11. Danny
11
DANNY
A fter my chat with Anders, we have lunch at the diner, do a little shopping, then come home. Since then, I’ve spent the last couple of hours counting down the moments until Parker finishes work and gets here.
Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I’d be the type of guy that sits and watches the clock until his woman comes home, but here I am, desperate to lay eyes on her and start the process of truly making her mine.
Since Anders called me on my bullshit decision to keep mine and Parker’s friendship friendly, I’ve been plotting on exactly what I can do to convince her that she wants me, as much as I want her.
Just like Anders suggested, I’ve thought about everything I know about the Barnetts and all the crazy things they’ve done to tie their women down. Nothing resonated with me apart from kidnapping her and keeping her trapped until she fell in love with me. But in spite of my desperation, kidnapping really should be a Hail Mary last resort and not a first pick option.
The difference between them and me is that Parker and I are friends. We’ve been friends—best friends—for a long time, and that changes everything. Our dynamic is already established. I don’t need to make her like me, I just need to make her want me, and after the other night, I think I figured out how to make that happen.
She was being flippant when she told me she’d be a crappy roommate because of her sex toy collection and inability to stay quiet when she comes, but she wasn’t actually lying. When we were packing up her apartment, I saw the entire drawer full of toys she tried to sneak into a box.
I have zero issues with silicone, vibrating helpers. Once she’s mine, she’ll never need a plastic cock to make her come, but that doesn’t mean that we won’t have a great time playing with them. A lot of men resent sex toys, but I’ve never understood why.
Your girl wants a threesome, but you aren’t willing to share or cross swords with another dude? No problem, find a big dildo, instant double penetration without the third person.
Your girl wants to be fucked seven ways till Sunday but can’t come unless her clit’s being tickled? No problem, that’s what wands and vibrators are for.
Your girl wants to try out anal play, but you’ve got a big dick? No problem, anal training plugs will gradually stretch her out until she can take you.
I’m all for working smarter, not harder, and that’s what sex toys can do in the bedroom, and her collection of various-shaped cocks and buzzing, flicking toys turns me the fuck on. Six days ago, I was watching her cunt swallow a silicone cock, and she fucking loved it. I plan to make her love it again.
But as much as I’m looking forward to her getting home just so I can be near her, I want the night to come quickly. I want the daylight hours when she’s just my friend to fade into the gray of night when she’s fair game.
Tonight, I plan to coax her into playing with me again. I’ll claim her night after night until that ownership bleeds into the early morning, then the day, and soon she’ll be mine every moment of every day for the rest of forever.
Glancing at my watch, I try to figure out how long it’ll be until she gets home, but there’s too many variables. Depending on how the day went, she could be chatting with Penn and Bay or finishing up a job, or if she had a terrible day, she could have gone for a drive to try and make herself feel better.
I jolt when my phone beeps with an incoming message.
Parks: Having dinner with a friend, didn’t want you to worry. Be back later. P x
What the actual fuck? What friend could she be eating with? She doesn’t know anyone but me in town. I haven’t even had a chance to introduce her to my team or the rest of the Barnetts yet.
Penn or Bay could have invited her to their place for dinner. But surely she’d say she was having dinner with the Barnetts, not an unidentified friend .
Before I can stop myself, I pull up Penn’s number and hit dial.
“Hey, Danny, how’s it going?” Penn asks, his voice upbeat.
“Hey, I’m good. Is Parker having dinner at your place tonight?” I ask, my tone snippy.
“No, I planned to ask her, but she left with Henry before I had the chance.”
“Who the fuck is Henry?” I growl, anger so hot and blinding racing through my veins, I hear my joints cracking from where I’m gripping my cell so tight.
“He’s our office temp.”
“So, you don’t even know this dude, and you just let her leave with him?” I’m being an asshole, but I can’t think straight enough to stop myself.
“She’s my employee, not my daughter, Danny. I can’t tell her who she can or can’t see after work.”
“Where are they? Where were they going?” I snarl, storming across the room, shoving my feet into shoes, and throwing open the front door before I can think better of it.
“I have no idea, but her car’s still behind the shop, so wherever they are, they walked.”
Starting my car, my tires screech as I pull away from my house and speed across the ranch and toward the road that leads down to the mountain.
“So, it’s like that?” Penn asks, startling me, because I’d forgotten the call was still connected.
“Yeah, it is.”
“I figured,” Penn says, chuckling amusedly. “There’s something you should know about Henry.”
“I don’t give a fuck about Henry. But he needs to know she’s mine, and he needs to keep his hands to his fucking self.”
Someone steps out into the path of my car just as I reach the turnoff that exits onto the street. Slamming my foot against the brake, I growl as a shocked Anders, dressed in running gear, stomps to the passenger door and throws it open.
“What the fuck, Danny? You almost hit me,” he snaps.
“Get in.”
“What?”
“Get. In.”
Slipping into the seat, he closes the door, and I lurch forward, pressing the gas pedal to the floor as I speed down the winding mountain roads.
