Chapter 11
Edmund
After another round of sex, we’re exhausted enough to sleep again.
Because my bed is bigger, we move to my room. Troy carries Danica even though she insists she can walk.
“Of course you can.” He gives her a squeeze. “But I want to carry you. And you’ll let me because you secretly love it.”
She looks like she wants to argue, but then she shakes her head and laughs. “Yeah, fine, you’re right, you domineering daddyhole.”
“Careful with the name-calling,” I caution her. “We’ve really missed administering your punishments.”
“Oh no, consequences,” she says sarcastically. “I’m soooo terrified.”
Troy pinches her ass before setting her on my bed. “Maybe no consequences this morning. But we can give you something to think about during the fireworks later.”
“It’s the Fourth of July already?” She pulls the covers up to her shoulders.
“Yeah.” I pause. “Your old roommates have been texting. They know you’re okay now, and they’re really glad. They invited us all to a party at your old place. But there’s no pressure—”
She interrupts me. “I want to go. And I want you both to come with me.”
“Done.” Troy climbs into bed on the other side of her.
I get in on my side, but I yank the covers down, lift up her camisole, and blow a raspberry on her stomach.
She shrieks and laughs as the moment devolves into a tickle fight. Of course she loses, but Troy and I go easy on her. When she’s panting and giggling, I kiss her nose. Emotions are bubbling up inside me. I have to put them into words; I can’t hold them back any longer.
You feel too goddamn much. Well, maybe that’s a good thing.
I clear my throat until she looks directly at me. “Danica…I don’t want another second to go by without saying this: I love you.”
Her gray eyes widen in surprise. “You do?”
“Absolutely, utterly, forever and always.”
Twin spots of pink appear on her cheeks. “That’s…that’s a lot.”
Maybe I’ve come on too strong, but fuck it, I’ll never take it back. “Yeah, well, it’s true.”
Troy leans up on an elbow. “Since Edmund confessed, I should also confess—I love you too, Dani. So much. And I know it’s forever. We’ve both known for a while.”
“Why—why are you telling me this now? Not before the wedding?” She shakes her head. “All this time I’ve thought…”
“What? What did you think?” I keep my voice gentle, although I want to rage at my past self for not confessing my feelings sooner.
She gives me a self-deprecating smile. “I thought I liked you more than you liked me. I thought there was no way you could both return my feelings.”
Troy and I are silent for a moment. With my heart stuck in my throat, I prompt, “And your feelings are what, exactly?”
“That I love you both, too.” She looks down at the comforter, shy all of a sudden.
Troy grabs her in a bear hug and kisses her hard, then passes her to me so I can do the same.
I can’t believe it, yet it feels so right. She loves us, too. We’re the luckiest fucking sons of bitches alive.
* * *
Danica
When I wake again, at almost noon, the guys are already awake. They’re still in bed next to me, talking quietly about the local baseball team, of all things. It feels so normal and mundane and perfect, after all the terror and fear of the past few days.
Smiling to myself, I remember our conversation from earlier this morning.
I remember their love.
It’s funny how hearing the words makes everything so different, and yet exactly the same. They’ve been showing me their love for a long time. On a gut level, their love for me isn’t new information.
But my brain is throwing a giant freaking party because now I know, now they’ve said the words aloud.
And I said them back.
A few months ago, the very thought would’ve had me hiding my face. But now? I smile.
“Hey, little girl.” Troy’s deep rumble moves through me like a purr.
“Hey, Daddy.”
“Fuck, I love hearing you call me that.” He tucks a wayward strand of hair behind my ear. “Are you up for that Fourth of July barbecue at your old place?”
“Heck yeah,” I say. And I mean it…until two hours later when we arrive at the party.
Music plays over speakers in the back yard, so we bypass the front door and go through the side gate. There, Elias and Rita are arguing about the best way to grill burgers. Wallace and a few of his musician friends pass around beers and guitars, jamming along with a new Cinderella song.
Rita rushes over as soon as she sees me. “Hey. Just so you know, we haven’t told anyone anything. The only person you have to worry about acting weird is Elias. And I threatened to throw him on the grill with the smash burgers if he doesn’t behave.”
“Thank you.” I pull her into a hug. “It means a lot.”
“Yeah, well, I’m glad you’re back and I’m not about to let a bunch of weirdo musicians scare you off.”
I hug her tighter before letting her go. I should see if Edmund can send her another Baciarvita bag as a thank-you.
A couple of hours go by and I hang out with everyone.
Troy and Edmund remain nearby at all times, constant comfort and reassurance.
But even though Rita said all those nice things earlier, I have a hard time relaxing.
I allow myself one beer—no more, because the last thing I need to do is get drunk and maudlin.
“Hey.” Edmund takes my hand and tugs me closer to him. “Do you want to go?”
“No, the fireworks haven’t even started.” I pout at him. “Why, do you want to go?”
He shakes his head. “It doesn’t seem like you’re having much fun.”
“I’m having a blast.” I paste on a too-bright smile.
“Liar.”
“Overbearing busybody.”
He laughs. “You’re going to pay for that sassy mouth.”
“Can’t wait.”
* * *
Troy
I’m glad to see Dani hanging out with her friends. I’m not glad that she seems so uneasy. Maybe it’ll take some time for her to fully relax.
In the span of less than a month, she’s been attacked twice. Fucking twice. The second time was from right under my fucking nose. It isn’t okay, never will be.
Not only that, the Vorsongs are still in San Esteban. It’s Wednesday, and their shipment is due to come in on Friday, if Dani’s information is sound.
Maybe we’re all nervous, waiting for the final showdown to be done.
