Page 103 of Ghost Note

“Sometimes.”

“Danny, you don’t have to hide them from me. I had Ben, remember?”

“Seeing you with him when I first got here…” He tensed around me. “One of the top ten worst moments of my life.”

I ran my hand over his. “Well, I’m here now.”

“You are. So, we’re going to drink these beers, swim in that sea, roll around on this blanket, and then I’m going to fuck you so slowly, it might be tomorrow before we come up for air.”

“Best Friday ever,” I whispered, my grin breaking free.

That’s exactly what we did. We drank the beers, and we swam in the sea in only our T-shirts and underwear, letting the sun dry us out when we stepped back on the sand. We talked for hours, and I asked Danny so many questions about his new life. I found out he’d been across the world and back again, and his favourite place had been Italy. He couldn’t wait to go back and spend time on holiday there without a schedule to hold him back from exploring. New York had been both mind-blowing and a let down because he’d been pushed from building to building in the back of cars with blacked-out windows, only able to look up at the skyline from the back seat while sitting next to four other guys who stank of cigarettes and alcohol.

They’d hit the number one spot in the UK only once so far, but rock music wasn’t as popular as pop and dance, and they knew the battle they were dealing with there. Rock albums became history, and according to Danny, that’s what they wanted more than a fleeting hit record.

He was closest to Archer in the band, explaining that he was a solid guy who he could go to at any time of the day and talk to about anything. They’d often stay awake until the sun came up, drinking and telling tales of life back home. Archer’s girlfriend kept him grounded, and that in turn helped Danny stay tuned in to reality. Theo was the best man to have fun with. Fletch would go along with anything and everything, always up for a laugh. And even though Halo was the loudest and most well-known out of all the band members, he was the biggest mystery.

“It’s like he’s trying to be something he’s not,” Danny said, tossing a stone into the ocean. “One minute he’s high, bouncing off the walls, and the next he’s locked away in his room with the curtains drawn, seeking some kind of solace.”

“Sounds intense.”

“He is intense, but he’s good, too. If he thinks any of us are struggling, he’s there with a beer and a shitty joke to try to put a smile on our faces.”

I listened to him speak reverently about Jules and Rhett, saying how they’d gotten close since Jules had taken over as publicist for Front Row Frogs. He spoke about the band Youth Gone Wild, too, but I was losing track of all the names and everyone who had left an impression on him. Though, the mention of Saffron being thrown around like she was part of the band did bring a weird twist of both jealousy and shame to life. She’d been a part of Danny’s journey as much as his other band mates. If she’d been able to do it, why hadn’t I?

You can’t change the past, Daisy.

While he was lost in a story about some drummer he admired called Presley West, a tired yawn escaped me, only for Danny to catch sight of it before I managed to cover my mouth with my hand.

“Sleepy?” he asked, walking over to where I sat on the edge of the rocks.

“Little bit.”

“I suppose I have kept you up the last few nights.”

“Don’t you ever get tired?”

“I’ve learnt to live off a few hours here and there.” He held out his hand for me to take, and I did, letting him pull me to a stand until our chests were pressed up against each other’s again. “Do you want me to let you sleep? We can go and lie on the blanket over there for an hour before we head back?”

“I don’t want to spend our time sleeping, Danny.”

His lips twitched with amusement. “Then let me make it an hour to remember.”

And he did.

He laid me down on the blanket and climbed on top of me, nudging my legs apart before he pulled the blanket over us, so his arse was covered from any possible passers-by. Danny worked his magic, those expert fingers exploring and that heavenly tongue tasting before he slipped inside of me and rocked us both into the most rhythmic, sensual orgasm I’d ever had. Every time with him seemed stronger, more powerful than the last, and this was another new memory created in the midst of our old world. I devoured every second of it, not knowing when or if it would ever happen again.

Thirty-Five

Ihated leaving the beach. An aching sadness washed over me in the car on the journey back home. Danny stayed pretty quiet, too, both of us sitting there with our ocean-salt skin, sand-ridden hair, and sun-kissed faces. He’d only had one beer the entire time we were there, but I’d had three, and my barriers weren’t just down anymore; they’d crumbled entirely.

The last couple of days beside him had been a dream I didn’t want to wake up from.

We went back to my place to shower and change. Danny tugged a clean black T-shirt over his head that he’d picked up from his Gran’s along the way, covering those tattoos of his that I was growing to love more than anything. Especially that daisy.

“I’m going to be staying again, right?” he asked, with caution in his voice he didn’t need.

“I’d like that. You can leave your car in the spare parking space next to my garage around the back of the yard if you like? That way nobody will know you’re here.”

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