Page 69 of Say Something
God, I remembered saying that. I remembered thinking that. Hell, sometimes I even still thought that. Itwasn’tfair, but that didn’t mean I hated the mother or the child. It only ever made me hatemyselfmore. It always made it seem like the entire female population functioned so much better than I did.
“I hatedme, Danny. I never hated them,” I confessed.
“I didn’t know, Jess. You never really talked to me about that stuff. About how you were really feeling. I was worried about it, so I figured I’d feel you out. Darcy lives in California, so I didn’t think they’d ever just show up like they did. Darcy came for homecoming, which is completely random, but that’s irrelevant. I still should have told you.”
“And I shouldn’t have assumed the worst. I just couldn’t imagine an innocent explanation to why a little girl was calling you that. Calling you Da-da. It freaked me out.”
“I’m sorry I kept it from you. I was trying to protect you. To protect us. I don’t want to lose you again.”
“You won’t lose me,” I promised him. “I will learn to talk to you instead of hiding from you.”
“And I will give you a little more credit going forward. You’re a strong woman, Jess. I love you,” he said, brushing his fingertips down my cheek.
I leaned into his soothing touch. “I love you, too.”
He held me against him, and I heard him sniff. “How much did you drink last night?”
I groaned. “Too much.”
He shook his head. “We need to find you some healthy outlets for your emotions.”
“Like what, carrots?” I cringed at the thought of eating carrots anytime I got upset.
Danny gave me a funny look. “No, not carrots. Something like running.” This time I gavehima funny look. “Or coloring or something.”
“Okay, I’ll lay off the sauce.”
He laughed softly and held me tighter. “You can have a drink if you want, I just don’t want you using it to self-medicate. I can think of other ways for you to do that.” He winked and my entire body heated at the possibilities.
“I like the sound of that,” I whispered, climbing into his lap.
“Yeah, not now,” he laughed. “You smell like a brewery.”
“Hey, now,” I said, playfully slapping his chest. “All right. I’m going to take a shower.”
“Good,” he said, laying back on my bed as I stood up.
“Is Melissa still here?” I asked as I pulled open my dresser drawers to find some comfortable clothes to change into after my shower.
“Nah, she said to tell you she’ll see you tomorrow at your parents.”
“Yeah, Sunday dinner,” I said, deciding on gray sweatpants and a worn out college t-shirt. I turned around and froze.
Danny hadn’t spent any time in my cottage bedroom before today, and seeing him there, lying on my bed, hands behind his head and feet stretched out, with those whiskey colored walls in the background caused me to pause. The sight was so familiar, yet so new and different. I’d seen him in this exact position at our old home hundreds of times.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Perfect,” I told him as I pulled my t-shirt over my head.
He stared unabashedly at me with so much heat in his eyes. I stripped off my shorts and kicked them towards the hamper basket in the corner of my room. Danny licked his lips and I smirked.
“Want to wash my back?” I asked as I turned around, giving him a full view of my back side as I walked to the bathroom.
He was off the bed and on his feet faster than I could blink.
Under the hot spray, his hands roamed my body as the water sluiced over my skin, and I thanked every deity I’d ever heard of that Danny and I had found our way back to one another.
Finally.
