indroduction - rules - characters - toc
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- xx I watch Dakota as he leans over the counter, his face sporting the most flirtatious grin I’ve ever seen, and directing it at the young barista before him. She couldn’t have been more than 15, and I know Kota doesn’t really like her. The sight of him, though, leaning towards her so seductively, sparks my jealously.
xx “Honestly, Kota? We’re here for coffee, not girls.” He shoots the girl a wink, and turns to loop him arm around my shoulders with a huge smile.
xx “Jealous, are we?”
xx “No way in hell. I was just looking out for the poor girl. She looked just about ready to faint.”
xx “Yes, I do tend to have that effect on women,” Kota laughs, squeezing my shoulders and planting a quick kiss on my head. Seriously, he adds, “I was only trying to make you jealous. You know I’d never actually do anything with her... don’t you?”
xx I don’t answer; instead I worm my way out of his hold and walk a few feet away, arms crossed across my chest.
xx Kota raises an eyebrow, a smirk gracing his gorgeous face. “So that’s how it’s going to be, is it?” I nod, not looking at him, and trying not to let the corners of my mouth turn up.
xx I don’t even have time to squeak as Kota darts forward, hefting me easily in his arms, and begins ticking me. “No! No- don’t! Kota!” Giggles burst from me, and I writhe in his arms, trying to escape his tickles.
xx He manages to open the car with me in his hold, and gently places me in the passenger’s side. Kota starts to pull away- then thinks better of it. He leans forward and gently presses his lips to mine. I return the gesture, smiling through the kiss. A shiver passes through me as his fingers trail down my arm, fastening on my fingers. He holds onto them as tightly as he can, like he can’t bear to let me go.
xx Then he pulls back and shuts the door in my face. Kota doesn’t say anything as he starts the car, and suddenly, I’m worried. He hasn’t been like this since The Jackson Incident, and that was a year ago.
xx I steal a glance at Kota, and find him sitting still as a statue, his face an indifferent mask.
xx “Dakota?” I whisper, suddenly scared to use his nickname. “What’s the matter?”
xx But the boy next to me either doesn’t want to answer, or can’t. All the way home, he doesn’t say a thing, and only when we pull up in the driveway does he speak.
xx “Get out.”
xx “Aren’t you- ”
xx “I SAID GET OUT!” Dakota’s shout cuts me to the bone, and bite my lip, staring at him, and debating what to do.
xx “If you don’t get out of the car,” he tells me, “I’ll make you.”
xx I shove open the door, terror blinding me. Who was the boy sitting in Dakota’s worn up yellow truck? And what had he done to me boyfriend?
xx As I watch, Dakota revs his engine, and he’s gone, back in the direction on the coffee shop. I pull open the front door, not letting a tear break through until my gaze catches on a picture of Kota kissing my cheek, and me giggling. I collapse, shoulders shaking, and that’s how I fall asleep.