“What’s happened? Is everything okay?” Anders asks, his annoyance instantly replaced with concern.
“She’s on a fucking date,” I snarl.
“What? Who?” he asks, his brow furrowed in confusion.
“Parker. She’s on a fucking date.”
The sound of amused laughter vibrates through my speakers. “Danny,” Penn starts. “About Henry?—”
“If you find out where they are, let me know,” I say, speaking over him, then ending the call before he can say another word.
“Wait. You almost ran me down because Parker is on a date?” Anders asks slowly.
“She doesn’t get to fucking date other men. She’s mine,” I hiss, sounding like a fucking psycho.
“Jesus, whoever she’s on a date with, she only met them today, it’s not serious. Let it go. Storming in there is only going to piss her off.”
“I’m not giving it a chance to get fucking serious. Whoever this guy is, I’ll fucking kill him, then I’m going to make sure she knows she belongs to me.”
Sighing, Anders rubs at his forehead with his fingers. “This isn’t going to end well,” he warns.
“It’ll end with her date knowing she’s not available. Sounds like a perfect ending to me.”
“She’s going to be pissed at you for crashing her date.”
Anders’s calm, rational voice does nothing to break through the wall of crazy I’m existing behind right now. Deep inside I know that barging into her date and behaving like a caveman isn’t the right thing to do, but I’m irrational enough not to care.
She’s mine, and I won’t allow anyone even an ounce of hope that she could be theirs.
I make it into town in record time. Rockhead Point is a small town, and there’re only a few restaurants you’d take a date to. Slowing to a stop outside the first, I jump out of the car, leaving my engine running, and stomp over to the front door. Throwing it open, I march inside, scanning the room for any sign of Parker and the dead guy she’s eating with.
When I’m sure she’s not here, I march back outside, get into the car, wait for a shocked-looking Anders to get back in too, then head for the next restaurant.
When I’ve repeated my madness in every fancy restaurant in town, I pull to the curb and kill the Escalade’s engine. “Where the fuck are they?” I growl.
“Maybe they went to Bozeman?” Anders suggests quietly.
“They walked from the garage. Penn said Parker’s car was still in the lot.”
“Maybe they went to get coffee instead of dinner.”
Climbing out of the car, I wait for Anders to get out, then activate the locks. “Let’s check Wake Up and Go Go, then.”
Striding down the street, I pass Granny Annie’s diner and stop in my tracks. In the back corner in a booth is Parker, sitting opposite a guy that I don’t recognize. Grabbing my cell from my pocket, I pull up Penn’s number and hit dial.
“Tell me about Henry,” I order.
Penn’s bark of laughter is loud. “He’s twenty-two, he’s our office temp and…” He trails off, but I can’t wait for his response.
“And,” I prompt.
“And he’s gay.”
“Fuck,” I hiss, deflating as all of my misplaced anger drains to my feet.
“If you’d have listened earlier, I’d have told you all of that,” Penn says, his tone smug. Asshole.
“Shit.”
“What?” Anders asks, his gaze firmly fixed on my girl and the guy.
“Bye, Penn,” I say, ignoring his laughter as I end the call.
“What did he say?” Anders asks, his eyes still laser-focused on my girl.
“She’s mine,” I snarl possessively.
I don’t know if it’s my tone, or my words, or what, but something draws Anders’s attention, and he snaps his head around to look at me.
“She’s mine,” I repeat, looking him in the eyes and making sure he knows I’m not fucking budging.
“Who?” he asks.
“Parker. She’s mine. Eyes off.”
“Not looking at her,” he says, turning to gaze through the window again.
“Then who?” I ask, scanning the other tables, looking for someone Anders could be fixated on, but the restaurant is mainly full of older couples and families.
“Him,” he whispers softly, almost reverently.
My eyes go wide, and I feel my mouth drop open. I don’t care that Anders likes dudes; love is love. But what’s so shocking is that I had no idea. Anders and I have worked closely together for a year and a half, and I had no inkling that he was gay.
“Him?” I question.
“What?” Blinking, he drags his eyes from the table, but I can tell it pains him to do it.
“Fuck, it got you too, didn’t it?” I question, smirking.
“What got me?”
“The Barnett bullshit. You took one look at that guy, and you haven’t been able to look away. I didn’t even know you were gay.”
“Bi,” he corrects.
“Who cares. You’re gone for that guy after one look. I honestly thought all the Barnett love at first sight stuff was bullshit, until just this minute, because I literally just saw it happen.”
“His name is Henry?” Anders asks, not denying that he just fell in love.
“He’s twenty-two, a temp, and gay,” I say, relaying exactly what Penn just told me.
“Too young,” Anders whispers.
“Nah, it’s not that big of an age gap,” I argue. “Let’s go say hi,” I urge, all of my own crazy gone, now that I know Henry’s not a threat.
“No,” Anders snaps, his expression horrified as he spins to look at me.
