WHEN I CAN FINALLY move, I situate us so we're laying in the right direction on the bed, with the covers pulled over us. Danny's head is against my shoulder, and I'm playing with her hair. I'm not thinking about tomorrow or making a quick escape. I'm thinking about how to keep her.I know she's awake. I'm afraid if I say anything, I'll entirely fuck this up. I keep it simple, "You okay, Danny girl?""Mmm," she whispers.I roll. Her head slides off my shoulder, and I rise on my elbow so I'm looking down at her. "Mmm's not a good enough answer." I pick up a chunk of her hair again, and let it slide slowly through my fingers.Just the sides of her lips tilt up. "I'm not as good at this as you are, Van."I tighten my fingers around the strand, and use it to turn her face toward me. "If you were any better, I'd be comatose." For some reason, I want to talk. I've never fucking wanted to talk. Fuck some more, maybe, but not carry on a conversation. "Thank you for wearing a dress for me."
THE LODGE HAD FLUFFY white robes in the closet, and we have them on. I'm looking over the breakfast menu to place an order while Danny stands at the window, looking out at the snow.She doesn't look at me when she speaks. "The roads should be open."She looks adorable in the robe, with her hair curling around her head. I don't even remember it curly in college, so she's been disguising it for a long time. "You have someplace you need to be?"She turns her gaze from the snow and it lands on me. "No.""Then let's stay another night."She stares, and I almost give up on her answering me. Her cheeks go a bit pink and she says, "Without condoms, what are we going to do with all the time?"She's so fucking beautiful I could just look at her for the next twenty-four hours. "There's a drugstore two blocks from here. I'll take a short trip and pick us up a few things." She looks back out to the snow-covered parking lot. "I'll be back before our food gets here." I stand up and head to my c
LEAVING ON SATURDAY MORNING is hard, but not awkward. After our outing into the snow, we spent the rest of the day in bed and ordered room service for dinner. I used more than half the box of condoms, and told Danny I must have lost part of my groove because they all should have been gone. She got embarrassed and hit me with a pillow. We used one more condom after that.I drive her to her apartment and walk her up. I kiss her at her door, and refuse when she invites me inside. There are so many things I want to say, but I say none of them. I had things to do in order to make Danny part of my life for good. I leave her after another long kiss.I pull over about ten minutes away from her apartment and send her a text.Date next Thursday? I feel like an idiot that I hadn't asked her before I left the apartment. Her text comes in a few minutes later.Sounds good. Can I cook you dinner?Perfect, see you at six.I get back on the road. Danny cooking will fit perfectly into my plans
THE NEXT EVENING, AFTER a great dinner and fantastic sex, we are lying in Danny's bed. "Why did you punch Rob?" she asks out of nowhere. Rob is Dick-face, and I don't like her even saying his name. I fight for control because I'm behaving like an idiot.I'm not sure how to explain it. Explaining feelings for guys is like having your fingernails pulled out by the roots. Danny deserves the truth, though. "I'm jealous. Hell, I was jealous back when you dated him. That night, the night I punched him, you wouldn't speak to me, and had sidestepped all my plans to get back into your good graces. When he opened the door, I lost it." This next part is seriously hard to say, but I bite the bullet, "I owe him an apology."This revelation is met with silence for several long minutes. When she replies, her voice is lower than usual. "Do you have any idea how I felt each time you left the tavern with a different woman?"I slide my arms from around her and roll, so we're facing each other. The hur
IT TAKES US ALL day to decorate the house. I remember my mom browbeating Joel and me the entire Thanksgiving weekend so everything was set up perfectly by Sunday night. Looking back, those were happy times, and someday I'll have children to do the same with.We concentrate on the lower floor of the house. I cut a tree the day before and it rests in a bucket on the back porch. Decorating the tree is the last thing we do before I show her my surprise. I lift her up while she's laughing, wobbling a bit as she puts the star at the top of the tree. I made sure the curtains were drawn in the front windows before the sun went down. It's dark now, and I have my surprise set on a timer so the lights go on when the sun goes down. After giving Danny a lengthy kiss in front of the tree, I grab our jackets and make her put hers on while I do the same. I pull her to the front door and open it."Van," she says in a breathy voice as we step out onto the porch.The entire house is lit with Christmas
PART SIXI was getting nowhere on the treadmill and I'm sure that was the point of the stupid contraption. When I ran, I wanted to be outdoors. As of today, I had enough time exercising inside to fill a cruise ship with sweat. Training indoors was ugly and so was my mood. The walls closed in with every step and just the noise of the machine had my temper spiking.I upped the speed and incline, sprinting to the sound of "Try Too Hard" by Pink pounding through my ear buds. The music usually put me in the right head space, but it wasn't working today. This was day six of running and practicing insidehiding. They- my security team, hired by my father, had no idea what a good backhand entailed. Bottom line, this wasn't working.Fuck it. I know I promised my father to stay here where it's safe, but I couldn't handle this anymore. I hadn't been to a nightclub in more than a week. Shaking my ass to a heavy beat, the smell of alcohol and sweaty bodies other than mine would at least let off s
Voices."Mild traumatic brain injury, several stitches, no broken bones, but a badly bruised hip. The CT showed no significant swelling of the brain, but until she's fully conscious we won't know if there is lasting damage. Brain injuries are tricky and we want to be optimistic, but we just don't know yet."A squeeze to my hand preceded my father's voice filling the room. "I'm having a neurosurgeon flown in from Johns Hopkins. We aren't taking any chances."Yep, that's my dad. Always the best of everything for his only child. I tried to form words. That didn't work, so I tried to form just one. No luck. My hand lay limp within his. I focused and finally my fingers did what I wanted them to. His warm hand gently squeezed mine back.Another burning pain traveled through my head and the world went dark again.***"Take this IV out now. The next person who pushes that bedpan beneath my ass will be wearing it. I can walk six feet to the bathroom to pee." God, I sounded like a bitch. I
I could hear Mr. B- whatever the hell his name was, speaking to the doctor. My half-ass attempt to chase him away obviously failed and I was too tired to care. The doctor turned my way. Even knowing he saw me do it, I closed my eyes and feigned sleep. He didn't take the hint."Miss Stradmore." He let my name hang in the air for a moment. "The fluids need to continue for a minimum of twenty-four more hours. I will, however, change your orders to assisted restroom visits. I'll immediately request a nurse to administer another line."I opened one eye. Gritting my teeth hurt too badly, so I hissed between pressed lips, "Doctor." I did the whole name hanging in the air thing just as well as he did. "If anyone gets near me with a needle they will receive a piercing in the rectum. I made it to the bathroom without assistance, so that one's out too. I plan to leave here in the morning, but right now my head hurts and I need sleep. Please don't let the door slam you in the ass on the way out.