At least the party is chill. I prefer it to any party thrown by the Laytons. Those are stuffy affairs, always catered, usually with a live band. The “live band” here is a bunch of student musicians showing off for each other.
The yard is divided between a deck and a lower portion of lawn. People walk back and forth, mingling with different groups. Anticipation sizzles in the air as we wait for it to get dark. We should be able to see the fireworks from the deck, according to Dani.
“Edmund, Troy, can you guys give me a hand with dessert?” Dani’s friend Rita waves at us from the back door. “I have too many dishes, not enough hands.”
We hurry inside to help her, bringing out trays of cookies, brownies, and fruit.
Edmund and I help her arrange them on a long table. When we’re done, we seek out Dani. She’s off to the side of the deck, talking quietly to Wallace. They don’t notice us approaching because we’re half-hidden by the vines winding over a trellis wall.
“They’re treating you well, then.” Wallace sounds playful, like Dani’s been saying good things.
I think they’re talking about us, which makes my head swell with pride.
“If by ‘treating me well,’ we mean ‘spoiling me rotten, then yeah.” She laughs for a moment before sobering. “I do worry, though.”
Edmund and I freeze in place. What is she worried about? I need to know so I can eliminate the threat.
“Yeah?” Wallace sounds concerned, too.
“Their jobs are dangerous, that’s all.”
“What do you mean? Aren’t they in restaurants and shipping?”
“Restaurants and shipping” is the cover story we tell most people. Just makes things easier. Vague and boring enough they usually don’t ask for details.
Dani coughs. “Yeah. It’s just…I don’t know. Not dangerous dangerous, ha. I more mean, busy. It’s dangerous because they work so hard.”
She’s backpedaling fast. The girl is a terrible liar.
There’s truth in her worries, though. Edmund and I do dangerous shit. Everything that went down with the Vorsongs was more extreme. But at the same time, it didn’t really surprise us. This kind of shit is expected in our line of work.
Dani was caught in the middle of it, though. And that’s unacceptable.
Edmund and I exchange a look. He’s thinking the same thing I am.
We need to get out of the family business if we want to keep Dani.
The sun falls, and darkness descends over the city.
The back yard fills with excited chatter while we set out lawn chairs and wait for the fireworks.
Dani sits between Edmund and me. She holds my hand, and Edmund’s.
Even though she’s making a semi-public claim to us both, she doesn’t seem self-conscious at all.
I love that about her. If anyone gives her shit for being with two guys, she’ll skewer them with words.
The fireworks are fine, nothing special. I’ve never cared much about them one way or the other. Tonight, I spend more time watching how the lights play over Dani’s face—splashes of blue, green, pink, yellow. The colors reflect in her beautiful gray eyes.
She looks happy, peaceful. I don’t want the night to end.
Soon enough, though, the show explodes in a finale of color and resonating booms filling the air. Then, it’s over.
We slowly get up, coming out of the spell.
I tug on Dani’s hand. “Do you have a blanket in your old room?”
She wrinkles her forehead. “I think so. Why?”
“It’s a surprise. Go get it. But we have to hurry.”
Bemused, she goes into the house and returns a minute later with a soft, thick blanket. We say goodbye to her friends. Dani promises to give Elias more details about her experience with Uriel, but later. “Maybe much later,” she says. “Not never, but not anytime soon.”
“Whenever you want to talk about it.” He gives her a quick hug. “And if that’s never, I’m…okay with that.”
It looks like he struggles to make his peace with never talking about it, but I gotta give him some credit because he sounds sincere.
Edmund is quiet as I drive us away from the house and toward the outskirts of town. He’s probably still thinking about what we overheard Dani saying to Wallace. Our dangerous job.
I’ve wanted out for a while, and I think he has, too. Now we just have to figure out how to do it.
“Can you tell me where we’re going?” Dani asks playfully. “Or is it still a secret?”
“Still a secret.” I drive us back behind the Rossi Nature Preserve and onto a dirt road, skirting around a sign that says No Trespassing.
“Um, should we be here?” Dani looks between Edmund and me.
“My family owns this land.” Edmund’s paying attention now, although mentioning his family seems to bring him down.
“We used to come up here and drink with a handful of friends, back in college.” I shoot him a look. Tonight’s supposed to be fun for Dani. Whatever shit we need to handle with his family, that can come later.
He seems to snap out of it. “Yeah, Troy and I would come up here sometimes when things got too intense with school, work, whatever.”
“With Edmund’s father,” I add.
“He’s a bit intense,” Dani says.
I pull up to a ridge overlooking San Esteban on one side. On the other side, it overlooks Fair Heights, a suburb of San Esteban. One large oak tree provides a canopy, and stars peek at us through the leaves and branches.
A bright bolt of blue light streaks upward before exploding in a scattering of blue, white, and green.
“The Fair Heights fireworks?” Dani asks.
“Exactly. Little known fact,” I say, “but if you can get high up enough, they’re visible from San Esteban. They’re pretty far away, though.”
“But beautiful,” Dani breathes.
I turn the truck around so we’re facing away from the fireworks.
“What are you doing?” Dani tugs on my arm.
“That’s what the blanket is for. We’ll sit in the back.”
“Ohhhh.”
We spill out of the truck and I spread Dani’s blanket over the truck bed. Edmund helps lift her up so she can climb in next to me, then he follows her. I lean back against the cab and spread my legs a little to make space for Dani.
Grinning, she snuggles in close and leans back against my torso. Probably not wanting Edmund to feel left out, she reaches over and takes his hand. She kisses his knuckles and, with a mischievous smile, bites him.
So that’s how this is going to go.