I flipped her off. “No. I want a good date. Not only a fling or a man or woman who’s going to take me to bed with five others.”
“Five? Wow, a little adventurous, aren’t you?”
“Shut up. You know what I mean.”
“Maybe not. Now I’m just picturing a sixsome, or is that an orgy at that point? When do we know when it’s an orgy? Like how many people have to be involved? And do all these people have to touch for it to be an orgy, or is it a form of -some. Like a threesome or an eightsome?”
“I have no idea, but now I have weird sketch drawings in my head of stick people trying to stick each other.”
Dakota wiped tears from her eyes as I smiled, shaking my head.
“You’re back up to your normal dorkiness level. Looks like you’re feeling better.” She was silent for a moment, and I hoped she wasn’t going to bring it up.
I wasn’t that lucky.
“You called out your sister’s name again. Have you talked to your therapist?”
“Over the phone, yes. Myra was in the other room, and she forced me to do it.”
Dakota grinned. “Well, Myra has a talent for forcing you to take care of your mental health. And your physical health. She’s our friend for a reason.”
“She’s as pushy as the rest of you, but I love you guys. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. The dreams keep coming, just like the nightmares of what happened in the parking lot. Maybe if they found the guy who did it, it would make things better. But I don’t think so. My subconscious is a bitch.”
“You said yourself that you’re a bitch, so aren’t you used to that?” Dakota asked, looking sweet as sin.
“Bitch.”
“I’m learning my bitchiness. I’m a mom. I’m usually only bitchy when I’m in mama bear mode.”
“Maybe, but I think you hide your bitchiness under all that sweet cream and sugar.”
“And that could be why I do not have a date.” She held up her hands before I could speak. “And it’s not my turn. You may say you’re done with dating, but we both know that’s not the case. You want happiness. Hazel found hers, and it’s our turn. You’re up first. And then I guess it’s Myra, and then I will take up the charge at the end.”
“What did we get ourselves into?” I asked, frowning down at my hands.
“I don’t know. I don’t think we had any idea what we were getting ourselves into. I thought it would be easy to have fun on a single date. It clearly isn’t.” Dakota winced. “Not that I’m saying that it’s your fault or anything.”
“Thanks,” I said, sarcasm lacing my tone.
“I’m only saying that dating is hard, and I don’t want to go to apps or online dating. I want people to introduce me to happy people who will make me happy. Or, I don’t know, someone who likes me for more than my baked goods.” She paused. “And baked goods is a euphemism, yet isn’t in this case.”
I laughed at that. “Good to know. Though I don’t think I’ll ever be able to eat your baked goods again.”
She crossed her eyes, and I laughed.
“Go take a shower. I’ll get you something to eat.”
“I’m not hungry,” I said quickly.
“I don’t actually care. You haven’t eaten since last night, and you’re going to eat now. So get over yourself.”
“Is this what you say to Joshua every morning?”
“Sometimes. This morning, he was off to school quickly because he had a school project that he wanted to show off.”
She practically said that through her teeth, and I reached out to grip her hand. “What?”
“He had to interview a new and fun person in his life, and he picked Macon.”
“What’s wrong with Macon?” I asked, honestly curious.
“There’s nothing wrong with him, other than the fact that he’s not Joshua’s father.” Some other emotion filled her eyes, but she pushed on quickly before I could say anything. “And I don’t know if I like the fact that Joshua’s clinging to him as much as he is. Even more so than any of the other Brady brothers. There’s just…I don’t know, something I don’t like. But I’m going to have to deal with it for now because I don’t want to break my little boy’s heart. However, if Macon does that, I will have to castrate him.”
“Ouch,” I said, not sure what else to say.
“He’d deserve it. Nobody hurts my son.”
“Has he?”
“I don’t know him well enough to tell. But I don’t think so. And that’s what worries me. Anyway, enough about me. Go shower, I’ll get you some food, and then we will focus on your next date.”
“I already told you, it’s your turn. I’m not going on any more.”
Dakota ignored me. “Hazel and Myra both have half days today and will be here soon, so you can just get right over yourself and start thinking about what you’re looking for on a date for real. Because that is our new brainstorm.”
“Dakota.”
“Don’t Dakota me. We can’t fix anything else right now, so we’re going to fix this. You are friends with three fixers, and you, my friend, are the worst of the bunch. So, go get showered, get all pretty or whatever you want to do because you’re always pretty, and I kind of hate that, and then you’re going to come out and eat some food, and then we’re going to set you up on a wonderful date.”
She turned on her heel and stalked out of the bathroom, and I blinked at her, shaking my head.
I did not want to go on a date. Not even a little.
Add in the fact that somebody’s face that I shouldn’t even be thinking about flashed in my mind at that thought, and it told me I was already headed into dangerous territory.
I gripped the edge of the sink and let out a breath, controlling my pain and my mind, telling myself that it would all be okay.
When I looked at my reflection, for an instant I saw the little girl that had screamed, but then I was back to being me—dorky, sarcastic, and possibly a little bitchy Paris.
I didn’t know who I would be if I had grown up in a happy family. If Tracey were alive today.
I would have been able to watch her grow and help her figure out life while I figured out mine. I might have become a completely different person.
I might be happy.
I didn’t know where that thought had come from, and I quickly threw it from my mind.
Maybe I kept having to go on these dates as penance. Or perhaps it was because I didn’t know what I wanted.
I for sure did not want Prior Brady.
I needed to focus on the future. And that meant maybe another guy or girl, just somebody who made me happy.
Who thought about me and put me first and didn’t make me feel like I was doing something wrong.
I wanted a future, I wanted happiness.
While all of this tangled in my mind, I still wasn’t sure it could happen if I didn’t know who had attacked me. It had crossed my mind a couple of times that it could have been my mother or father.
Detective Buker had been firm that he knew where both of them were during the attack. He had been the one to go after them and check on their alibis.