The Wrong Right Man(56)

“I think I’m going to go stay with my brother,” I say, and she blinks at me. “He’s here now.” I look around then shake my head. “He and Braxton are talking somewhere. He’s going to come to dinner with us tonight, but I’ll go home with him after.”

“Dakota, I don’t—”

“Mom,” Braxton interrupts whatever she’s about to say, and we both turn our attention his way.

“Hey, honey.” She seems to force a smile at him then looks at Jamie. “You must be Dakota’s brother.”

“That’s me.” Jamie, ever the charmer, comes forward to shake her hand and kisses her cheek. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too.” She motions to Bret when he appears around the corner, and I watch the three of them make introductions.

“Are you okay?” Braxton asks, lacing his fingers through mine, and I lick my lips as I look up at him.

“Yeah.”

His brows drag together as his eyes search mine. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” My immediate response doesn’t seem to do anything but annoy him, judging by the look he gives me.

“Dakota.”

“I’m fine.” I take my hand from his and turn to rest my palms against his chest. “This is all just a lot.”

His expression gentles and he rests his forehead on mine. “Trust me when I tell you it will be okay and that I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“I do trust you.” I realize it’s not a lie; I do trust him. I don’t know when it happened, but somewhere along the way, he proved that I could. I close my eyes and move my hands up to his shoulders then lift up to touch my mouth to his but stop when his phone rings. “I really hate that thing.”

“Me too.” He sighs then lets me go to take the call. I go back to wiping up the floor as my brother and Braxton’s parents talk in the living room, and when I’m done, I head to the laundry room. I open one of the bags of wet clothes and start dumping handfuls of them into the washer.

“Hey.” I glance over my shoulder at Jamie. “I’m going to head home. I’ll meet you guys at the restaurant tonight,” he says and I notice that he seems a little on edge.

“Are you sure you don’t want to hang out here until then?” I ask, thinking it would be nice to have him here to take some of the pressure off me.

“I have something I need to take care of,” he says, coming to give me a hug. “I’ll see you tonight.”

“See you tonight,” I reply, and he disappears. I start the machine, swearing I hear new voices in the living room, so I head that way and come to a stop when I see Samantha and Hanna standing in the middle of the room surrounded by shopping bags.

Samantha is the first to spot me, and when she does, she rushes across the room and wraps me in a hug. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” I assure her. “What are you doing here?”

“Hanna called.” She lets me go and waves out toward the woman across the room. “She told me what happened then asked if I would help her pick you some stuff up.”

I lock eyes with Hanna and smile softly. “Thank you.”

“I’m so sorry, Dakota,” she says, and I look at the pink, black, white, and classic brown bags littering the floor. “Braxton asked me to pick you some stuff up, and I might have gone a little overboard. But who could blame me? It’s not often a woman is allowed to shop without a budget.” I hear the smile in her voice, but my eyes lock on the man who did this, the man who is constantly doing things to show me that he wants to take care of me. Maybe he’s right, maybe I need to put away my pride and allow him to take care of me. I also need him to understand that I do appreciate everything he’s done.

I pull my eyes off his and take Samantha and Hanna’s hands. “Thank you both for doing this. I really appreciate it.”

“It was fun.” Samantha laughs.

“A lot of fun,” Hanna agrees. “And really, we were just glad we could help.”

“Do you girls mind helping me get all this stuff put away?” Alisha asks, gathering up a handful of bags, and both the girls follow her lead and head toward Braxton’s room carrying everything with them.

“Can I talk to you a second?” I ask Braxton, and he pushes off the couch and follows me around the corner, back into the laundry room. I stand back, holding the door open, and after he enters, I shut it.

He walks to the opposite side of the room from me and crosses his arms over his chest. “Don’t be pissed I bought you stuff.”

“Shut up.” I throw myself against him and press up on my tiptoes so I can cover his mouth with mine. I kiss him with everything I have and hope he understands just how much what he did means. As usual, he takes over. He lifts me off the ground, turning to press my back to the wall and thrusting his tongue into my mouth as I cling to him.

“You’re welcome.” He rips his mouth from mine, and I smile. “Clean out a couple drawers and move whatever you need to in order to make room for your shit in my closet and bathroom.”

“Braxton—”

“Don’t argue with me, Dakota,” he cuts me off before I can tell him that’s not necessary and that I will be going back to my place as soon as I can. “Just do it.”