Chapter 22
Chapter Twenty-Two
“Shit. Shit. Shit.”
I jerked up from the couch where I’d been dozing just in time to see two figures barreling through the front door. Danny’s arm was slung over Jaylon’s shoulder as the two stumbled inside.
“It’s fine. You’re going to do more damage trying to help me,” Danny said in his familiar deep rumble.
I sprang to my feet, glancing outside. It was way darker than when the guys typically got home. I must have been napping for over an hour.
“What’s going on? Oh my God!” I gasped as soon as I saw Danny. His forehead was all cut up, and blood still streaked his cheeks.
“I took a small hit to a tree trying to dodge a hidden rock. It’s nothing.” He said it quick, trying to brush it off.
“That needs stitches,” I said, grabbing his chin so I could better examine the deep cut.
“We butterflied it together.” Danny pointed to the little stickers barely keeping the wound closed.
“He’s a touch out of it,” Jaylon said. “Probably a minor concussion. Nothing serious.”
“Concussion? We should go to the hospital. Is the nearest one in town?” I had already started walking to the door, ready to throw on my coat and boots, but Danny reached out a hand to grab my wrist and halt me in my tracks.
“No.” He narrowed his eyes at the suggestion. “I know my body, and I know it’s not that serious. They’ll just rattle off basic concussion protocol and send me on my way with a massive bill.”
“And stitch you up,” I added.
He shook his head, a determined set to his jaw. “It’s fine. I’ve gotten banged up enough times to know when it’s serious and when it’s not.”
I hated that. Like he’d gotten injured so often he was an expert at it.
“But—”
“It’s fine.”
“Still, I’d feel better if we—"
“Trace, drop it, okay?” His voice wasn’t harsh, but the dismissal still stung like being slapped.
Danny’s eyes instantly softened as he watched my face fall in real time. “I just need to get cleaned up, okay? Will you help me?”
I looked at Jaylon, hoping he’d back me up or something, but he just shrugged. Barrett had walked in sometime during my panic. He stood by the door, still wearing all his snow gear. He looked uncomfortable, scratching the back of his neck with his hand, and he wouldn’t make eye contact with me.
“It really wasn’t that bad of a fall, Trace,” he said. “His pupils aren’t even dilated.”
“Yeah,” Jaylon added, hovering next to me and Danny, almost as if he were trying to calm the situation. “His helmet didn’t even come off. We’ll keep an eye on him, but I think he’s okay.”
My hands shook, but all I could do was nod.
“Come here,” Danny whispered, pulling me away from the living room and toward his bedroom.
I allowed him to lead me. I was having a hard time thinking straight while simultaneously bottling up the emotions raging inside me. On autopilot, I went straight to his bathroom and turned on the shower. He lingered behind me. I didn’t turn around, but I could feel him watching me carefully.
“It really wasn’t a bad fall,” he insisted.
“You’ve said that.” I didn’t look up at him. Tears brewed behind my eyes and the last thing I wanted was for him to see them.
“It wouldn’t be a ski season if I didn’t hit a tree or two,” he said lightly, as if trying to make a joke of it.
I scoffed. “If you say so.”
The steam from the shower began to fog up the mirror. Danny placed a hand gently around my forearm, spinning me around to face him. He hooked his index finger underneath my chin and tipped my head back so I was forced to meet his gaze.
“Are you crying?” His eyebrows drew together.
“No.” But as I blinked, a few tears broke free.
“Fuck.” He pulled his hand away and raked it through his hair.
“Sorry that I’m worried about you.” I didn’t bother hiding the bitterness in my voice. “I know it’s a fatal flaw where you’re concerned.”
He sucked in a few breaths.
The last thing I wanted to do right now was fight.
We were leaving for Nashville tomorrow; he was coming with me on tour.
I wanted things to be good between us. We would continue to get used to each other.
He would eventually not be so spooked that I cared about him.
We were finally moving in the right direction, and this was just a passing phase we had to get through.
“This wasn’t even a bad fall. I’m fine.” I couldn’t tell if he was saying the words to himself or to me.
I pulled my face out of his hands. “So? I’m allowed to care. You’re making it worse because I feel like I have to hide that I’m worried about you.”
“You’re worried about me?” he asked.
“Of course I’m worried about you! You’re traipsing off to ski dangerous unmarked terrain every day.
You get injured all the time. But you know what’s worse than being worried?
