by Gina Sorelle
She huffed indignantly, sticking her lower lip out. “Dan-ny! It’s Jessi with an ‘i!”
“Sorry, baby, that’s right.” Danny looked back at Fi, grinning and winking again before shrugging his shoulders. “Knew they both ended in some damn vowel, but the fuck if I remembered which one!”
“Okay, Danny, that’s enough,” Fi said, finally finding her voice. “You need to leave. Now.”
Danny reared back, brows up. “Why? Jus’ stoppin’ by for a friendly visit. She said maybe one day we could be friends…well, I wanna be friends today.”
“Let’s go, Danny,” the blonde said, the hand that had been resting on his side now curling into his tee-shirt. “You said we just had to say ‘hi,’ and then we could go back to our place and party.”
“But I haven’t said ‘hi,’ yet…not to her…” Danny stepped forward, arms dropping off the girls shoulders, but Fi blocked his way into the apartment.
“No frickin’ way, Danny,” Fi said, head shaking. “Uh-uh. I don’t know what went on with you guys, but showing up here, drunk as a skunk with two…” Kat could almost hear Fi’s lips curl. “Friends…is not the way to work things out with her.”
“There’s no workin’ anything out with her anyway, Fi, so the fuck’s the difference?” Danny made it far enough around Fi to see into the living room.
Kat’s stomach twisted into a million knots at the series of emotions that crossed Danny’s face when he spotted her.
Relief.
Distress.
Happiness.
Longing.
“Kat…” Danny tried walking around Fi again.
Fi pushed against his chest with both hands, not physically able to hold him back, but making enough of an impact to make him hesitate.
When his heavy, drunk head dropped to meet her eyes, Fi shook her head. “No.”
Kat’s heart ached when Danny looked back at her, his expression now pure longing. “Kat, I just need to see you…please…just for a minute, sweetheart…just the two of us…please…”
Kat reflexively clutched at her chest.
Oh, God…
“C’mon, Danny,” the brunette said, wrapping both hands around his bicep and pulling. “We’ve gotta get to the drugstore before it closes at two.” She pulled on him again, but Danny yanked his arm back, eliciting a dramatic pout. “Partying the pain away, remember, baby? Condoms, cigarettes, and some Coronas, remember?”
Kat knotted up stomach dropped to her feet.
“Oh, for crying out…” Fi said, head shaking. “Enough.” She leveled gazes on the blonde. “You…” And then on the brunette. “And you. Go home. Or go to the drugstore and grab your three C’s. Or go fly a kite. I don’t give a damn what you do, just get the hell out of here, got it?” Fi turned to Danny. “And you? I’m calling Nathan to pick you up. I’d offer to do it, but I don’t want you barfing in my car. Plus, you deserve everything Nathan’s gonna give you for pulling this little stunt tonight.”
“I’m not leavin’ without talkin’ to her,” Danny said evenly, eyes still boring into Kat’s. “I don’t care who the fuck you call, Fi.” He shook his head slowly. “But I’m not gonna go until she talks to me.”
“So, what…” The blonde scoffed, hands finding her hips and head shaking. She looked at Danny, then her friend, then back at Danny. “What the hell? Does this mean we’re not fucking tonight, Danny?”
Kat almost vomited – probably would have if she’d had anything in her stomach. Her hand did fly up to cover her mouth, anyway.
“Yeah, what the hell, Danny?” Brunette said, clearly as indignant as her companion. “You said if we drove you over here to say ‘hi’ to your friend, you’d come back to our place and fuck us both. You promised!”
Kat’s gasp was audible, as was Danny’s weird strangled, somehow mournful, groan.
“That. Is. It,” Fi gritted out.
Kat was well-acquainted with that tone. Two-thirds of Danny’s threesome had just pushed Fiorella Theresa Ciaramitaro too far. And they were about to find out that was never, ever a good idea.
