Page 34 of Wild Love
“Did you eat dinner?”
“No, not yet. You?”
I step ahead of her to open the door, but Larry, one of the doormen, beats me to it and opens the lobby door wide as he greets us.
“Hey, Larry. Did you meet Dakota? She’s interning at the Wildcats this summer.”
“You’re the new second-floor tenant?” he asks her.
“Yes.”
“Pleasure to meet you.”
Inside the elevator, she presses the numbers two and eleven.
“What do you feel like eating?” I ask.
“Are we really hanging out? I thought that was an act to get away from Quinn.”
The elevator stops on the second floor, and she steps out. “I don’t feel like going out.”
“Let’s order in.” I place a hand on the door so that it won’t close. “My place or yours?” I shake my head. “Never mind. Mine. I’m not sitting on that pink couch.”
She laughs. “See you in fifteen.”
* * *
I orderfrom the first place I find that delivers and take Charli out for a walk. Declan is coming back from the bar at the same time. A few of the guys, including him, live here, but the others are gone for the summer. It’s still weird living somewhere without any friends nearby. Except for Kota, of course.
He kneels and holds out a big hand to my dog. She plods forward happily. Not a lot of people she doesn’t like, but it’s a few extra points for my new teammate.
“Are you getting settled okay?”
“Oh yeah. I dig Minnie-soda.”
He smirks. “Good. Let me know if you need anything. I’m on twelve.”
“Thanks, man.”
I catch the delivery guy coming into the building, grab the food, and head back upstairs.
Dakota’s waiting outside my door with one long leg crossed over the other. She changed out of the dress she was wearing earlier and has on shorts and a baggy T-shirt. Her hair is pulled back in a ponytail. Everything about her says comfort and casual, but she’s a rocket no matter what she wears.
“I got food,” I say, holding up the bag.
She takes it, and I let us into the apartment. Once Charli is off the leash, she jogs around the place, still scoping it out. Neither one of us has gotten used to this being our new place yet.
“Tell me all about your first day, honey,” I say playfully as I grab plates and silverware from a box. I haven’t unpacked much in here yet, but my TV is set up. Priorities.
Dakota’s walking around the apartment, checking it out. She speaks without looking at me. “It was great. Most of the day we sat in a conference room going over the details of our intern rotation and boring human resources stuff, but then they took us around and showed us all the facilities. The arena…” She turns to face me. Her expression is adequately impressed. “It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
“I know, right?” I bring the food and utensils out to the living room. I have a dining table, but Kota doesn’t seem bothered by sitting in the living area. In fact, she sits on the floor, crosses her legs, and keeps on talking while I set a plate in front of her and then pull out all the food containers.
“It was my favorite thing we saw today, hands down. I didn’t expect it to be so big.”
“That’s what she said.” It’s out of my mouth before I can stop it.
Dakota crumples up the receipt on the table from the food and tosses it at my face.
