Page 101 of Ghost Note
“Is that what you want?”
“I…” didn’t know what I wanted. The only thing Ididknow was that I wanted to change the distorted view of him I’d created to survive. I wanted Danny from the photos back there, and I wanted the bad version to stay gone forever while I rolled around in memories of us making love on my bed, the fun we’d had in the limo, and the falling asleep together on rooftops. “This time last week, I didn’t want you or any of this. Now here I am, with my stupid heart beating like crazy, and a lightness in my chest I haven’t felt in so damn long, Danny. Tomorrow I could feel differently, and who knows what Saturday will bring. I’m only just figuring out how long a day really is and how much I can change in that day. I want to enjoy Friday before I think about Saturday. Is that okay?”
“At this point, Daisy, you could ask me for the sky, and I’d find a way to peel it away from the world in one long strip so I could roll it up and hand it over, just to see you smile.”
Then, stay,I wanted to say… but those words remained locked away inside my straining heart.
I loved him too much to cage him up now. He was a man created to live, and he belonged out there in the world, riding waves, surviving skateboard competitions, taking to the stage, and climbing any mountain he had to climb.
It wasn’t his job to stay. It was mine to figure out how to go.
Thirty-Four
Call me a glutton for my own destruction, but I let Danny stay in my bed for another night. I saw no point burning myself just a little bit. If I was about to go up in flames, it was time for me to roll around in the fire that was my love life and deal with the wounds later.
After wandering through his parents’ house, reminiscing about the times we’d spent together under that roof and sneaking first kisses in his bedroom, Danny had left a little lighter than he’d entered it. Florence had taken good care of what the Silvers had left behind while she’d been alive. Now Danny had to make the decision about what to do with the rest of it.
Once back at my place, we’d drank a bottle of wine together, talking and laughing about our youth, and then we’d made our way to my bedroom to spend the night making love—and it had been making love.
There was a tenderness to his every touch, even when he was grinding over me and slamming in hard, our breaths mingling together and our bodies creating so much heat, we were soaking wet. Danny never took his eyes from mine when he was inside me, and my name fell from his swollen lips over and over and over until we were both exhausted and sated.
If I could ever be sated when it came to him.
I’d always want more.
A new day arrived with me in his arms. After two sleepy groans ofGood morning,Danny slipped inside me from behind, holding my body to his as though it was impossible to let go. He trailed kisses up and down my neck, with his teeth occasionally nipping my shoulder. Those snippets of pain made everything inside me tighten. It stung to love him, and I was becoming addicted to the bittersweet reminder.
After we showeredtogether, we dressed and ate breakfasttogether, and then it was time for me to head to the shop for a few hours, meaning we had to go our separate ways. At the door, Danny grabbed my hand and spun me around until I was pressed up against it.
“Don’t go to work today.”
“I have to earn money.”
“No, you don’t. I’ll give you anything you need.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” I scowled.
“I mean it. Tell me what you make in a day, and I’ll cover the costs. I’ll pay you to stay off work—to spend time with me.”
“I’m pretty sure that’s classed as illegal sex working.”
“I never said anything about sex.” He smirked.
“You don’t have to say it for me to know it would happen anyway.”
“Fair point.”
“Plus, Gina would kill me.”
“I’ll deal with Gina.”
“Oh, yeah? Have you got her wrapped around your finger, too, now?”
“No, but she knows how important you are to me, and I can put the blame on me instead of you taking shit from her.”
“I don’t know…”
“Please, Zee.” Danny closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to mine. “Please. Just one day. Stay with me.”
