“No, I don’t have plans,” he said. “I, um…I can go. It sounds fun.”
“Great,” she said, her pulse kicking up a notch in anticipation. “Do you want to meet at my place around six?”
“Yeah, that works.”
“Okay. So I’ll see you Saturday then.”
“Okay,” he said, still sounding caught off guard.
“Alright,” she said, coiling her hair around her finger. “And…Danny?”
“Yeah?”
Leah closed her eyes. “I also called to tell you…that I miss you.”
He exhaled into the phone, and this time when he spoke, his words were flooded with relief and something else she couldn’t quite place.
“I miss you too, Leah.”
“So when can we hang out with her again?”
Danny shook his head as he opened his soda. “Could you do me a solid and swallow your food before you talk?”
“Why?” Jake mumbled around his meatball sub. “You can understand me.”
“Yeah, because that was my issue. Not the fact that I’m getting sprayed with fucking shrapnel from your mouth.”
Jake smirked. “Don’t change the subject. When can we chill with her again?”
“I think you’re getting way ahead of yourself,” Danny said, taking a bite of his pizza.
“How am I getting ahead of myself? She knows what’s up and she’s still around. You hung out with her twice in the past two weeks.”
Danny chewed slowly before taking a sip of his soda. Jake was right, of course; Leah hadn’t disappeared from his life, and he had seen her two times since he’d told her everything.
The first time, when they had hung out at her friends’ apartment, things started off awkwardly between them; on the drive over to Robyn’s, there were a lot of uncomfortable silences and forced small talk. It was as if they didn’t know how to behave in this ‘in-between’ phase that had them fighting all their instincts and inclinations toward each other.
As soon as they’d gotten there, though, things improved almost instantly. Robyn and Holly were just as amiable and welcoming as they had been that first night at The Rabbit Hole, and the guys were both down-to-earth, working-class guys who were easy to talk to.
Danny had no idea if any of her friends knew his deal, but if they did, either they didn’t care, or they were phenomenal at faking tolerance. Regardless, as soon as Leah was around them, she loosened up. Maybe she was waiting for their approval. Maybe she just needed to be in the presence of a support system. But either way, her interactions with Danny became more natural and relaxed until they were talking and laughing like nothing had ever caused a rift in what had started between them.
After dinner Robyn brought out the game Catch Phrase, and they spent the rest of the night laughing their asses off as they tried to get one another to guess the clues. It was the most fun he’d had in a long time.
When they drove back to her place that night, he walked her to her door before he was about to head back to his car.
And that’s when she kissed him.
A quick peck on the mouth, but it was enough to have him feeling like he could run the whole way back to his apartment.
The second time they’d hung out, Leah had gone with her sister-in-law to some sort of prenatal appointment about ten minutes away from his shop. She’d texted him and asked if he wanted to grab lunch on his break, and Danny met her at the diner down the block. That time there was no awkwardness whatsoever; they talked effortlessly throughout the meal, and when they’d said good-bye, she hugged him and told him to call her later.
The idea that she still wanted to spend time with him, that she continued to treat him the way she had before she found out he had ended someone’s life, it all seemed too good to be true—and despite the fact that he had accused Jake of getting ahead of himself, the truth was, Danny was afraid he might be the one guilty of it.
He took another bite of pizza. “Just because she didn’t give me my walking papers doesn’t mean she wants to be with me.”
“It means she still wants to be around you.”
Danny shook his head. “I’m not gonna push her. I don’t know what she wants. This has gotta be on her terms, alright? Just leave it alone.”
He needed to keep reminding himself of that. Because the more he thought about their situation, the more hopeful he became, and he couldn’t afford to be on a different page than she was.
“Invite her out for your birthday.”
Danny laughed in disbelief. “Did you not hear a single word I just said?”
“No, I heard you,” Jake said around another mouthful of food. “I just think you’re being a fucking tool.”
Danny stopped chewing as he stifled a smile. “Since when is it acceptable to call your boss a fucking tool to his face?”
“Come on, man,” Jake said. “I see what this is about. You don’t want to get your hopes up in case she’s not offering you what you want from her. But the bottom line is, this girl likes being around you. Maybe she wants to be your friend, maybe she wants to be more. I get the whole ‘give her space’ thing, but if you play this too cool, you’re gonna fuck it up. You don’t wanna look indifferent. You think she’s gonna stick around in any capacity if she thinks you don’t give a shit either way?”
Danny stared at his friend. Maybe it was because Jake spent so much of his time saying things that were intentionally provocative or offensive, but on those rare occasions when he came from a place of sincerity, his words seemed that much more profound.
“Invite her out for your birthday,” Jake suggested again. “Friends go out for each other’s birthdays. You’re not making any assumptions or declarations by including her. Me and Tommy aren’t even bringing chicks, so it’s not like there’s gonna be a couples vibe or anything. You like this girl. You like being around her. Stop wasting time you don’t have.”
Danny ran his hand through his hair as Jake’s words echoed in his ears, bouncing around his skull and burrowing into his consciousness until they were beating in his blood.