Hands now on hips, Fi looked at the blonde. “I don’t know who you and your skank friend are gonna end up fucking tonight, but it’s not gonna be him,” she said, jerking a thumb at Danny. “But here is what’s gonna happen: you’re going to stand over there…” Fi pointed at the sidewalk in front of their complex. “While I call and cab and have it pick you up. Because you are both too drunk and too stupid to be driving anywhere tonight.” When brunette opened her mouth, Fi leveled a gaze on her. “And if you do not to exactly what I just said, I will have my brother-in-law, who is a cop, haul you both off to jail when he gets here.” When blondie opened her mouth, Fi turned back and added, “And if you get into your car and try to drive away, I will give my brother-in-law your license plate number and your asses will wind up in the drunk tank so fast your puny brains will spin.” When Fi spoke again, Kat heard the smile in her voice. “And then I will have my boss, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor, take a special interest in your drunk driving cases.” She paused. “Have I made myself perfectly clear, ladies?”
They huffed and they muttered, but eventually Danny’s “friends” let go of him and walked away…exactly where Fi had pointed, if Kat had to guess.
Fi turned to Danny. “And you…” She eyed him up and down, not that Danny noticed or cared. One hundred percent of his attention was still centered firmly on Kat. “What the hell are you thinking, Danny?” She turned to Kat, head shaking, and gestured to Danny. “Do you see, now, Kat? A leopard never changes its spots.”
“Go call Nathan from the car, Fi,” Kat said quietly.
Fi reared back. “Why?”
“Because Danny and I need a moment of privacy, please.”
The relief flooding his features broke Kat’s heart.
Fi huffed. “There is no way in hell I’m leaving you alone in here with this drunken fool! He’s a mess! And he obviously doesn’t have two working brain cells in his flippin’ head right now!”
“I would never hurt her,” Danny said to Fi, his voice so low and tight it made Kat’s heart ache even worse. “Ever. In any way. I would die before I hurt her. And she knows that…” He looked back at Kat with those hideously wounded eyes. “Don’t you, Kat?”
Kat’s eyes welled.
Yes, you amazing, wonderful, beautiful, darling man, I know that.
“Uh, what do you think taking your traveling ménage show on the road tonight did, Danny?” Fi scoffed. “You don’t think that hurt her?” She flung her arm in Kat’s direction, pointing. “Does that look like a woman who’s not hurt?” She shook her head, staring up at his profile. “Jesus, Danny, don’t you think you’ve already done enough damage?”
“Fi, stop. It’s not his fault,” Kat said. “None of this is his fault.”
“Yeah. Right. I’m sure he’s a perfect angel. You’re half-dead from grief and he’s riding around town planning drunken gang bangs and then shoving them in your face.” Fi scoffed, again. “Yep, he’s a real peach, Kat!”
Kat waited for it…
For Danny to tell Fi all of this was because Kat had dumped him. That he was a now a single man – free to do as he pleased, with whomever he pleased, however he pleased – because Kat had set him free.
That he’d only brought those women here to prove a point, lashing out at her because of his pain. That, despite this whole charade, Danny had no intention of sleeping with those women. Or any other women. That he was in love with Kat and, despite them being apart, Danny didn’t want anyone else.
That, according to Kat, she didn’t love him anyway, so bringing two women here shouldn’t have hurt her in the first place.
All things Kat knew were true with every fiber of her being. And all things he could say right now to exonerate himself in Fi’s eyes.
But, true to Danny form, he said no such things.
He just continued holding her eyes, his own so full of anguish, until Kat couldn’t stand i
t another second.
She pushed herself to her feet and walked around the couch, holding onto the back for support. “Fi, go call Nathan. Please.”
Fi scoffed. “Kat-”
“Do it, Fi,” Kat commanded evenly. “Now, please.”
Fi paused, then looked back at Danny. “Danny, look at me.” When he did, Fi stared up at him, square in the face. “Watch. Yourself. I’m not kidding. Or what Nathan does to you is going to seem like child’s play. Got it?” When Danny nodded, Fi grabbed her jacket off the ledge. She pulled it on, grabbed her purse, and walked over to Kat. “Give me your phone. Mine’s charging.” Kat handed it to her and walked back over to the door. “Best behavior, MacDonough,” she said as she passed him. “Do not mess with me. You’ve got ten minutes until Nathan gets here.”
Fi shot Kat one more look before pulling the front door shut behind her.
