15. Braxton

Seated around the massive dining room table overflowing with food, with our plates full, everyone in attendance dug into the feast before us. Conversations were hushed between bites, but eventually, bellies grew full, and the more animated chatter resumed.

Dakota spoke to our hosts. "The meal was delicious. Thank you so much for having me."

Remembering what she'd shared with me at the soup kitchen about money being tight growing up and not having the luxury of a Thanksgiving dinner, I gave her knee a reassuring squeeze under the table.

Natalie was as gracious as ever in her reply. "It's our pleasure." Her eyes skimmed those gathered, and a smile lit up her face. "It truly warms my heart to see this house filled with love and laughter."

"I'll drink to that!" Hannah cheered, raising her glass.

Jaxon pulled Natalie close and kissed her temple. His unending love for her was a constant inspiration. Things with Dakota were new—undefined, even—but I hoped someday I would find a love like theirs. One built on mutual respect, selflessness, and a deep-seated need to see the other happy.

Amy was seated across the table a few seats to our right, with Nate held over her shoulder as she gently patted his back. "Natalie tells us you're a writer, Dakota."

Dakota ducked her head. "Yes, ma'am."

Biting back a smile, Amy's green eyes sparkled. "Ma'am is my mother-in-law."

That response brought a round of laughter from around the table. A quick peek at Dakota showed her cheeks turning bright pink. That had my grip tightening on her knee and my free fist clenching. I knew Amy was only teasing, but it twisted my gut seeing my girl embarrassed.

"I didn't quite catch your last name earlier," Amy remarked. "I might not be the avid reader that Natalie is, but it's quite an accomplishment to be published, and I'd love to read your work."

I froze. I knew the type of books Dakota was writing, but I couldn't imagine she would allow my closest friends and family to read them. Not when they'd just met. It wouldn't matter that Natalie was practically the queen of romance reading; I could only imagine how awkward it would feel to have people you knew read sex scenes you wrote. I had to admit the brief passage I stumbled upon was eye-opening. Was that the kind of thing she was into?

To my utter surprise, Dakota didn't hesitate in her response. "It's Danielson."

She placed her hand atop mine under the table and gave it a pat.

Before I could figure out what that meant, Benji's voice called from directly across the table. "Wait. Danielson?"

My head snapped up. What was his deal?

Benji didn't wait for an answer before he asked, "You're not by chance related to Hank Danielson, edge rusher for the Hartford Hawks, are you?"

I scoffed, rolling my eyes at my linemate. "No."

At the exact same time, Dakota's soft voice said, "Yes."

Stunned, I turned to her. Not that it mattered, but how had this never come up? She said when her mom passed, that had left her all alone, so how could she be admitting to having a very prominent sports figure as a dad? One who lived in this very city?

As I struggled to put the pieces together, Benji remained oblivious, gushing, "Oh man! Hank the Tank is a legend! Broke every record in the league for sacks. He'll be in the Hall of Fame for sure! I was so lucky to make it here before he retired. Watching him play in person was unreal! The Hawks' defense was on lock! Hasn't been the same since."

Before my very eyes, Dakota shrank into herself. Her shoulders slumped, eyes cast downward, and I could have sworn I heard the softest sniffle.

It struck me like lightning. Dakota's strong aversion to professional athletes. This whole time, I'd been convinced it was because of Levi, even though she'd protested, but it wasn't. No, it was a lot closer to home. Her dad was the one who'd hurt her, hurt her mom—a mom she missed every day. Everything made so much sense.

Ignorant to her distress, Benji pressed, "What in the world are you doing here with us? Shouldn't you be spending the holiday with him? Or better yet, bring him next year!"

Shoving her chair back suddenly, Dakota mumbled, "Excuse me," before rushing off, a hand over her mouth doing nothing to muffle the sobs.

Silence descended over the table, and every head turned in the direction that Dakota had fled.

I recovered first, whipping around to yell at Benji. "What the hell?"

Eyes wide, he stared back at me. Liv elbowed him in the side when he didn't respond immediately, which seemed to jolt him back to his senses. "What? I don't even know what I did!"

Seeing the woman I cared about upset, something inside me snapped, and I shoved my chair back, standing suddenly before slamming both hands down on the table. Dishes rattled, and Nate whimpered in Amy's arms, but I didn't care.

Leaning forward threateningly, I snarled, "Don't you have eyes? You couldn't see how she shut down as you went on and on and on, hero-worshiping a man who has hurt her?"

