Page 30 of Forever Mine

“Nah, I just think he’s Batman.” Riley replied.

Beck snorted. “Batman? Seriously?”

“I mean why not,” Dakota surprisingly chimed in, usually he just stayed quiet and laughed at us when Beck, Ri, and I went on one of these banter conversations. I reached over the console and took his hand that was resting in the middle. He smiled softly and squeezed back before continuing. “If he’s not a billionaire, he’s close to it. He clearly has skills and his own little vigilante group. I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a Bat Cave somewhere in that mansion.”

We were on our way back from the cookout at Luca’s house. I was shocked at how fun it was. The motherfucker had a pool andeverything. And we weren’t kidding, he and his entire team lived in a fuckin’ mansion. I never seen anything like that in real life.

“Oh my God! Like the Justice League!” Riley chimed in.

“I’m thinking spies,” Beck added. “Luca literally said the words ‘going dark’ when he talked about the mission they were going on.” Beck had a point about the spy thing. We knew that Luca and his team ran some kind of security company but he warned all of us before leaving that they were going on a mission that night, and would be completely radio silent. If we needed something, Wes would still be around, as well as his tech guy, Diego.

I closed my eyes and just let their voices wash over me. I felt…good. Not exactly at peace, but not as anxious as usual. Maybe it was because I’d started to take an antidepressant. Maybe because I got the courage to talk to Wes about his therapist while at the cookout. Maybe it was just because of Dakota’s never-ending faith in me. I guess it didn’t matter. I never remembered feeling so fuckin’ relaxed in my life.

Pain on the side of my head brought me out of my thoughts.

“What the fuck?”

Riley was grinning innocently at me, his face way too close to mine.

“Seriously, slasher? Did you just fuckin’ flick me?”

He shrugged. “You weren’t listening.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sorry. What’d you say?”

“What do you think’s goin’ on with Wes and Luca? There’s somethin’ there, right?”

“Always think there’s somethin’ there. There’s no question they fucked before.”

Dakota shook his head, humor dancing in his eyes. “Do you think they’re still fuckin’?” Riley asked.

“It doesn’t bother you, thinking about Wes like that?” Beck asked, wrapping his arms around Riley and bringing him to his side.

“Not really. I still don’t really think of him as my dad, you know. Maybe eventually it will.”

Made sense. Since Riley had no idea Wes even existed until he was 20 and had known him for less time than I’d known Kota, I could understand the disconnect there. I had no idea how I’d react if I ever met my old man. ‘Course, I knew he was a piece of shit. Wes was a totally different story. He didn’t know he had a son till recently.

We arrived at our apartment, but only Beck and Riley got out. I was spending the night at Kota’s.

“Bye, have fun!” Riley called teasingly. I gave him the finger. He laughed, took Beck’s hand and went inside.

I turned to Dakota. He kissed my cheek before putting the car back into drive. “Ready to go home, baby?”

“Fuck yes.”

By the time we got back to Kota’s place, I was so fuckin’ horny and desperate for my man. He kept teasing me the whole time, one hand down my pants and playing with me while he drove. And the fucker wouldn’t let me touch myself. I had planned all kinds of ways to get back at him as we walked down the hallway to his apartment hand in hand.

“What is that?” Dakota asked, his tone strange. Fuck, I got distracted again.

What the hell was wrong with me? I had to stop thinking with my dick and pay attention to my surroundings. I stopped next toDakota, my eyes following him to where he was staring. Propped up against his door was one single rose.

“You didn’t do that, right?” Kota asked. Neither one of us had moved to get closer yet. I shook my head. For a split second, the insecurities I had managed to bury reared their ugly head. Kota’s tone was off. Was that ‘cause he wished I was the one who surprised him with flowers? No, that wasn’t it, Kota didn’t even like flowers. But still, I never gave him gifts or surprised him. Maybe he wished I did?

One look at Kota’s face shut my brain up real fuckin’ quick. He wasn’t hoping that random ass flower was from me. He was creeped out. I took a deep breath. I had to stay in the present.

“No,” I finally answered, and squatted down in front of the rose. There was nothing special about it. It was even a little wilted. I went to pick it up and saw the note that was shoved halfway under the door. I slid it out and held it up for Dakota to see.

“Do you think someone got the apartment wrong? Maybe it’s for one of my neighbors?”

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