Chapter 7

Dani

Dani: Do you do laundry ever?

Lincoln flashed me a grin as he continued putting away our groceries. "Nope, I've never had to."

Dani: You need to learn.

I rolled my eyes and continued sorting his clothes, most of them workout clothes, which made me curious as to what he did. Was he a runner? I stole a peek at his jean-clad legs. I wouldn't be able to tell anyway. His arms were huge, bulging beneath his gray long-sleeve shirt.

"Oh, hey." He peeled the shirt from his body and tossed it in my direction. "If you're doing a load of darks, wash this one too. Someone spilled coffee on it this morning. Not that it wasn't deserved."

Had I not already been a mute, the sight of his bare chest and abs would have done it. His abs were chunky; he didn't just have a six-pack, he had freaking rivets that dipped into delicious golden skin, trailing all the way down into his jeans. Holy crap! He was built, and he was still putting stuff away - not flexing, simply breathing - and somehow that translated into muscles flexing and making my mouth go dry.

His biceps were bigger than my head.

A large tattoo wrapped from his right arm all the way down to his wrist. I hadn't noticed it before; in fact, the last magazine cover he was on didn't have the tattoo. I wanted to ask him about it. Maybe they covered it up all the time? Maybe it was new?

"Not that I mind..." Lincoln didn't turn around. "... because I'm used to it, but since you don't talk, it almost makes it more creepy that you're openly staring at me like that."

I jerked my attention back to the sorting piles, my cheeks burning with embarrassment.

Dani: Sorry. You just caught me by surprise.

His warm chuckle filled the air. "It's fine. Really."

Someone please let me disappear into the floor.

Dani: I wasn't staring at you because of your body - I was just curious about your tattoo.

There that sounded better, right? Less creepy?

"Well..." Lincoln chose to talk instead of texting me back. "... I went on this month-long hike through the woods, tried to find myself, and on my last day, I was so dehydrated I almost died. I cried out for water just as a snake slithered in front of me, and when I looked past him, I heard a creek. That snake saved my life, so I made a promise to myself to never forget how lucky I was, thus the tattoo."

Officially the weirdest story ever.

Dani: Um, cool.

Lincoln burst out laughing. "I'm shitting you, Dani. I was sixteen, drunk, and stupid. I wanted to get a badass python tattoo. It ended up looking like shit, so I turned it into a full sleeve so that it actually resembled something other than a man's penis on my arm, because honestly, that's what it looked like, no getting around it."

I covered my mouth to keep myself from laughing.

"It's okay, you know..." Lincoln glanced at me over his shoulder. "... to laugh... It doesn't mean you like me, just means I'm even more of an ass than you originally thought."

Dani: True.

Lincoln grinned at me then stared back at his cupboard. "Shit, we forgot waffle mix."

Dani: So?

He shut the cupboards. "Just another thing you get to make fun of me for." He swiped his keys from the counter. "First day on a new movie always starts with a breakfast of waffles and peanut butter."

Ew, officially the grossest combo ever. I made a face.

"Is that for the waffles or the peanut butter?" He leaned against the counter, his abs flexing at me, winking at me, begging me to reach out and touch.

Dani: Both.

Lincoln gasped. "Well, I guess we can't get married now."

Dani: And I had such high hopes of a quick betrothal.

He barked out a laugh. "I can go grab the mix if you want, or you can come with me, and I can buy you another Starbucks... maybe we can shake hands over the cup and vow to do that whole starting over thing?"

My hand hesitated over the laundry.

"Please?" His voice was too sexy for his own good.

That was the last thing I needed - to find the devil sexy. Because that's what he was. Hollywood through and through, a man who jumped to conclusions before he even knew the truth.

Demetri had already warned me.

As had Alec.

And Jaymeson, not that it mattered. A guy like Lincoln would never be interested in me, even if I wasn't mute.

Dani: Sure.

***

Safeway was packed. I sent a text over to Lincoln that I'd grab the waffle mix if he wanted to wait in line at Starbucks. I knew he was thankful. Already he was getting odd looks from people. It was in the paper that filming was taking place for the next few months, and he was a dead giveaway with his Lakers hat and Ray-Bans.

I quickly weaved through the grocery-cart traffic until I reached the pancake and waffle mixes.

He hadn't specified what brand he wanted.

So I just picked the one that said organic, assuming that was probably what he'd want anyway.

"Dani?" a familiar male voice called. "Is it really you?"

Shivers ran down my spine as I turned and came face to face with my ex-boyfriend.

"You're back." He grinned, looking like an innocent boy. He looked how I should have looked at that same age... innocent, wide eyed, excited about life. "Are you going to be finishing senior year?"