Dakota might be new to the group, having met most of them today, but we all went to war for each other, no questions asked. Benji's jaw tightened at the implication that her own father might have harmed her—something he'd experienced firsthand.

"I didn't know. I'm sorry."

"Sorry isn't good enough," I shot back, and Benji nodded his agreement.

Closing my eyes, I took a cleansing breath. It wouldn't do well to chase after her still angry at both Benji and the man who'd hurt her in the past—a man who was supposed to protect and care for her.

Regaining my composure, I caught the eye of Natalie's former mother-in-law, seated on the other side of Dakota's empty chair. Ashamed by my outburst, I apologized. "Sorry, ma'am. Didn't mean to ruin dinner."

Kind brown eyes met mine, and a knowing smile curved her lips. "No trouble at all. We have been known to have the occasional outburst at family dinners. Isn't that right, Lucy, dear?"

Lucy buried her face in her wine glass. "No comment."

Addy reached out a hand, clasping mine. "We all have our burdens to carry. Makes a world of difference when you have someone to share the load."

Nodding, I turned to Natalie. "Don't hold dessert for us."

Without another word, I took off in search of Dakota. I wasn't sure if I could make this right, but I was sure as hell going to try.

Soft sniffles and hiccups reached my ears, and I traced them to the game room in the basement. Stepping inside, my heart shattered into a thousand tiny shards, each flaying me open as I found Dakota slumped in a corner, face buried in her knees, shaking.

It killed me to see her in pain. I would have given anything to take it on myself, but I knew it wasn't that easy.

Approaching softly, I crouched in front of her. When I gently touched her leg, she flinched but peered up with red-rimmed eyes, the tears still flowing freely down her face.

How had we gone from carefree, a moment away from our first kiss barely an hour ago, to this?

I said the only words I could think of. "You're not alone."

Dakota squeezed her eyes shut, but tears still leaked past the tightly sealed lids. "It's my fault she's dead," she whispered.

"What? No! Why would you think that?" I wanted so badly to pull her into my arms but knew she needed space while she battled with invisible demons.

She nodded. "It's true. If she never had me, then maybe she would have married a man who cared about her. She wouldn't have put off routine preventive care because of not having insurance. Or ignored the pain instead of seeking out a doctor when she got sick because she was worried about how much it would cost. And maybe they would have caught the cancer early, and she could have beaten it."

That was a lot to unpack, and I could tell she was spiraling. I needed her to slow down; maybe then, we could work through this rationally.

Stroking her calf, I tried to soothe her, suggesting, "Let's take a step back. None of us can control how we come into this world or the family we are born into. From what you've told me, your mom loved you with her whole heart. I can't imagine she would wish for a life without you in it, even if it was cut short."

Glassy blue eyes met mine. After shaky breath, she said, "I am my father's greatest mistake."

"Dakota—"

"No." She shook her head. "He would probably admit that."

"You want to tell me what happened?" I squeezed her leg gently to let her know I supported her, no matter the answer.

"No point in hiding it anymore. You know who I really am now."

Moving closer, I placed my back against the wall, allowing us to sit side by side. "You're still the same Dakota who walked through the front door with me earlier today. I don't care who your dad is. That doesn't change how I feel about you."

That earned a sharp intake of breath from the woman by my side.

"My dad, Hank, was a player. And I don't just mean on the field. He had lots of girls lined up and bounced between them all. Honestly, it's a wonder my mom never caught something from him. Or maybe she did. The studies say HPV is linked to cervical cancer, so it's certainly possible he passed it to her from one of the other women he was sleeping with."

Until today, she'd never mentioned how her mom had died. I wanted to comfort her but knew she needed to get this off her chest. She'd been holding it inside for too long already.

Dakota continued, "My mom, Morgan, met Hank in college. She fell for him hard and fast, but the feeling was one-sided. Sound familiar?"

I groaned. She was watching in real-time as her best friend made the same mistakes as her mother. I couldn't imagine how painful that was, reopening old wounds.

She sighed. "Now, I don't know the exact circumstances as she never shared them, but somehow, Mom got pregnant with me. It's probably better that I don't know if she did it on purpose to secure the man she loved all for herself, because I can't bear to be mad at the woman who was my whole world. It would only hurt more, knowing that in doing so, she signed her own death warrant."

I couldn't tell where this story was headed yet. Dakota had her father's last name, but that didn't mean her parents ever married. Had he abandoned her mom as soon as she revealed her pregnancy? Or was there more to this?

