t offend our sensibilities.”

I scrubbed the side of my face, embarrassed. “Yeah, I—don’t really know how to act.”

“You don’t have to act any way. Just be yourself. I promise you, there’s nothing you can do or say that’ll shock us,” Shauna told me, and I stopped myself from rolling my eyes just in time.

“All that matters to us is that Dakota is happy and you treat him well. Everything else, well that’s just societal norms, and I never gave much of a fuck about them,” Patrick said, taking a sip of his beer.

“I—” I cleared my throat, “I care about him, a lot. I wish I was better at showin’ him sometimes.” Fuck, why was I telling Dakota’s parents this?

Long, callused fingers touched the side of my chin, and Dakota turned my head so I was looking at him. “You do show me, Jay. All the time.” I could see that he was telling the truth, even if I didn’t get it. I wasn’t romantic. I didn’t bring him gifts or take him out on fancy dates. I couldn’t even tell him that I loved him.

“You wanna do this right here, in front of my parents? Because you know I will. You know I’ll list every fucking thing out if that’s what you need.”

Fuck. I shivered under the intensity of Dakota’s gaze. “No. I believe you.”

He smirked and settled back into his seat.

Thankfully after that, the subject changed and things got less awkward. The chicken parm was delicious, and I really wished I didn’t eat all of it, but I couldn’t stop myself, that’s how good the damn thing was.

Dakota’s parents paid the bill. We both offered, but they insisted. When we got outside, both his parents gave him a hug goodbye and told him that they loved him. I swallowed around the lump in my throat. Had my mom ever said she loved me when she wasn’t in the middle of a drug-induced hallucination? I wasn’t sure.

Shauna turned to me. “I promised Dakota I wouldn’t do it without your permission this time, but I’d really like to hug you goodbye.”

I felt the panic start to rise, and for some reason, my instinct was to fuckin’ bolt. Which was…ridiculous. Was I really scared of this sweet, tiny woman and her hugs? But yeah, kinda. Still, it felt wrong to say no. I gave her a small nod. Those short arms wrapped around me again. Once again, I had no idea what to do with my arms. I awkwardly patted her back.

“I’m so glad I finally got to meet you, Jay. I can see why my Dakota said you’re the one.”

With that fucking bomb, she let go of her hold. I was still standing there in shock when Patrick said goodbye to me, and I really hoped I’d responded because I didn’t want to be rude, but all I could think about was what she just said. Did Kota really tell them I was the one for him? What did that even mean?

Something touched my face. I blinked and looked down at Dakota, who was staring at me with concern. “Are you okay, baby?”

“Uh, yeah.”

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