Chapter 6
Rocco
D anielle was sitting in the passenger seat, holding her phone, when I walked back in. She didn’t look up until I said, “Excuse me”.
“Sorry.” She moved her legs so I could pass.
“You don’t have to be sorry Giggles.” I moved past her with a smile.
She blinked, and I could feel her eyes on me as I walked to the kitchen area. I unlocked the fridge and stuck the wines inside the freezer to chill.
“What do you think? Grilled steaks or would you like something lighter?” I turned and looked back.
“What?”
“For dinner.” I clarified. “Would you like steaks or something different?” I looked back in the freezer. “I have salmon, cod, and I picked up those veggie patties you like. I also have chicken wings, we could either put them on the grill or we could use the air fryer I brought.”
“What are you doing?” She asked.
“Figuring out what we should do for dinner.” I closed the door and walked back to the front.
“Why are you acting like nothing is wrong?” Her eyes were narrowed as she looked me up and down.
“How should I be acting?” I sat in the driver’s seat and turned on the rig so I could let the slides out.
“I thought you were mad at me.”
“I’m not.”
“You’re not?” She crossed her arms.
“No.”
“So you took a walk, and all of a sudden you aren’t upset?” She questioned.
“I was never upset,” I told her. “I just needed to go purchase a bottle of wine in exchange for us staying here.”
“And did your new friend help you with that?” It was easy to hear the jealousy in Danni’s voice. “Is that why you’re all chill now?”
I let out a short laugh. “I was only gone a few minutes.” I raised my eyebrow and stared over at her. “You know I like to take my time. Even our quickies last long enough to make sure we both are satisfied.” Her cheeks went bright red.
“And why should I be mad that you told me what you want?” I shrugged. “We’ve always been honest with each other. Especially about what we want. There’s no reason that should change.”
“So what is this? You're trying to act like we’re friends now?”
“I never knew we weren’t friends. Isn’t that in the title? Friends with benefits?” I laughed as the color on her cheeks got brighter. “Either way, it doesn’t matter. We have at least four more days before we get to Tennessee. I say we make the best of them.”
I wasn’t ready to tell her I wanted to try being what she wanted. I had to know if I could do it first. There was no need to get both our hopes up if things were going to end once we reached our destination.
“So, steaks or cod?”
“Steaks.” She still looked suspicious, but I couldn’t blame her.
“Great,” I said. “I’ll pull out the grill and set up the chairs I brought, and how about you look through the fridge and see what you would like for a side?”
“Sure.”
I thought about kissing her again. That felt very boyfriend-like, but it also felt a little too soon to go there. Better to wait and see.
We went to work, and thirty minutes later, we were watching the sun set over the side of the mountain vineyard. The ocean out in the distance.
“This view is nice, but I prefer my family’s view more,” I told her.
“Heartland Point feels so close you’d swear you can reach out and touch it.
You’ll have to come out one day.” I had always been hesitant about inviting her to anything involving my family before, but I never doubted that they would love her.
Especially my mom and my aunt. Seb already knew her thanks to her being in real estate and him being on the city council.
“Do you bowl?” How had I never asked her this?
“Bowl?” Her eyebrow went up. “Like the game?”
“Yep.” I smiled. “We love to bowl, but I will warn you. We get really competitive about it.”
“I know.” She replied. “I’ve been to your charity event before.”
She was talking about the Pin Me For Charity event that my sister-in-law started.
“Really?” How had I missed her? “That’s Antonia’s baby.” I laughed. “Everyone thinks that my brother started it, but it was all her. She wanted to do something in honor of her mother, who has advanced kidney failure due to having sickle cell.”
“I didn’t know that.” She pushed her salad around her plate. “It’s a great fundraiser.”
“It really is.” I took a sip of my wine. “Maybe next year you can be on my team.” It was normally just me and two of my cousins, but I’d love to have her with me. She grunted, but didn’t say anything else.
Maybe I was trying to change too fast, but if I was being honest with myself, I had always wanted her to be more a part of my world. There was a lot of my life I would have loved to share with her, but if I did, then I’d have to admit we were in a relationship.
Were we already in a relationship?
Was it that simple? Had we been more serious than I thought this whole time? Had all the barriers I put up been for nothing?
I didn’t say a lot more as we finished eating. My mind was too confused. Too caught up in questioning every moment of the last year. By the time the sun set, I was still lost.
Danni put up the food as I put away the grill and the chairs and made sure we didn’t leave any trash or anything outside. When I came in, she was already in the bathroom. I assumed she was putting on her pajamas.
I stripped down to my boxers and climbed into bed. I wasn’t sure how she would feel about us sharing, but neither of us would fit comfortably on the couch. I rested my back against the pillows and waited. Sure enough, when she came out, she stopped and looked right at me.
“We’ve been in bed together before.” I pointed out.
“Things are different now.”
“No one says we have to fuck.” I wished the word back as soon as I said it. If we were going to do the relationship thing then it wouldn’t just be fucking.
“Look, I know how to keep my hands to myself.” I didn’t want to, but I would do it for now. “It would just be easier and more comfortable for both of us if we shared. And considering we have a longer drive day tomorrow, I’d like to get as much rest as possible before we head out.”
A gust of wind passed her lips before her shoulders dropped and she walked over to the bed. “Fine, but stay on your side.”
I held my hands up. “I promise I’ll try.” It was the best I could do.
She got in and slid as far away from me as possible. I turned away from her and hit the switch to turn off the lights. The room went black and completely quiet with only a sliver of moonlight filtering in. I lay there trying to forget she was beside me so I could get at least some sleep.
“What’s going on, Rocco?” Danni’s voice was soft behind me. I flipped, so I was lying on my back and saw she was doing the same.
“What do you mean?” I stared at the ceiling and tried to match my voice to hers.
“Tonight felt like a date.”
“Did it?” I let out a breath. So I did remember how to do some things right.
“Yes.”
I went to my side so I could face her. “I just wanted to spend time with you.” God, I wanted to touch her. I had to ball my hand into a fist to keep from reaching out.
She twisted her head. Those amazing eyes of hers looked right into mine. We stayed that way for a short time before she moved closer and put her head against my chest. Her arm went around my waist.
“This doesn’t change anything.” Her breath warmed my skin.
“Okay.” I couldn’t agree to that, and I had a feeling that if I repeated the line I used earlier, I’d get hit.
I went back to lying on my back and pulled her closer.
My arm went around her and held her as tightly as possible.
My heart pounded in my chest. I wasn’t sure if it was fear or excitement.
I dropped a quick kiss on the top of her head and closed my eyes.
It didn’t take any time at all for me to drift off into the best night's sleep of my life.