"He married her because it would ‘look bad' if he didn't, going into the draft. That, and down south, if you got a girl in trouble, you were staring down the barrel of a shotgun. He was selected by the Hawks, and I was born here in Hartford. He wasn't around much. Our house was primarily a place for him to sleep most nights. Football kept him busy, but even in the offseason, he traveled to other states for training. Benji was right when he said he was one of the best—he was. So, it made sense that he had to train hard. We didn't realize that most of it was a lie."

"Oh God." Dread churned in my gut.

"The whole time, he was living a double life. He had another woman, and they had three kids together. They were his real family, the one he chose to have, the one he chose to love. And eventually, he got tired of living a lie and came clean, serving my mom with divorce papers and never looking back." A bitter laugh fell from her lips. "You know, I called him. Just once. To let him know Mom was gone. Do you know what he said to me? He told me he was sorry for my loss. And that was the end of it. Like the eleven years they'd spent married and sharing a child meant nothing."

My heart broke for her. No child should feel unloved by a parent.

"The worst part? Even after he left, Mom couldn't let him go. She was adamant that he would come back to us. She closed herself off to the possibility of moving on for fear that she would be unavailable when he came to his senses." She wiped at her runny nose with the back of her sleeve. "Being here today, I couldn't help but put myself in the shoes of your brother's children. They seem so happy, and I can see the love he has for them, for Natalie. What if there was a man out there for my mom, who might have claimed me as his own? But we never got the chance to find out because she was too hung up on a man who never loved her?"

Turning my body to face hers, I held her gaze so she'd know I was sincere. "He's the one missing out. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, there would be a hole in my life if I never met you. And now that you're right here in front of me? I never want to let you go."

Her lips parted on a soft exhale. We'd been tiptoeing around me wanting her for months, but I was done hiding. I wanted her to know exactly how much I cared about her and needed her in my life. If it scared her and she ran, it wouldn't matter. I would chase her to the ends of the earth. She was becoming as essential as air—I found breathing difficult when she wasn't near.

Daring to reach out and touch her, I cupped her wet cheek. "I'm sorry he couldn't see the treasure before him. But I can't say I'm sorry you exist. I owe your mom a debt of gratitude for bringing you into this world so I could find you."

Dakota's black eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks before her eyes met mine. "I think she would have liked you."

I gave her a small smile. "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. I can hear her in my head sometimes. Especially since you came along. She's always going on about how I should give you a chance."

Smirking, I mused, "Sounds like a smart lady."

"Either that, or she's still riding high on the athlete train. With the exception of a few linemen, they're usually pretty ripped." She bit her lip playfully.

My chest rumbled. "You been checking me out?"

Batting her eyelashes, she protested, "Me? No way. Does that strike you as something I would do?"

The mood sufficiently lightened, I threw in for good measure, "I know between your mom and Bristol, you've seen some guys use their celebrity status to treat the people you love like shit, but those guys upstairs? They would burn down the world for the women they love."

"And you?" She peered at me, hope shining in her brilliant blue eyes as the unspoken question hung heavy in the air.

Stroking her cheek with my thumb, there was zero hesitation on my part. "Just hand me the match."

Dakota closed the distance between us, and I was caught off guard when she placed her lips against mine.

Am I dreaming? Is the girl I've been chasing for months, patiently working past her defenses, kissing me?

For a moment, I sat there, stunned, but as soon as Dakota's tongue swiped against the seam of my lips, demanding entry, I was lost—lost in her, lost in us, lost to everything I'd been searching for and never thought I would find.

Our tongues battled for dominance. I already knew who would win, but it gave me a thrill allowing her to take control before I stole it back.

Her soft mewls did me in, but nothing prepared me for her to shove at my chest and climb onto my lap, straddling me. She swallowed my groan, sinking her fingers into my hair and tilting my head so she could taste as deeply as she wanted.

Reality crashed down hard when she rocked her core against my throbbing cock. I remembered where we were and how we'd gotten here. Breaking the kiss, our pants filled the heated air.

"Fuck, Firefly," I breathed out, eyes still closed. "You have no idea how long I've wanted a taste of your sweet mouth."

"Then why are we stopping?" Dakota peppered kisses along the corner of my mouth, trying to tempt me into resuming our impromptu make-out session.

Tangling my hands into her curls, I eased her head back enough to look at her. And damn, what a sight it was. The girl occupying every available space in my brain was staring back at me with heavy-lidded lust-filled eyes, flushed cheeks, and kiss-swollen lips.

"I don't want you to think I'm taking advantage of your vulnerability." Fuck, I sounded like a pussy. But it was the right thing to do.

"You're not. I kissed you, remember?" she teased, blue eyes glittering.