You like being around her. Stop wasting time you don’t have.
He hadn’t seen what he was doing as wasting time, but Jake did have a point. His days were numbered, and he wanted to spend as many of them with her as he could, friends or otherwise.
Stop wasting time you don’t have.
Danny twisted the cap back on his drink. “I’ll think about it,” he said. “Can we shut the fuck up about this now?”
Jake gave him a flimsy salute before he shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth.
“By the way,” he garbled around his mouthful. “I’m not bringing a girl, but I might still try to get a blow job in the bathroom. Leah doesn’t need to know that, though.”
And just like that, Jake was back.
Danny burst out laughing before he threw a wad of tin foil at him, and Jake shrugged, wiping his hands on his pants before he stood and made his way back out to the garage.
Danny shook his head as he turned back toward the table, and then he reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone, staring at the screen for just a moment before he opened a new text window and clicked on her name.
You free this weekend? We’re hitting up Dave and Buster’s for my birthday.
He hit send and exhaled, putting the phone on the table before he picked up his pizza.
A minute later his phone vibrated with her response, and he stopped chewing as he swiped the screen with the side of his finger.
Happy birthday! And definitely. Call me later.
He smiled, clearing the screen before sliding the phone back in his pocket.
No more wasting time you don’t have.
“I’m not going in that thing,” Leah said as she took a sip of her beer, and Jake scoffed.
“Oh come on. It’s a game!”
“Yes, it’s a game. A 4D game where you lock yourself in a confined space and not only see and hear but also feel the monsters attacking
you if you don’t kill them fast enough. No thanks.”
“What are you, eight?” Jake said. “It’s not real.”
“Then you go in!” Leah said through a laugh.
Jake smirked, resting his elbows on the table as he leaned across it toward Leah. “Care to make this interesting?”
She put her beer down and mirrored his position, leaning toward him. “Always.”
Danny grinned as he brought his drink to his lips, his arm resting on the back of the booth behind her.
“Okay,” Jake said, sitting up and looking around the table. “Okay, so…”
“He’s got nothing,” Tommy said with a laugh, and Danny chuckled as Leah sat back against the booth, turning her head to look up at him. He looked down at her, a smile curving his lips, and she shifted in her seat, closing the small distance between them so that their bodies were touching from shoulder to knee.
His arm came down from the back of the booth, wrapping around her shoulders, and she brought her hand to his knee under the table.
From the second he had picked her up that night, he could tell something was different. Not only was the awkwardness between them gone, but any hesitation, any sense of restriction, had completely vanished as well. On the ride down, she had reached over the console and held his hand. And several times throughout dinner, she had found an excuse to touch him. A playful slap here, a shoulder rub there, and now her hand on his leg.
On the surface Danny was completely calm and collected, but underneath, his adrenaline was racing with every touch, with what it could mean, with the awareness that each one heated his veins and made his heart beat faster and his breathing grow shallow.
“Got it!” Jake finally said, grinning triumphantly. He reached across the table to the remnants of their appetizers and pulled two buffalo bites off the plate. He put one in front of Leah, and the other in front of himself before grabbing the hot sauce from the side of the table and shaking an excessive amount on each one.
“Dude, those are fucking Firehouse wings,” Tommy said. “What are you doing?”
“Upping the ante,” he said before he reached into Tommy’s plate of nachos, pulling two jalepeno peppers out of the cheese and placing them on the top of each piece of chicken, like a cherry on top of a sundae.
“Is he gonna make me eat that?” Leah said in Danny’s ear, and he leaned down to her, reveling in the scent of her hair.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Tell him to fuck off.”
“Swear jar,” she said, and Danny grinned as she sat up to face Jake. “Alright, what are we doing?”
“We each eat this. Whole thing. One bite. Whoever drinks first, loses. And if you lose, your ass goes in Dark Escape.”
Danny watched as Leah pursed her lips, weighing her options.
“So, we’re not allowed to drink anything,” she clarified, and Jake smiled.
“Not unless you want to lose.”
Her shoulders rose as she took a deep breath, and then she exhaled in a rush. “Okay, let’s do it.”
“Seriously?” Jake asked.
“Yeah,” she answered with a smile. “Why? Were you all talk just now?”
Danny smirked as he and Tommy made eye contact across the booth.
“Nope,” he said a beat too late, picking up the horrifically enhanced buffalo bite, and Leah did the same, holding it out to him.
“Cheers,” she said, tapping hers to Jake’s, and then they both popped them into their mouths.
For the first few seconds, they chewed in silence, but then it started.
Jake’s face turned beet red as he began to chew faster in an attempt to get it over with, and Leah pressed her fingertips to her lips, blinking rapidly as her eyes began to tear.
Danny brought his hand to the back of her neck, rubbing gently as he leaned toward her ear. “You can drink. I won’t let him make you go in there.”
She shook her head. “I’m good,” she managed hoarsely, and then she closed her eyes and swallowed hard.
Across the table, Jake was banging his fist against the side of the booth, his eyes clamped shut as he tried to force himself to swallow.