They stared at each other for a few long moments before Kat finally cleared her throat. “It’s twenty degrees outside, Danny…where is your jacket?”
He glanced down. “Oh…uh…” Danny looked back at her, the most adorable half-grin pulling at those amazing lips. Lips Kat could hardly keep her eyes off of, despite the situation. “I dunno. Guess I left it somewhere. The bar probably.” His brows furrowed. “I remember…” Danny shook his head. “I can’t be sure, but…I think I might have wrestled someone.”
Kat’s lips involuntarily twitched as she gestured to his chest. “Might be why your shirt’s torn? And stained?”
“Might be a solid guess,” he answered, that incredible smile still lingering.
I love your smile. It is my favorite smile in the world. And I especially love when you get it from me.
She cleared her throat. “And why, pray tell, were you wrestling someone at the bar?”
“Hell if I can remember.” Danny grabbed the back of his neck, head shaking. “I don’t think it was a fight.” He lifted his hands and turned them over a few times. “No scrapes or bruises…and I think my teeth are all still there….” Danny grinned wide, letting Kat inspect.
Kat used all available willpower not to kiss his silly, beautiful face off. “Yep, all there.”
Danny shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and swayed a bit on his feet.
“Do you need to sit down, Danny?”
He shook his head, smile fading, as they entered into another long stare down.
As much of a selfish, horrible, evil bitch as it makes me, I want you to hold me right now. I want you to not take no for an answer, walk over here, and grab me…and never let me go…
Her hands twitched and reflexively curled into the back of the couch just thinking about it…
Touching his body…shoving her hands up the back of his shirt and feeling his skin…pressing her face to his chest and inhaling his scent…whispering every difficult piece of truth into his ear and allowing him to love her, anyway…to take care of her, just like Danny had said over and over again that he wanted to do…
Yeah, but he doesn’t really know what loving you and taking care of you entails. But you do. And so it’s up to you to save him from himself.
When Kat didn’t speak, Danny stepped closer. “Went out tonight with guys from the precinct…to a bar on Rosewood Ave…downtown…it’s just…I’ve been such a fucking mess since you left…” He lifted as shoulder. “Thought maybe a night out, like in the old days, might help.” Danny averted his eyes to the ground. “Didn’t do shit, though…going out…getting hammered…forcing myself to talk to those girls…because all I could think about, the whole time, was how I wished I was with you, instead…only made me miss you more…love you more…”
Kat’s jaw clenched and her throat tightened up as words she was dying to say very nearly came tumbling out of her mouth.
You are all I’ve thought about…all I’ve dreamt about…
I love you so much, Danny. And I always will.
It was Danny’s turn to clear his throat as he looked up and met her eyes, his, again, so full of sorrow. “And coming here was the worst fucking thing I could have done…because every time I see you…every time I hear your voice…every time I talk to you…I just fall in love with you all over again…”
Oh…God…
He took a few more unsteady steps closer, making Kat’s already pounding, racing heart speed up considerably.
Danny’s eyes searched every inch of her face. “I know you don’t love me, Kat,” he whispered hoarsely. “But you like me…and you wanted me…do you think maybe…I don’t know…with some time…if I behave myself…maybe you could give us chance?” Danny paused, eyes boring into hers. “That maybe you could just try to love me?”
Kat’s pause – and the way she was staring up at him – allowed Danny to feel the tiniest bit of hope…
Until she opened her mouth and quietly replied, “I do love you, Danny…as a friend.”
And, just like that, all the hurt morphed into white-hot fury – the evenness of her tone, the serene expression on her face, and yet another cutting rejection all serving to fuel its fire.
And his residual drunkenness probably didn’t help matters any, either.
Danny sneered. “You fuck all your friends, Kat?” When her expression didn’t change and she didn’t respond, his urge to provoke her into feeling something, anything – grew stronger. “You bat those long eyelashes, smile those smiles, and then fuck the living shit out of all your friends? You tell all your friends you’re in love with them…that you want to make a family with them…that you want to be with them forever?”
