I'm ready to put this behind us, but vulnerability makes me nervous. Even though I inhale, then exhale slowly, my stutter still highlights my anxiety. “I miss you, t-too. I should’ve t-told you how I was feeling, b-but I guess I was scared. You were d-dating T-Tori, and I d-didn’t want t-to rock the b-boat or t-take up more of your t-time,” I mumble, tucking a curl behind my ear.
Danny’s face hardens. “Yeah, about that bullshit. Tori told me what she said to you. Gracie, it’s not true. If anything, I want you to take upmoreof my time. I hate that she put doubt in your head, but I hate myself even more for focusing on football so much I didn’t notice. You’re my best friend.”
“You’re my b-best friend, t-too,” I reply quietly. “I know how important football is t-to you, b-but our friendship is just as important. I d-don’t want t-to d-distract you, I want t-to support you. I forgive you this t-time, b-but I won’t let you t-treat me that way again, just casting me off when it was convenient for you.”
“I promise you I won’t. Never again. Our friendship is more important to me than anything. I’m so sorry I didn’t act like it over the past three months.”
I nod, feeling better now that we’ve talked this out.
“Can I say it one more time?”
I smile. “Sure.”
“I’m sorry, Gracie girl.”
He turns the engine on and feeds the Dashboard Confessional CD into the stereo slot. We catch up on everything. He tells me about the guys on the team and asks me questions about my friendship with Ben. I swear Danny looks relieved when I bring up Ben’s girlfriend, Mia, but I’m probably imagining it.
We can’t stop smiling and teasing each other. It’s all so easy. It’s all sous.
Chapter 19
Danny
Sixteen Years Old
I’m kind of a terrible driver. I lured Gracie into my car under false pretenses. Her suspicions were confirmed almost immediately after I put the car in neutral instead of reverse. She sighs in relief as I pull into our neighborhood.
“I’ve never been more grateful for another day on earth. I think I might convert to a religion after all, or maybe hike up a mountain. There are so many things I want to do in my life that I’m just now realizing…” She trails off sarcastically, the little villain.
I roll my eyes. “You’re being dramatic. It wasn’t that bad, Gracie.”
“Stop signs turn white when they see you coming, Danny,” she deadpans.
“You would prefer I slow down a mile in front of the stop sign? The whole point is to stopatthe stop sign. First, you have to make it there.”
Gracie taps her bottom lip a few times. “You know, you’re right. Accelerating before slamming on the brakes makes so much more sense.” She nods as I put the car in park in her driveway.
I run my hands through my hair. “In my defense, the construction detour took us on a weird and unfamiliar route.”
She stares straight out the windshield. “Agreed. For a moment there, I thought we were driving directly to Hell.”
“Get out of my car, Susannah Sinclair.”
“Okay, okay,” she apologizes. “You know, you’re not theworstdriver in the world…”
“Thank you.”
“But you better hopetheydon’t die.”
Against my will, I laugh. “Are you done?”
She unfastens her seatbelt, climbs out of the car, and makes a big show of kissing the grass in her front yard. My headlights spotlight her in the dark like she’s an actress on a stage.
“Ah, solid ground, how I’ve missed thee.” She picks a yellow dandelion from the ground and tosses it at me through the window. “Here, Danny. This is for you to keep in your glovebox. May it remind you that there’s life worth living outside the confines of your Prius death trap.”
I flip her off. God, I like her so much.
I place the dandelion in my glove box, not to remind me of my awful driving, but to remind me that I can’t—I won’t—take her for granted again. Then, I put the car in reverse and travel the remaining fifteen feet to my house.
