A stolen dinner between Mary and Jane collides with an unexpected apology, a broken nose, and an ex who still isn't quite gone.
From Forces of Nature
“Say it again.”
Mary leaned across the table, voice low and almost trembling.
Jane regarded her coolly over the rim of her wineglass.
“Please....Professor.”
The restaurant was far from campus, far from the city limits, tucked into a dark corner where no one they knew would ever see them. For the first time she could hear the words without fear of who might overhear.
Jane set the glass down with deliberate care. “I love you,” she said. The words were quiet but absolute. “I am in love with you. Positively besotted. I knew the moment you walked into my classroom that you were going to be mine.”
Mary’s heart soared. For a moment she couldn’t speak. The words settled into her chest like something warm and permanent.
She swallowed. “Professor… do you think you’ll ever let me call you Jane?”
The name felt dangerous and delicious on her tongue.
Jane crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. A small, knowing curve touched her mouth. “One day. After you’ve graduated.” She paused. “Maybe.”
Mary’s pulse jumped.
Jane tapped her glass with a meticulously manicured fingernail. “And now it’s your turn.”
Mary looked away for a moment, choosing her words carefully. When she met Jane’s eyes again, her voice was soft but steady.
“Someone once asked George Mallory why he climbed Mount Everest. He said, ‘Because it was there.’ When I first saw you, you looked larger than life. Imposing. Impossible. You were my Mount Everest.”
Jane quirked a brow. “So you mean to climb me? Scale my frosty peaks?”
Mary smiled, a little shy and a little bold. “No, Professor. Some people were born to climb the peaks. Me? I’m happiest sitting at the feet.”
Jane held her in that appraising look that always made Mary squirm in her seat. Finally she said, “If your last assignment had been so eloquent I would’ve given you a B instead of a C minus. Don’t make yourself small to fit the expectations of others.”
Mary blushed and said softly, “I only wish to be small enough to fit in your arms… Professor.”
Jane’s eyes stayed on her, steady and unreadable. Mary imagined that she had not been sipping wine all evening but drinking from a bottle labeled Drink Me.
“I think,” Jane said, “that it’s time we pay the check.”
✦ ✦ ✦
“Dakota?”
Dakota looked up from her phone and realized that at some point she had arrived at work. She didn’t know how long she’d been standing there holding the door open for no one. Michaela was standing a few feet away, holding out a coffee.
“Are you coming to work or…?” Michaela asked.
That fucking book.
“Yeah, yeah,” Dakota said quickly. “I was just holding the door open for someone.”
Michaela looked around the empty sidewalk. “Who?”
“Never mind.” Dakota took the cup and went inside.
The world came flooding back all at once: the rich smell of ground coffee, the soft static of quiet conversation, the sharp hiss of the espresso machine beneath the lo-fi music coming from the speakers.
Michaela nudged her as they walked toward the counter. “I know that look. The book’s got its claws in you, doesn’t it? Where are you at?”
“It’s for work,” Dakota said a little too quickly. “I’m just trying to memorize my lines. Besides, I lost my paperback yesterday, so I had to buy the damn thing twice.”
Michaela raised her eyebrows. “Oh. Well, you can borrow mine. I finished it last night.”
That caught Dakota’s attention. “Already?”
“Yeah,” Michaela said. “I couldn’t put it down. It’s one of her best ever.” She looked a little wistful, almost sad. “I was really surprised at the lack of an HEA.”
Dakota frowned. “What’s an HEA?”
Michaela chuckled. “I keep forgetting you’re a newbie. HEA stands for happily ever after. Most of these books end on at least a proposal, usually a wedding, sometimes a pregnancy. But this one ended in divorce.”
She froze, then slowly turned to Dakota, visibly cringing. “Oops. Spoilers.”
Dakota waved it away. “I’m not worried about spoilers.”
But the thought stuck.
How the hell do they go from Everest to divorce?
There was a short pause. Michaela’s expression shifted, becoming more serious.
“How’s your eye?”
Dakota’s hand went to her face before she could stop herself. She winced. It had taken her an extra ten minutes that morning to cake on enough concealer to hide the darkening bruise.
“It’s fine,” she said.
She hesitated, then asked, “Have you seen Luna this morning?”
Michaela shook her head. “Nope. But I did see the video of the fight, if you can even call it that. Looked like it was over in a few hits. I think you broke her nose.”