I tried to speak. I wanted to so bad. I begged my stupid mouth to move. I prayed to God that I wouldn't be embarrassed or that he wouldn't think I was a total bitch, too good for him.

I made a croaking noise.

He frowned.

I tried again.

"Oh." He took a step back. "You're still sick, huh? That has to suck, not talking... have you ever tried just being better?"

Have I ever tried just being better? Light bulb! Why hadn't I thought of that? Someone give him a prize!

"I mean..." He stepped forward. "... don't you think it's kind of immature to use this to get all that attention?"

Tears stung my eyes as another figure made its way down the aisle.

"Elliot, hurry up - oh..." Amanda his new girlfriend, my ex-best friend paused mid-sentence. "Dani, you're back!"

Fake smile.

Fake boobs - compliments of her rich parents.

And by the looks of it, fake lips. Great.

"We've missed you." She reached out to hug me.

I took a step back.

Rolling her eyes, she motioned to Elliot. "We gotta run, homecoming court and all that. I'm sure you would understand if you actually stopped pretending to be traumatized and went to school."

Angry, so angry that the words wouldn't come, I opened my mouth again. This time a weird mewling noise came out, one I'd never before uttered. I sounded like a lamb caught in someone's fence.

Amanda burst out laughing. "Anyone ever told you that you could be an actress just like your sister? How is she, by the way? Knocked up by that movie star, what's his name?"

"Jamie Jaymeson," came Lincoln's smooth voice. "We'll be sure to let him know you said hi." He wrapped a possessive arm around me and pulled me close to his chest. A war raged within me - lean on him like I actually needed him and was thankful for his save, or jerk away and embarrass myself more.

I leaned in.

He smelled like Starbucks coffee and leather.

"No way!" Amanda smacked Elliot in the shoulder. "You're Lincoln Greene!"

"Yup." He held a tight smile. "I'm sorry, and you are?"

"Friends." Amanda blurted. "Old friends with Dani."

"Well, that's weird." He shared a look with me and squeezed. "I've known Dani here for a while, and she's never mentioned you. Not once."

Amanda's face turned bright red. "Well, she doesn't talk, so maybe that's why."

Lincoln grinned tightly. "She talks."

Oh no. What was he doing!

"But only to people extremely close to her, right, baby?" He kissed the top of my head and sighed. "Anyway, we're late. Nice meeting you. What was your name again?"

"A-amanda." She jutted her chin out.

"Right." Lincoln had the whole little-people stare down like an expert. Even I flinched when he haughtily dismissed the two of them and steered me back down the aisle.

"Assholes," he muttered under his breath as he angrily grabbed the mix from my hands then swiped his card.

"Are you a rewards member?" the checker asked.

Lincoln stared him down.

The checker swallowed slowly. "I'll take that as a no."

I grabbed the mix while Lincoln snatched the receipt and tugged me toward the truck. He opened my door, and I climbed inside.

He didn't shut it.

I frowned as he braced himself against the door frame. "Are you okay?"

I shrugged.

He licked his full lips then grabbed his phone and started typing.

Linc: I'll go back and publicly shame them both, just say the word.

Dani: Ex-boyfriend, ex-best friend. Both have ex in front of their name for a reason.

Lincoln read the text and glanced up, his eyes locking on me. "You dated that?"

I slumped down in my seat and typed in my phone.

Dani: He's the quarterback.

Lincoln's face twisted into a bitter smile. "I don't give a shit. He's an asshole."

Dani: We all deal with grief in different ways. He loved my dad. It was hard on him losing us both.

"But you lived." Lincoln argued.

Dani: Is that what I'm doing right now?

He didn't answer. He stared at the text then glanced back up at me. "Jaymeson never told me. He just said you needed a job and were a selective mute. I looked it up online." He looked embarrassed. "Beyond that, I don't know your story. But I do know this. You lived for a reason. So what you do right now - even if it's as simple as getting out of bed every day - it matters."

He shut the door.

The static silence greeted me, making my body tense with a tingling awareness, almost as if someone had just pressed cold paddles to my chest and shouted, "Clear!"

"So," Lincoln jumped into the truck, cleared his throat and started the engine. "Jaymeson said you baked. Please tell me that includes making kick-ass waffles."

I gave a solitary nod.

"Thank God."

And that was it.

He didn't pester me about the accident or ask for details about what had occurred in the store, which bothered me, because for the first time since everything had happened, I wanted to volunteer that information. I wanted him to know.

Maybe because he'd defended me, a stranger.

Or maybe it was because he'd been blunt, almost hurtfully so, when up until now everyone had used kid gloves with me.

Maybe the hard and ugly love was what I needed.

I'd always been a hugger.

Now, I had to wonder if the accident had changed me from a hugger - to a fighter.