Constantly having to pretend like I’m not.
It’s like some weird version of pretending to be the cool, chill girl.
I hate it, Danny. Just let me care about you how I need to care about you! ”
His jaw tensed as I finished my outburst. He stared down at me, blood still coating the gash in his forehead. It was silent for a beat. Then two. I stood there, vulnerable, just waiting for him to say something. Anything.
Finally, he blew out a slow breath and slowly shook his head. “I didn’t realize you were holding so much back,” he said.
“That’s a lie.” My voice was flat. He saw me. Better than anyone. He knew what I was holding back. He saw every time I flinched when he showed me new footage of the three of them flying down that mountain.
His blue eyes met mine. “I hate that I’m putting you through this.”
My eyes slammed shut as I tried to steady myself. I wrapped my arms around his waist, burying my head into his chest.
“You’re not putting me through anything,” I said into his shirt.
“It’s normal to worry about people you care about.
That doesn’t mean I’m fragile. And it doesn’t mean I’m going to break when you come home with cuts and bruises.
The only thing that might break me is constantly putting on a mask of indifference. ”
He put his arms around me, holding me close. “You shouldn’t have to hide anything from me.”
I made a split-second decision to be brave. To bare everything to him. I pulled away but just so that I could look up at him. “I love you, Danny Miller.”
Something flashed almost imperceptibly in his eyes. I barely had a chance to register it before he was kissing me, slow and rough all at the same time. Possessive.
When he broke away, he kept his hand on my jaw. “I love you too, Trace Davis.”
I smiled through my wet tears and kissed him again.
We showered together, with me slowly and carefully cleaning his cut. When we were done, he started a fire in the stove in his bedroom, and we laid down on the rug, facing each other. We were already packed and ready to go first thing in the morning, before the sun was even up.
He held me as we fell asleep, but I couldn’t shake a strange feeling.
I couldn’t get his face out of my head. His expression when I told him I was worried about him. There was something there that looked a lot like fear.
Everything should feel so right, but something lingered. Something wrong. A feeling that this might all blow up in my face.
I tried my best to push it aside, but I didn’t get much sleep.
“I’m going to miss you both,” I said, throwing my arms around Jaylon’s broad shoulders before moving on to give Barrett a squeeze.
“We’ll miss you too, Trace,” he said.
“Yeah, don’t be a stranger,” Jaylon added.
Danny was already outside, putting our stuff in the car. I could hardly believe my little impulsive drive to his cabin had resulted in this extended stay. It had been the reset I’d desperately needed. I was re-inspired. I was rested. I was ready to stand up for myself.
I was in love.
“You ready?” Danny called from the doorway.
He looked adorable in his worn wool jacket and beanie. He seemed nervous, but I chalked that up to him coming on tour with me.
I stood on my tiptoes to kiss his cheek on the way out.
He’d never been to Nashville—heck, he’d never even seen me perform before.
I was giddy at the thought. It meant everything to me that he was coming along.
It worked out perfectly that the Denver show was a couple of weeks away—he could join me for that, then come back here to do more filming.
We hadn’t ironed out the details for anything after that, but I knew we’d make it work.
We piled into the rental car and Danny began backing it out of the long snowy driveway, his hand on the back of my headrest.
The sun hadn’t fully risen yet, but it had started to brighten the sky with pink.
I took it all in as we made the thirty-minute drive to the nearest airport.
Even though the small airport only had a few gates and flight times, we’d been able to get tickets to Nashville with a layover in Denver.
It would cost a small fortune to return the rental car here, but it was worth it not to have to make the long drive back to Denver.
When we pulled into the near-empty parking garage, Danny pulled the car up to the drop-off location and got out.
I hadn’t realized until that moment just how quiet the drive had been. Likely because I was still tired and hadn’t yet consumed an appropriate amount of caffeine.
I stretched and yawned as I walked around to the trunk. Danny opened it and I saw my luggage sitting there. He took my bag out wordlessly and set it in front of me.
I blinked, looked down at my bag, then at the empty trunk before gazing back at Danny. It wasn’t quite computing.
To Danny’s credit, he didn’t look away. There was pain in his eyes, but it was mostly masked by a hard edge I hadn’t noticed before.
“Where’s your stuff?” I asked carefully, fearing I already knew the answer.
“Trace…”
“Where is your bag?” I demanded, leaning into the trunk and searching for the duffel bag I’d helped him pack two days ago.