“I’m going in there, so you are too. Why wouldn’t you want to? He’s yours.”
“He’s not mine,” he protests.
“Dude, do I have to repeat back to you what you told me this morning?” I ask, arching a triumphant brow at him.
Inhaling a sharp breath, he exhales slowly, resigned.
“Fine. But do not tell him, or anyone else about the Barnett stuff, or me,” he hisses, pointing a finger at me.
“Dude, I’d never out you. Not that anyone would care.”
“I know no one would care, that’s not why I haven’t told any of you. It’s just none of your damn business where I like to stick my dick.”
“That’s true, but we’re your friends, your family, and hiding a part of yourself is kind of shitty.”
Sighing again, he nods. “I never planned to hide my sexuality; it just never came up. I took this job because I was getting away from a messy situation at my last firehouse. I wasn’t looking to drag that shit here with me. After a while of not saying I was bi, it felt weird to just announce it, so I didn’t.”
Nodding, I slap him on the back. “I get it, and like I said, I’d never out you. Either way, your guy is having dinner with my girl, so let’s go join them.”
The scent of warm fries and burgers hits my nose the moment I push open the door and step into the diner. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve eaten here, but the oddly familiar comfort that I feel being here never stops surprising me.
“Table for two?” a waitress that I vaguely recognize asks.
“No, we’re going to join them,” I say, pointing toward the table where Parker and Henry are seated.
Nodding, the waitress walks away, already focused on something else. Leading the way, I shuffle past the tables of diners, not stopping until I’m standing at the end of their booth.
“Danny?” Parker says, her cheeks heating as she stares up at me.
“Hey, beautiful. Anders and I were just walking past and spotted you through the window. Can we join you?” I ask, slipping into the booth beside her before she has a chance to answer.
“Oh, err, yeah, I guess. But we already ordered,” she says.
“That’s okay. Introduce me to your friend.”
“You first,” she sasses, and my dick twitches.
“Parker, this is my friend and teammate, Anders. Anders, this is my girl, Parker.”
“Nice to meet you, Parker,” Anders says, his attention divided between my girl and his guy.
“Nice to meet you too,” Parker says politely. “This is Henry. He and I work together at the garage. Henry, this is my…” She trails off like she’s not sure how to describe me. “Danny.”
“Hi, Henry,” I say, holding my hand out to him to shake. When he reaches across the table and his fingers touch mine, Anders lets out a grumbling growl that he quickly disguises by clearing his throat.
“Hello, Henry,” Anders purrs, slipping into the seat beside him.
Henry freezes, literally freezes. “Nice to meet you both,” he whispers, his voice small.
When a waitress carrying two plates appears at the end of the table, it shatters the seriously intense moment that was shared between us all.
“I have a burger, medium well, no mayo, extra fries.”
“That’s mine,” Parker says.
“And loaded tots.”
“That’s mine,” Henry says, his cheeks turning pink.
“Did you order anything else, because I don’t have another ticket for this table?” the waitress asks, her brow furrowed.
“No, we just got here, but I’ll have the bacon double cheeseburger with a side of loaded fries and onion rings,” I say.
“I’ll have the nachos with chili,” Anders adds, neither of us needing to see a menu to order.
“Drinks?” she asks, her attention on her order pad.
“Coffee, for me,” Anders says.
“Can I get a chocolate shake, thick, please.”
Nodding, she backs away from the table, still writing.
“You do realize what you just ordered was like five thousand calories?” Parker asks.
“Yeah, but I can get a snack at home later,” I say with a smirk, stealing a fry off her plate and shoving it into my mouth.
“Hey,” she protests, pulling her plate toward her and guarding it with her hand.
“So, how was your first day?” I ask, stretching my arm along the back of the booth behind her.
“It was so good. And I met Henry, so all in all it was pretty epic.” Turning to look at Henry, she smiles widely, and I’m glad that I don’t have to murder the kid. She can have as many friends as she wants as long as they all know she belongs to me.
“How long have you been working for the Barnetts?” I ask Henry.
“Almost four months.”
“Do you like it?” Anders asks, his voice dropping to a purr.
“Yes,” Henry answers, but doesn’t turn to look at him.
Lifting his hand and moving slowly like he’s coaxing a wild animal, Anders curls his fingers under Henry’s chin and gently turns his face so he’s looking at him. “I like to see people’s faces when they’re talking to me,” he says, but despite his soft tone, there’s a demand in his words that Henry visibly responds to.
Parker’s hand lands on my thigh, and she grips, a barely audible “Oh wow,” slipping from her parted lips.
Instead of capitalizing on the situation by covering her hand and moving it to my hard dick, or even placing my own hand on her leg, I sit back and grin, happy to let her touch me however the fuck she wants to.
Anders was completely right, there’s no way I can let my chance with her slip by. She’s mine, and tonight just confirmed that losing her is not an option. As the sun slowly slips behind the horizon, I plot exactly how to claim her in the shadows tonight.