“Woo!” Leah exhaled, her eyes watering heavily as she reached for the spoon in front of her, and then she leaned across the table, dragging it along the mound of sour cream on the top of Tommy’s nachos.
Danny watched her bring the spoon to her lips, licking the excess sour cream off the sides before she put the spoon in her mouth, sucking on it like she was eating a lollipop. She slowly pulled it from her lips, turning the spoon around and dragging her tongue up the back of it to remove every last drop before she placed it back on the table.
Holy. Fuck.
He glanced across the table to see if the others had been watching her—if they were reacting to what she had just done—but Jake had both fists clamped in front of his eyes, breathing like he was about to give birth, and Tommy had his head thrown back against the booth, laughing hysterically.
He turned back to see Leah staring up at him. Her face was flushed and her eyes were still glassy, but she certainly wasn’t feeling Jake’s pain.
“What?” she asked softly, and Danny stared at her, saying nothing. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
He opened his mouth but closed it before he could formulate a response, and the corner of her mouth lifted.
“Are you kidding me?” she said through her smile.
“What?”
“Did that just turn you on?”
“What? No! No…I didn’t…I was just…”
Her smile grew more pronounced, and Danny dropped his head, exhaling a breathy laugh.
“Really? Hot sauce?”
“No,” he said softly. “That thing you just did with the spoon.”
Leah smirked. “Ah,” she said with a nod. “Well, that was one of the most awful things I’ve ever experienced, so I’m glad to hear it at least looked sexy.”
He laughed, lifting his eyes to hers, and she smiled, reaching up and running her thumb over his cheek.
“He’s out!” Tommy yelled. “Done!”
Leah and Danny whipped their heads in Tommy’s direction to see Jake with his head thrown back, chugging a glass of water so quickly that two streams were running out of the corners of his mouth and down his chin.
“No, no!” Leah laughed. “Not water!”
“Fuck,” Jake said as he slammed the glass down on the table with tears pouring down his face. “What are you, superhuman? I’m on fucking fire!” he wailed, reaching for Leah’s water.
She grabbed his wrist, stopping him. “Not water,” she said through her laughter. “Here.” She grabbed his spoon and scooped up a heap of sour cream, handing it to him.
Danny watched Jake shove it in his mouth with a groan, and suddenly spoons and sour cream became a lot less erotic.
“Fuck,” he mumbled around the spoon. “Fuck, that’s better.” He pulled it out of his mouth and took another scoop of it before shoveling it back in.
After one more spoonful, Jake wiped his eyes on his sleeve and looked at Leah. “How did you know that would work?”
“You’re never supposed to use water if you eat something spicy. Capsaicin is the chemical that burns in spicy foods, and the only thing that disengages it is the chemical casein. You can find it in most dairy products, like milk, or yogurt. Or sour cream,” she said with a smile. “But there’s nothing in water. It just spreads the oils around your mouth and makes it worse.”
The entire table stared at her.
“Are you some kind of evil genius?” Jake asked, and Danny laughed before looking down at Leah. He loved that she was smart—in fact, it was one of the things that turned him on the most about her—but when she used that intelligence to shut Jake down?
It was one of the sexiest things he’d ever seen.
“So that’s what you did? You ate sour cream right after?” Jake asked, and Leah shrugged.
“You said no dri
nking. You didn’t say anything about sour cream.”
Tommy burst out laughing before he said, “Holy shit, she is an evil genius! I fucking love this girl!”
Leah laughed, resting her head on Danny’s shoulder, and he put his arm around her again.
Me too, he thought, rubbing his hand up and down her arm as she played with the hem of his shirt.
As Danny turned into Leah’s apartment complex, she gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “Thanks for inviting me out tonight. I had a lot of fun.”
He smiled. “It wouldn’t have been half as fun without you there, so thank you. Hearing Jake scream like a girl inside that game was the best birthday present anyone could have ever given me.”
Leah covered her mouth, laughing at the memory. After Jake lost the bet, the four of them walked over to Dark Escape 4D so Jake could pay up, and the shrieks and squeals coming out of the booth had all three of them leaning on one another for support while they cracked up. Her stomach muscles still felt sore from it.
In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she laughed as much as she did tonight. She and Danny had played a game of Nothing But Net, where they went head-to-head with each other to see who could make the most baskets before the clock ran out, and they spent more time trying to distract each other from shooting than they did trying to make their own baskets.
Then there was the Skee-Ball incident; Leah had tried to show Danny how to flick his wrist so he could get the high score every time, and he ended up accidentally flinging the ball into the lane two down from them and scaring the hell out of the teenager playing there.
And when the four of them played Dance Dance Revolution against one another, Leah thought she might pee her pants from laughing so hard.
She loved his friends. And she loved spending time with him. She loved flirting with him and touching him and talking to him and being with him.
She loved the way he rubbed the back of her neck whenever he thought she was uneasy. She loved how he smiled at her when he didn’t think she could see him.
And she loved that, despite the palpable sexual tension between them, he had been a perfect gentleman all night.
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