Chapter 20
CHAPTER TWENTY
Danny warms corn tortillas on the stove. Seasoned, pan-fried fish sits crisp and golden on a plate, just waiting for tangy slaw and hot sauce.
“You’re quiet tonight,” he says, turning slightly. He uncaps a bottle of sauvignon blanc and pours a perfect five-ounce glass and holds it out to me. I reach for it, but he retracts. “Vino for your thoughts?”
“I think I’ll just have a LaCroix instead,” I say, shimmying past him to the fridge. I brush Danny’s back in the process, and he winces. I gently lift his shirt to see a kaleidoscope of jewel-toned bruises: dark amber, faded emerald, and dark ruby. “Jesus. She got you good.”
“Yeah,” Danny says, tugging his shirt down, his eyebrows raised. “It seems someone told her to go easy on me.”
“Sorry. I was just trying to help.”
“I know. But Gracie has her own way of doing things. She’s a lot like you.”
“Me?”
“Sure.” Danny sips his wine. “Top of her field. Doesn’t take any shit. Prone to rush judgments. Misunderstood.”
“Sure seems like you understand her.”
“Believe me, it took a while.”
I crack my LaCroix and blurt out the words, “Why did you break her heart?”
Danny almost spits out the wine in his mouth.
“Really, help me understand why,” I press. “She’s beautiful. Smart. Clearly, you two have chemistry. So why did you hurt her?”
Realization settles on Danny’s features, and he sets down his wine glass. “The fish is getting cold. Let’s eat, and I can fill you in on all the details, before your impressively dirty imagination runs away with you.”
“Too late.” I clunk down in my chair, opting for a glass of wine after all as Danny puts my plate in front of me. It smells incredible, and it’s on a real plate too. Not a compartmentalized food prep container.
“We met on the fight circuit,” he says, settling into his own seat, “where the clique of female fighters kept her at arm’s length.”
“Why?”
“Maybe because she was so different from them. More focused. Serious. She was always the first one in the gym every morning, and the last to leave every night. They labeled her the coach’s pet, a death sentence for anyone hoping to be accepted by their peers.”
“I can relate.”
“Eventually, I got tired of seeing her eat alone, so I’d sit with her. Helped her with some blank spots in her offense. It took time, but we became friends.
“I thought I was doing right by mentoring her, but I must have messed it up, because somewhere along the way, Gracie started having secret feelings for me. To her, a casual pat on her shoulder felt romantic. Watching a random movie felt like a date. I was oblivious because she never shared any of this with me. I thought it was clear that I loved her like a kid sister. Well, I thought wrong.”
“What happened?”
“We were in Houston for an exhibition. Finally got to our motel after being on the road all night.
I stepped out of the shower to find Gracie, surrounded by lit candles, naked on my bed.
Nearly gave me a heart attack. I was so shocked, all I could think to do was throw a towel at her, but I missed and it landed on a candle, which caught fire.
Ended up trashing the room to put it out.
“When the fire was out and everything calmed down, I explained that she was a close friend, nothing more. I apologized if my affection came across as ambiguous. Explained that I’d never had a sister before …
at which point, she threw one of the glass candles directly at my face.
” Danny points to the translucent scar above his eyebrow.
“I couldn’t see through the blood, but I know she stormed out because I heard her slam the door. She’s hated me ever since.”
“I read about that trashed hotel room,” I say.
“Yeah, everyone just chalked it up as another one of my wild exploits.”
“Why didn’t you set the record straight?”
Danny sips his wine, sitting back in his chair in a relaxed position. “Seemed like it was more important to protect her privacy. Besides, other people’s opinions of me are their business, not mine.”
“Yeah, but she’s clearly still punishing you.”
“Sure. And it’s working. I’ve never felt more ready for whatever is waiting for me in that ring on fight night.”
Danny takes my hand. When all this is over, I hope it’s us. The thought startles me with its crystalized, perfect truth.
Because he may look like a fantasy, but this hand in mine is as real as it gets. And I want more. I want his hand reaching for mine across a thousand dinner tables. Reaching for me forever.
“Danny, I need to tell you something.”
“Sounds serious.” He bites back a smile, brushing his thumb over the top of my hand.
“It is.”
God, how do I do this? How do I tell him that I’m done with the bullshit. With my fear, my Casey baggage, with all of it. And that I’m especially done with our rule. Because I’m falling in love with Danny. I am. And for once in my life, I’m not too scared to do something about it.
My heart rate is oddly calm, beating at an encouragingly steady pace. My phone rings, but I ignore it.
“Danny, the thing is—”
“You should get that,” Danny says, pushing the device near me. Bill’s face and bolero tie fill the screen. “He wouldn’t call this late unless it was important.”
I sigh, but pick up the phone. This better not ruin my momentum. “Hey, Bill.”
Bill’s disembodied voice barks into my ear, making this pleasant evening fall away.
And just like Gracie, I suddenly want to burn it all down to the ground.