Page 60 of Sweet Deception

His brows dip as he sweeps his gaze over the Range Rover before meeting my eyes. "Yeah, I uh … I'm not in the class anymore. Since I found no evidence of Mrs. Matthews purposely messing with the players, the coach pulled me." He returns his attention back to my car.

I straighten, hoping he won't say anything. "That's good. For you, I mean. I'm sure you don't need the hassle of another class while working full time."

"Yeah. I thought I was done with school last year." He chuckles. "So, is this your car? I thought you drove a Grand Am."

"Yeahhh. It's uh … a loaner. From my boyfriend." Danny snaps his gaze to mine. I look off to my left, suddenly uncomfortable. "Mine broke down, so he's helping me out until I decide what to do." I shrug, looking back at Danny.

He swallows and looks down while he runs his hand through his hair. "That's nice of him. So … boyfriend? Didn't you just go on your first date with him?"

"What can I say? He moves fast." I smile, shrugging a shoulder. "We've spent the weekend together, and it turns out we're pretty compatible." I shuffle my foot on the pavement.

Ugh, this is awkward.

Danny swallows again, then sighs before crossing his arms. "I'm an idiot."

I frown. "What?"

He looks off to the side. "I've wanted to ask you out for years." He looks back at me and searches my eyes. "I was a coward and afraid you'd turn me down. You always seemed so …"

"So … what?" I raise my eyebrow, getting mad, but not sure why.

He flounders with his answer. "I don't know … serious. At the time, I wanted to enjoy college. You know, go to parties, have fun. As much as I wanted to ask you out, I didn't think you would be down with that, so … I waited."

Yeah. I'm mad.

"So, you what? Put me on hold until you wanted something serious? Areyoubeing serious right now? Do you know how that sounds?" I swing my bag over my shoulder and cross my arms, trying to hold back the urge to punch him.

Danny's eyes widen. "Uh … well, you know."

"No. I don't know. Did you ever think I would want to go to those parties with you? That I could have fun? Do I look like someone who doesn't like to have fun?" I growl.

"Oh shit. That's not what I meant—"

"How? How is that not what you meant? Do you know how insulting that is?"

I'm yelling, but I don't care because I'm pissed. I had such a crush on him and he put me on hold.

HOLD.

Oh, how I want to punch him in his pearly white teeth.

"Is everything okay here?"

I whip around to find Joseph coming up behind me.

"Holy Shit. Yeah, no, we're good." Danny quickly says and I whip around to glare at him. His eyes widen as he backs away. "I'm just gonna … you know … go." He turns around and jogs away.

I turn back to Joseph—still glaring. "What are you doing here? Wait—I'm sorry." I take a deep breath. I hate that I snapped at Joseph. It's not his fault Danny's an idiot. I plaster a smile on my face and try again. "I didn't mean to take my anger out on you. But, really, what are you doing here?"

Stoic Joseph looks like he might be amused if the slight crinkling in the corner of his eyes is any indication. "I've been meaning to bring your items from your old car. I had some free time today and Mr. Morelli gave me your whereabouts." He hands me a folder I assume is filled with the paperwork I had in the glove box. I never kept anything else in the car.

"Thanks. You didn't have to go out of your way, but I appreciate it." I find it odd he tracked me down at school, but Joseph is a little odd.

"You're welcome. I'm sorry I didn't bring it to you sooner." Joseph looks behind me where Danny took off. I look over my shoulder and he's standing by one of the buildings, talking to another guy. A football player, probably.

"Was he bothering you? Do you need help?"

I sigh. "No, he just said something that pissed me off. Nothing major just … boys can be stupid, you know?" I cringe. "Sorry, no offense."

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