Wait for It

by Mariana Zapata

“You don’t know shit, you Mexican bitch,” the man spat, staring at me with those eyes somehow so much like Dallas’s and so different at the same time. “Say one more fucking word, and I’m gonna beat the shit out of you.” Dallas’s voice was so low, so purred that I couldn’t catch my thoughts for a second.

As much as I didn’t want to accept it or believe it, the truth was, I was in love with him. Completely. It was pointless to want to think otherwise. And, as if he could read my mind, the arms around me tightened and he hugged me like… I wasn’t sure what. Like he’d missed me. Like he didn’t want to let me go, now or ever. Like he felt the same thing for me that I felt for him.

YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE.

I CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT YOU.

“Mr. Dallas, don’t let her get her pepper spray!” The fuck? Oh my God. I glared at Louie. “I was looking for a baby wipe to offer her one, Lou. I wasn’t getting my pepper spray.” “Nuh-uh,” he argued, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Christy take a step back. “I heard you on the phone with Vanny. You said, you said if she made you mad again you were gonna pepper spray her and her mom and her mom’s mom in the—”

“I’m always going to be fair with the boys, but I will play favorites with everyone else who isn’t an active member of the team. Don’t put me into that position, because I know she”—he tipped his head toward me—“only bites when she has to, and I will always take her side. Are we clear on that?”

Dallas made a face before this giant, beaming grin took over his mouth, so potent I could have taken his jacket off and been warm the rest of the day. “I’m sure, baby.”

“You’re fucking nuts.” All I did was shrug again. “You know that, but you’re still here, aren’t you?” His smile melted into a smaller one, and the deep breath he let out made it seem like it had weighed a thousand pounds. Then his fingers brushed over my cheek again, and Dallas moved to tuck a strand of hair behind my ear. His voice was soft. “I’m still here, Peach.”

“I like the way you sing,” Louie piped up, earning a dirty look from his brother. “You sound like a cute kitty.”

The sound of my wedges on the smooth concrete floor had him glancing up from whatever he’d been looking at, and he smiled, wide, so beautiful I felt like an idiot for ever thinking the most attractive part of him was his body.

There was nothing to worry about. Well, at least not physically. My heart was a different story.

He smiled and I turned into a puddle of goo, but by some miracle, I managed not to get all moony-eyed over him.

“One day when I have the money, I’ll ask you to give me a quote on redoing the floors in my house, but that isn’t going to be any time soon,” I told him. “All you have to do is ask, Diana.” He looked down at me from over his shoulder. “We can do it together when you have the time off.” “Together?” “Together,” he repeated. I hummed and eyed him. “All right. For free?” That had him smirking. “Yeah. You get a special discount.” “What? The single parent who feeds you discount?” Dallas shook his head and smiled, but didn’t say anything.

The love discount

His voice was low. “Whatever you think looks good.” Grabbing a cape, I slipped it over his shoulders and made the Velcro parts meet together. “You sure?” “Sure,” he answered back, all raspy and hoarse. “I trust you.”

This mannnnn

“I’m not rushing you. You doing this for me is a hell of a lot better than my usual barber.” God, how could a voice be so attractive? “I might have to start coming in every two weeks if you’re gonna be rubbing the back of my neck like that, Buttercup.”

That slow smile crossed his harsh features, lighting up my gut. “As you wish.”

“Why don’t you just come over to my house and have me cut your hair there?” I offered, whispering. I could do it. I could keep my hands to myself. “I like having an excuse to come see you,” he replied in a low voice that went straight to my chest.

Make me your six o’clock from now on. Any day you want, I’ll make it work.” My index finger hovered over the mouse for a moment and I held my breath. There was something about this that felt different. Heavy. “For how long?” I asked slowly. “For as long as that calendar will let you.”

I cant

“My grandson is in love with you. You’re good,” he decided. Oh my God. Dean.

“Look, I appreciate you looking out for me, but I’m a grown woman. I can take care of myself.” “Maybe you can take care of yourself, but have you thought for one single fucking second that maybe somebody else might want to take care of you too?” he growled.

me?” “Being your friend has been the hardest fucking thing I’ve ever had to do.”

His hand, that long-fingered, callused hand, slid behind my neck, and Dallas kissed me. His lips touched mine, gentle, barely a brush, a whisper of a warm mouth and breath over my own. And then he went for it. There was no hesitation, no warning peck. That fuller upper lip went over the top of mine, those blunt, white teeth caught my bottom one… and then he was kissing me. Over and over again. Softer, then softly, then just soft. Then I didn’t hesitate. I opened my mouth and caught his top lip the instant my brain caught up with what was happening. His mouth slanted over mine, his tongue sliding into the slight opening I’d given him. One tongue against the other, one hand covering the back of my neck while the other clutched at my hip. My hands? They might have been on his ribs, or they might have been on his thighs, I had no idea. All I could think about was Dallas. Dallas, Dallas, Dallas. How much I wanted this. How much I wanted this more than I’d ever wanted just about anything.

Take what I want. I didn’t have to figure out what it was that I wanted. I knew what it was. Exactly what it was. And that was Dallas.

with Josh beside him glaring at the dad.