"I'll never forget it," I vowed and was rewarded by the pink gracing her cheeks spreading down her neck.

"I want more. Please," she begged.

And I want everything.

I was taking a risk, I knew that, but what better time to shoot my shot?

"Be mine, Dakota," I demanded more than asked.

"Yours?"

Gliding one hand down, I brought it to rest against the side of her neck. "I don't want to be a regret you have in the morning." She raised an eyebrow at the implication, and I laughed. "Not like that. I want more with you than just ‘hanging out.' I want our time spent together to mean something, to hopefully lead somewhere. I want to hold you in public, to say you're my girl. And maybe have you be proud to call me yours as well."

This was it. I'd laid my cards on the table, and she knew exactly where I stood regarding my feelings. If she said no, I would keep working to win her trust, if not her heart. I knew this wouldn't be easy, and it seemed even more challenging now that I knew the root cause of her distrust. But I was willing to put in the time and effort to show her I was the real deal, that I wasn't going to use her and leave her. I wanted so much more.

She opened her mouth, and I held my breath. "You're sure you want me? When you can have your pick of any woman out there?"

It was time to go for broke.

"You shared a story with me, so I think it's only fair that I reciprocate." She eyed me quizzically but didn't protest. "I'm not sure if you know this, but I went last in my draft class." Her eyes dipped, giving away she already held that knowledge, but I didn't care how she'd learned it. "Honestly, while I sat there with the inevitability of falling short of living up to my brother's larger-than-life legacy staring me in the face, I was relieved. I'd spent years crumbling under the pressure, and I thought I would gain my freedom—the chance to carve my own path and make a name for myself independent of Jaxon. But even that choice was stolen from me."

Dakota nodded in understanding. "Because the Comets picked you."

A wry laugh fell from my lips. "They did my brother a favor by trading their pick to ensure I didn't go undrafted. Or so they thought. In reality, they handcuffed me. I would never escape his shadow. With the two of us on the same team, it would become glaringly obvious that I could never measure up. We're side by side on the ice, for God's sake."

Her hand stroked up and down my shoulder. "Does he know how you feel?"

"No." I shook my head. "Natalie does. Jaxon would never understand. He trains hard but is so naturally gifted. He is the measuring stick everyone else holds themselves up against. He doesn't know what it feels like to be found lacking."

"Maybe not," she mused. "But I can't imagine he'd want you to continue feeling this way. He wouldn't want you to feel small so he could stand taller."

"It's hard not to feel small when your worth is tied to your performance on the ice. Right after I got drafted, my long-time girlfriend, the girl I thought I was going to marry—yeah, I know I was only eighteen and didn't know shit about life—dumped me. Flat out told me that I was going nowhere because I was drafted last. She'd been using me for years, buying into the hype that I was headed down the exact same path as my brother."

"Braxton. I'm sorry." Dakota dropped her forehead to mine.

"You know, it's funny. The night we met, I thought you were so cool, standing up for yourself, pushing back. No one has ever done that to me before. Usually, they're giggling, falling all over themselves to gain my attention, and touching me without permission. But you? You held your own, and I have to believe you would have been even harsher if you'd known exactly who I was."

She huffed out a laugh, and her breath fanned my face. "You're telling me you thought to yourself after that night, Yeah, I wanna take the hard road. I'm gonna fight the uphill battle with a girl who wants absolutely nothing to do with me?"

I shrugged. "What can I say? I like a challenge. More than that, I like you. And not just because you're the first girl to ever not care about what I do on the ice, but because you're an incredible person in your own right. The more I get to know you, the more I realize I don't want to spend time with anyone else."

Pausing, I took a deep breath. "So, I'll ask again. Be mine, Dakota. Let me treat you the way you deserve while we continue learning everything there is to know about each other."

"Exclusive?" That single word was said so softly I almost didn't hear it.

I would have been insulted she even had to ask, but given what she'd shared about her mom and knowing what she'd witnessed with Bristol, I knew she needed to hear me say the words.

Heart in my throat, I dared to glance up at her. "I wouldn't have it any other way." That was the God's honest truth.

Lip trembling, she nodded. "Yes."

"Yes?" I needed to hear her say it again.

"Yes."

Warmth spread through my chest at the smile on her face, and I couldn't stop myself from gripping both sides of her face and pulling her back down for a kiss. Dakota laughed against my mouth, and my heart soared.

Was she really mine?

For the first time since coming to Connecticut, I felt pure, unfiltered joy.

Maybe the Comets had done me a favor after all.