“Who is it?” Cyrus asks.
I blink, glancing at my phone while Dani’s face lights with a smile.
“Are you talking to Cyrus?”
“Who is it? Who is it?” My brother starts bouncing, making the phone jiggle in his hand.
“It’s, um…” I lick my lips. “It’s Dani. Do you remember Dani?”
“Let me see!” Cyrus practically wails.
Dani laughs, her face lighting as I spin the phone so she can talk to my brother. “Hi, Cy-Cy.”
Damn, Atlas always used to call him that.
“You might not remember me, but I met you a few times. In high school.”
“Hi, Dani.” He gives her the sweetest smile, and I’m pretty sure he doesn’t remember her, but… the way she’s interacting with him right now is making my heart do weird shit.
“…went to the movies.”
“Wow. That’s awesome.” She smiles. “Did you have a good time?”
“Yeah. I did. And it’s really late now, and I’m not… I’m not asleep yet.”
“That’s because you’re a young man now.” Dani nods. “A college student, right?”
“Yeah, I go to college. That’s what… that’s what I was doing. Tonight. I was… I was with mycollegefriends.” He sounds so proud, and I can’t help smiling as I try to catch Dani’s eye.
“I’m really happy for you.” She grins, finally looking at me with that brown gaze that…
Yeah, I’m in trouble.
I wonder why she’s here. What she’s come to say.
Clearing my throat, I spin the phone back to face me. “Hey, brother, I better go, okay? It’s time for me to hang out with Dani now.”
“Are you gonna have… will you be doing all the sex?”
“Cyrus.” I bulge my eyes at my brother, but he starts giggling, which makes Dani snort, and all I can do is shake my head at this super-awkward situation. “Okay, I’m hanging up. Go to sleep.”
“Night-night, Dani.”
“Good night, Cyrus.”
“I love you,” I tell him, just before ending the call.
“Love you!” he yells, and I hang up before he can say anything else that is completely inappropriate.
“Sorry about that.” I cringe, tucking the phone into my back pocket.
Dani lets out an awkward giggle, then waves her hand through the air. “That’s okay. It’s nice to see he’s so happy.”
“Yeah, he’s doing really well.” I reach for the banister, needing something to hold on to. Having spent the day obsessing over last night’s kiss, my head is spinning with her standing only a few steps down from me.
I’ve been trying so hard not to feel like shit about what went down. I even passed on her details when Rhys texted me to get them. It fucking slayed me, but I did it, knowing Dani’s happiness is more important than my own.
She’s seriously the last person I expected to see here tonight.
