Page 75 of Ghost Note

My Zee.

“Never heard of them.”

Danny turned around sharply, all humour falling from his face. “Daisy…” he warned.

“It sounds kinda noisy.”

“Noisy?”

“Yeah.” I scrunched up my nose. “Dum dum dum dum… dum dum dum dum dum dum. That’s all I hear.”

“Hold your tongue. That, there, is one of the greatest bass riffs ever composed. Can’t you hear it?” He brought his hands in front of him, his air guitar firmly in place as he bit down on that damn lip again and began to match the deep notes of the song perfectly. “That’s a Jimi Hendrix influenced riff if ever there was one. You’ve gotta wonder if Hendrix ever knew how big he’d become—how many artists he’d influence with his shit, including Jack Bruce.”

“I’ve heard of Hendrix.”

“I should fucking hope you have.”

“But who is the Bruce guy?”

“JackBruce, Zee. Come on…” His hands fell, slapping down by his thighs in frustration as he looked at me, completely appalled. “Didn’t I teach you anything in our time together?”

“I learnt how to roll a condom down on you using only my mouth.”

“Damn. Point to you.”

I tipped my head and brought my mug back to my mouth, cradling it with both hands.

“I hope you never tried that trick with that Ben guy, though. I might get jealous.”

“Shit…Ben!” I gasped, dropping my mug back down and running a hand over my head. “I’d forgotten about him.”

“What about him?” When I looked up, Danny had turned away from me, and I thought I saw a little tension in his shoulders as he concentrated on the sizzling bacon and the eggs he was stirring.

“I have a lunch date with him today.”

Danny froze, and his shoulders definitely tensed. It took a second or two before he cleared his throat and began moving the eggs around again. “A date?”

“Not a date, date. It’s just lunch.”

He nodded once. “Awesome. What time is that happening?”

“I don’t know. Around one-ish, maybe.”

Danny’s song ended, sliding straight into another one I didn’t recognise, but the playfulness had gone from him now, and I didn’t know what to make of that or how to deal with it.

“It’s just to say thank you for…”

Danny turned and began spooning the eggs onto two plates. He looked up at me and offered me a weak smile. “You’ve got a life here. You don’t need to explain it to me. I have no rights anymore. I gave those away.”

“Then why do you look like it’s an issue?”

“It’s not.”

“Danny…?”

He dropped the empty pan back on the stove, turned the gas off, and he reached over for the tray of bacon before he began serving that onto the plates, too. “Just tell me something, and be honest about it,” he said, looking up at me through cautious eyes. “Does this guy stand a chance with you?”

A part of me wanted him to believe that Ben did stand a chance. Playing petty games had never been my thing but being a doormat for Danny’s desires wasn’t exactly appealing either.

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