Page 32 of Say It Again

Aaron watched him leave in a haste, passing right by the elevator on his dash to the stairs.

No, he wouldn’t get much rest, and no. Daniel didn’t like him.

Chapter Eight

IT WAS the next day, Aaron hadn’t called, and Daniel was not freaking out about it. He rubbed warmth into his arms as he hunched over the steering wheel of his car outside of the studio, waiting for it to heat up. He dialed Olivia.

“Let me guess.” Her voice chimed over his car speakers. “You’re freaking out about it.”

“No,” he responded, huffing into his cupped hands. “Why would I freak out that he expelled me from his house?”

Her eye roll was almost audible. “He didn’t expel you from his house.”

“Oh yes, he did. He practically picked me up and threw me out. I’m surprised he didn’t start playing symphony music as I was getting dressed like they do at the Oscars.”

“Literally all he said was that he had to work early.”

Daniel rumbled in fake laughter. “An excuse if I’ve ever heard one. What’s next? His invisible dog ate my phone number, and that’s why he never called me again?”

“Never called you again? It’s been less than one day—”

“Let’s face it.” He sighed, flittering a hand about. “He just wanted to get me into bed.”

Olivia barely contained a chuckle. “Which he did, correct?”

“Mm-hmm.” He flicked his gaze upward and inspected his nails. “Typical man.”

“The bed where he pleased you. Blew your mind. Almost killed you with his extreme sexiness and asked for nothing in return. That bed?”

“Yep,” he said, popping the p.

“God, you’re right. Sounds awful. You think this was his evil plan from the beginning? With the flowers and the dates and the homecooked meal from scratch. It was all so he could never talk to you again?”

He narrowed his eyes to a squint. “Okay, I see what you’re doing here—”

“Well, I would hope so. I’m not being subtle.”

“—and I don’t appreciate it. Lest we forget, he ejected me from his house. Basically dropkicked me. You know what? That’s it.” He threw his hands up. “I’m blocking him.”

“Daniel. Has it ever occurred to you—?”

“No,” he said, balancing the phone on his console so he could search his dance bag for his lip balm. “Whatever you’re about to say, no. I’m pretty self-absorbed.”

“Has it ever occurred to you that maybe it had nothing to do with you?”

He found the lip balm, flipping down the visor mirror to apply it. “Did I not just mention the self-absorbed thing?”

“Maybe he really was tired or, I don’t know, practicing healthy boundaries.”

“The hell do those have to do with this?”

“I’m just saying. Let’s not write him off as some asshole when so far—”

After a few seconds of silence, he realized the call had disconnected, and Olivia wasn’t just taking her time to formulate an argument. He tried to grab his phone to call her back, but it stumbled from his hands and wedged between the seat and the center console. The worst place for a phone to wedge.

“Well, shit. Hold on,” he said, jamming his hand to reach it as it started to ring. When he finally got ahold of it, it seemed he’d already answered the call, and it wasn’t Olivia.

His eyes widened as his stomach folded over itself in protest. “No,” he breathed. But it was too late.

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