Page 14 of See You Soon
Our eyes lock into each other and I feel him leaning in more towards me, closing the distance, slowly.
I can't handle it. I can't handle the fire that's blazing in between my thighs, and I want to run. I'm so shy and I hate myself for it.
“How tall are you by the way?” I blurt out, stopping him from getting closer. Danny's face softens.
“6’6.”
I look at him, really looked at him and I can see a scar peeking out of the sleeve of his shirt. I lift my hand to it, touching it.
"Oh... is this a scar? How'd you get this?" I ask, intrigued. Danny looks down at my hand trailing his scar. That's when I see a glimpse of the scar's length. It didn't end there; it looks like it keeps going but I can't see where.
"On one of the deployments... with Paul actually." Danny laughs as he watches my hand on his tricep.
"Can I see how far it goes?" I ask curiosity gnawing at me. Danny shrugs, drinking more of his whiskey, then placing his glass down on a nearby table. I was confused, all he had to do was lift his slee—
Oh...
I was not expecting Danny to slip his shirt off over his head. The shirt brushes over his dark, sandy blonde hair. I was now facing his very well-toned, tattooed back. The scar went from his shoulder blade all the way down to the back of his tricep, like someone had slashed him with a knife, diagonally. He has a massive realistic-looking tattoo of a Grim Reaper engraved in flames all over his back. Whoever the tattoo artist was did a perfect job well done. It looks so detailed like a photograph. Finally, I get a full view of his half sleeve. There are angels with wings and demons wrapped into each other tattooed beautifully on his arm.
I walk closer to him, eyeing his sun-kissed tan skin. I looked at him for permission with my eyes before I touched the scar, again.
"May I?"
Danny nods.
I touch the scar following it up to his right shoulder. The scar feels soft underneath my fingertips.
"How'd you get it?" I ask. I can't imagine being wounded like this. The pain, the stories, and the injuries he carries due to these deployments. I wanted to know them all. I start to feel myself going sad knowing he had suffered through pain. Every piece of evidence on his body looks like he's been through hell.
"I don’t want to dampen tonight with those stories… so I won’t share, for your sake." He says putting his shirt back on. My heart sinks a little, I shouldn't pry like this, but I respect his decision.
"Oh... okay I get it." I half-smile.
"It's just I don't think it would do any good sharing it but maybe one day soon." He says as he starts to walk away from me. My heart jumps a little with giddy at the thought of us continuing to hang out.
Danny reaches out for my hand and I grab it. He leads me back into the living room. I sit down on the couch and cross my legs together as Danny grabs the TV remote and turns it on, flipping through the channels.
"I want an update on the weather."
"Good idea. I've got to check in with my mom. See how she's doing." I take my phone out of my pocket and send her a text.
Danny’s still standing in front of me, watching the weather channel and I’m internally freaking out. I'm going to spend the night with one of my brother's friends. It feels so wrong to be here. I feel like I'm pushing my boundaries for the first time in a long time and I'm secretly loving it. Either way, my mom must be so worried about me since I haven't returned home. I'm puzzled by the fact she hasn't been harassing me yet.
Mom, everything okay? I'm staying the night with him because of the hurricane. I should be back home tomorrow when the hurricane has already passed through.
I wonder how she's going to react to me telling her that I'm staying the night with a guy I barely know. I bite my lip, nervous. My mom replies two minutes later. I'm bouncing my knee up and down, awaiting her response.
MOM: Everything is good. That's the smartest thing to do right now. Stay with Danny until the hurricane passes. By the way, I recognized him. He's one of Paul's friends from the military. I knew he looked familiar.
Great. Am I the only one who didn't know Danny? My family has met him before me.
ME: Wait. How do you know him?
"Damn, the hurricane still hasn't weakened, but it will soon." Danny's voice interrupts my thoughts and I set my phone down. I looked back at him as he bends down to sit next to me. Then I was hit by his cologne scent again and I melted. His smell was so good.
MOM: Paul would send text me pictures when he was gone mija. Danny appeared in them sometimes.
I smile before turning my phone off.