✦ ✦ ✦
A little later, as Dakota was getting ready to put on her apron, something caught in her mind. She unlocked her phone. The book was already open. She started scrolling back, expecting the line to be only a page or two behind. Instead, she kept flipping. Page after page.
How long had she been holding that door open?
Finally she found it.
Don't make yourself small to fit the expectations of others.
She highlighted the passage, then put the phone away, tied on her apron, and got to work.
✦ ✦ ✦
A little over an hour later, Dakota looked up from the register and froze.
Lauren stood directly in front of her, eyes steady. Before Dakota could speak, Lauren raised both hands in surrender.
“I know. I know,” she said quickly. “You told me to stop coming here. I was on my way to the shop and I just… I needed to say I’m sorry for what I said last night. That was completely uncalled for.”
She hesitated, then pushed on. “I don’t know what came over me. No—that’s a lie. I do. I was jealous. Seeing another woman kiss you like that… it hit harder than I expected. But that’s no excuse.”
Dakota stared at her, still too stunned to fully process anything beyond the fact that Lauren was standing in front of her again. That familiar feeling of being trapped settled over her.
“So your usual?” she asked finally.
Lauren managed a small, tired smile. “Only if you’ll join me.”
Dakota glanced toward the counter. “You okay if I take my break?” she asked Michaela.
Michaela looked between them, then nodded. “Sure.”
Dakota made the coffee and carried both cups to a small table near the window. They sat. Only then, up close, did Dakota notice how red and puffy Lauren’s eyes were. In all the months they had been together, Lauren had seen her cry more than once. Dakota had never seen Lauren cry. The realization sat strangely with her, followed by an unexpected twinge of sympathy.
Lauren wrapped her hands around the cup. “I talked to Jess. Well… not really. She sent me a long text. Listed out every way I mistreated you while we were together.” Her voice roughened. “She hasn’t answered any of my messages since. Left on read. So I guess I lost my girlfriend and my best friend in the same night.”
Dakota shook her head. “You haven’t lost Jess. She’s angry, but she still called you her best friend. Just give her time.”
Lauren nodded, biting her lip. “Thank you for that.” She looked down at the table for a moment, then back up. Her eyes were shiny with fresh tears. She dabbed at them carefully with a napkin.
Dakota felt the sudden urge to reach across the table and touch Lauren’s hand. She stopped herself. That wouldn’t be good for either of them.
Lauren took a sip of coffee to steady herself.
“I want you to know something,” she said quietly. “When Jess told me all those things… I didn’t recognize myself in half of them. I did those things out of love. I thought I was taking care of you. I never once thought of it as abuse. I genuinely believed I was being good to you.” She looked down at the table again. “I’m so sorry that what I thought was care hurt you instead.”
Dakota didn’t answer right away. The honesty in Lauren’s voice made it harder to hold onto the old anger.
Lauren drew a breath and met her eyes. “I just want you to be happy. Honest to goddess, that’s all I ever wanted. And if this new girl makes you happy… then I’m genuinely glad for you.”
Well…
Lauren pulled out her phone, unlocked it, and slid it across the table. Dakota looked down. It took her a second to understand what she was seeing. Lauren’s period tracker — only Lauren’s cycle now.
“There,” Lauren said, attempting a weak smile. “I only know when I’m in my moons now, not you.”
Dakota let out a quiet breath. “You never really needed it anyway. We were always in sync.”
Lauren’s smile flickered, almost real this time. Then she sobered.
“Speaking of health… how’s your eye?” She started to reach across the table toward Dakota’s face.
Dakota flinched.
Lauren withdrew her hand immediately. The hurt flashed across her expression before she covered it.
“I saw Luna this morning,” she said quietly. “She says you broke her nose.”
Dakota’s posture stiffened. “She hit me first.”
Lauren chuckled under her breath. “Better her than me.”
She gathered her bag and stood. “I don’t want to take up your whole break. And I need to get to the shop.” She paused, looking back over her shoulder. “I meant what I said. I’ve only ever wanted the best for you. I hope she’s it.”
Then she left.
Dakota sat alone at the table for a long moment. Suddenly she could see the last twenty-four hours from Lauren’s side. A successful date. Sex. Waking up thinking they might be back together–hell, even she thought they were back together. Then radio silence. And the next time Lauren saw her, she was being kissed by a stranger.
It didn't erase what had happened between them.
But it made it harder for her to be angry.
Dakota sighed, stood up, and went back to work.