“Do you want to have dinner with us, Mr. Dallas?” Josh asked as he continued to watch me. Since when did Josh invite people over for dinner? That was Louie’s job. “J, I’m sure he has better things to do than see your face longer than he needs to,” I said jokingly, still watching that face I knew too well. It felt like he was up to something, but what? “Plus, I’m sure he wants to spend some time with his grandma.” “There’s nothing better I could be doing,”

“We should start carpooling.” That comment had my head swinging to the side and up. Dallas was looking down at me, his expression clear. The hand on my lower back made a circle even through the material of my jacket, and his thick, dark eyebrows rose a millimeter, like he was trying to challenge me. But why would he do that? I didn’t narrow my eyes, but I wanted to. “That would save gas…” I cleared my throat. “Maybe not on the days Louie doesn’t come though.” And this man, this man of my dreams who I didn’t know I even wanted, stitched back up a whole inch of that part of my heart that hadn’t been the same since my brother. “I don’t mind picking up Lou.”

“The boys went to get ready for bed just now,” he said, taking a step forward. “Okay.” Why did I feel shy all of a sudden? “Are you leaving?” “Not yet.” He took another step. “I’ve missed seeing you.”

breasts. One of those big hands came up to my face and he pet my cheek again with the backs of his fingers, his voice low and steady. “I’m gonna kiss you again.”

His hands moved over to my arms and down to my wrists before cupping each of my hands in his palms. He brought them up between us and against his hard, flat belly. “I’ll let you put the boys to bed, but we’ll talk tomorrow. I’m not gonna keep putting this off, Diana.”

I managed to take maybe a couple of steps before two arms wrapped around my shoulders from behind in a hug that lasted all of a squeeze and what I could only assume was a kiss to the back of my head. I stood there and took it.

“Why don’t you tell me a story about your dad tonight, Lou, hmm?” Dallas asked.

“The ‘skinhead,’”—I used my fingers as quotation marks—“is my really good friend.” I dropped my hands. “Actually, I think he’s going to marry me one day.”

“Do what you did to my neck last time, and I’ll pay you double.” I snickered and gestured toward my station. “Stop.” Dallas walked ahead of me saying, “Or right at the spot where my hair and ear meet. Triple.”

“I don’t go to those kinds of places.” Dear Jesus. I coughed. “Oh?” He was still watching me as he whispered just loud enough for me to hear, “My hand is just as good as any other.”

A big hand reached out to wrap its fingers around my wrist, and he pulled on it gently. “How can I miss you so much when I just saw you yesterday?” I sucked in a breath and darted my eyes up to his face to find him watching me carefully, that gentle, soft smile of his aimed right at me with so much honesty and openness I forgot how to think.

Dallas blinked and his teeth went to bite his bottom lip. His eyebrows went up a millimeter, and he let out a slow breath through his mouth. “I wouldn’t call it ‘like.’” The fingers he had around my wrist loosened and trailed down to my hand. Spreading those fingers apart, he linked those long, strong digits through mine. Dallas was holding my hand. He was holding my hand as he said, “You told me you were a little in love with me, do you remember?” How could I forget? “But I wouldn’t use ‘little’ to describe what I feel for you, Diana. I think you know that already.” It was my turn to blink. I squeezed our palms together. “So I’m not imagining it?” I pretty much whispered. “No, baby, you’re not.” Dallas squeezed my fingers between his. I dropped about four F-bombs in my head as I stood there, not trusting my words. Or his. And he must have known that because he didn’t wait for me to open my mouth. “I’m your poor bastard and you know it.”

“Of all the houses you could’ve bought, you got the one across the street from me. Of all the sports Josh might have played, it was baseball and I happened to coach his age group. You were meant to be in my life.”

“Yes buts. You can love me, but that doesn’t have to mean anything, Dallas. What do you want from me?” “Everything.”

The corners of his mouth curled slightly, and I’d swear on my life he looked just a little nervous. Just a little. “I want you. I want your smile. Your hugs. Your love. I want your happiness.” He paused. “Every single thing.”

“Are you sure you know what you’re getting yourself into?” His mouth stayed in the same smirking smile and he nodded. “One hundred percent.” “You know I’m crazy.” “You’re my best friend. I know you’re crazy.” Why that felt like the best compliment I’d ever been given, I had no idea. But I gave him a serious look. “I’m a jealous bitch, Dallas. Do you understand that? I’m not saying you can’t talk to women or other parents on the team or anything, but if you cheated on me—why are you smiling?” “If I cheated on you, you and Josh would kill me and bury the body somewhere no one would ever find.” He kept my story going, smiling so wide, his face had to hurt.

“This is serious to me too. I’ve made a lot of decisions in my life I’ve regretted, but you will never be one of them. When I saw your pink toolbox with puppies on it, I’d never been angrier with myself for making stupid fucking life choices than I was then. I won’t break your heart, Diana. I’ve never been scared to work for things or wait for them. I know you, and I know that you’re it. I just had to wait to get divorced so I could do this right for you. Life is so fucking short, Peach, and I’m too old to not know and go for what I want. And you know what I want. What I’ve wanted. For a long, long time.” He paused. “You.”

Those eyes I was more than a little in love with burned my retinas.

“I know you can take care of yourself, but I want to be there to help you out. I need you more than you need me, and that’s okay,” he told me.

“Just like I tell the boys, we don’t play for one single run, we play to win the whole game. And I’m in it to win it.”

Everything about you makes me smile. -Uncle Fester.

Really. I love you. Love, Professor Xavier Before He Lost His Hair In all the ways that matter, you can be my #1 – (infinity). Deal? Love always, your poor bastard I love you. —Your born-again virgin Catholic convert, Dallas

T e a r s

“He looks out the window to check on you every night. I tell him to call you and quit being a stalker, but he thinks I’m going to listen in on his conversations.” She huffed. “I have better things to do with my time.”

“Go find your own girl to dance with,” came a voice from behind me.

“There’s my one and only.”

“I already have the one I want right here,” he said.