Yeah, he was lashing out like an irrational asshole. Like a wounded animal. But it just wasn’t fucking fair that Danny was so torn up, so heartbroken…so affected…and she was just standing there like she didn’t have a care in the world…like her world had gone on just fine with him, when his had fallen completely apart without her.
That’s because she never loved you and you loved her with everything you had. And you still do, you pathetic asshole.
Danny scoffed loudly and leaned down into her face. “You know what, Kat, forget everything I just said. And everything I ever said. Because you know what…” Danny latched squarely onto her eyes “Fuck. You.”
She flinched, tears welling.
He straightened up, head shaking, and exhaled a hard laugh. “I just realized…I’ve spent my whole damn life waiting for people to love me…silently begging someone to give a shit. To find me worthy of their love…and to love me even when I wasn’t worthy of it. And this shit with you is the exact same fucking scenario all over again. Well, you know what? I’m fucking done.” Danny stepped closer to her, unsteadily leaning even farther into her space. “You don’t love me? Fine! I’ll get over it! I’ll get over you! And I will never give you a second fucking thought, Kat, I swear to Christ!” His lips curled, eyes narrowing. “And I will fuck every hot little bitch I can find so hard and so long you’ll feel it from here – hot pieces of ass who, by the way, don’t need me giving instructions on how to fuck! Grown women who don’t need me holding their goddamned hands through shit that most normal females over the age of eighteen have done a hundred times!”
Kat’s silent weeping morphed into loud sobbing.
Danny sneered, leaning in farther. “So you can wipe that sad, condescending look off your face, sweetheart, along with those fake-ass tears, because I will be just fucking fine without you!”
“That’s enough, Danny,” Nathan said, coming through the door, Fi on his heels.
She rushed over to Kat, pulled her into her arms, and shot Danny one of the nastiest looks he’d ever seen, let alone been on the receiving end of. “You piece of absolute shit! You filthy, disgusting, asshole-ish pig of a human being! I told you! I told you to watch yourself!” She turned to Nathan. “Nathan, you had better get that fucking asshole out of here before I break every bone in his stupid-ass face! I swear to God, I will! And then I will call my sisters over here and let them at him!” Fi tightened her
hold on a still sobbing Kat and narrowed her eyes on Danny, head shaking. “What, the whoring wasn’t giving you enough of a challenge, Danny? Fucking every slut in a fifty mile radius just wasn’t doing it for you anymore? Decided you had to start preying on innocent, trusting women to get off?”
Nathan lifted a hand in Fi’s direction. “Alright, Fi…”
“Alright, nothing, Nathan! This is bullshit! I know he’s your friend, but this is my sister! And your sister-in-law!” Fi looked down at Kat, clinging to her, sobbing, and then back up at Nathan. “Look at what he did to her! You just gonna stand there and not defend your family?”
With a hard, long-suffering sigh, Nathan grabbed Danny’s upper arm and pulled. Hard. “Let’s go. Now.”
But Danny couldn’t move. Because, just as quickly as the anger had come on, it had disappeared…the sounds and sight of Kat bawling leaving him sick to his stomach, empty inside, and feeling like everything Fi had just accused him of being.
No, even worse.
“Kat, I’m sorry…” Danny choked out, trying to step toward her.
But Nathan tightened his hold, keeping him right where he was. “Brother, we’re leaving. Now. Before this ends with me wanting to beat the piss out of you, too.” He turned, pulling Danny with him.
Or trying to.
Danny didn’t cooperate, yanking against Nathan’s hold, trying to get at Kat.
Unfortunately, Danny was still half-drunk, weak from not eating and sleeping, and heartsick. Nathan had a couple of inches on him, some additional pounds of muscle mass, and he was stone-cold sober. And probably more than a little pissed about having to come fetch Danny’s drunk ass out of his sister-in-law’s apartment in the middle of the night…after Danny had made said sister-in-law cry hysterically.
Yeah, no shock Nathan won that particular tug-of-war.
But not before having to scrap a little with a defiant Danny, ultimately having to put him in an arms-behind-his-back restraint maneuver and forcing him out the door.
“I jus’ wanna talk to her for a ‘nother minute, Nathan!” Danny yelled, still struggling to turn around. “Just lemme say one more thing to her!”