“You don’t sound sure.”
“No, I am,” I said, stepping around him to rummage in the bag and pull out two cans. They were a little warm but not horribly so. “Do you want a glass? I’ve got some ice in the freezer.”
“I thought you didn’t put ice in vodka? You said it was heretical.”
“I don’t, but I’ve got some for other shit. Do you want some or not?” I asked teasingly, giving his arse a playful smack. Danny laughed and stuck out his butt, wiggling it. I snorted and shook my head. “That doesn’t answer my question, puppy. But yes, you do have a nice arse.”
“I know, but it made you smile.”
“Your butt always makes me smile,” I said, unable to resist leaning down to give him a long, slow kiss. The kind that made my stomach start to unknot and the tension in my chest begin to melt.
For a moment, I forgot about all the shit Reed had said, and the poisonous claws he’d sunk into me seemed to retract.
All my focus was on Danny, who shone like a beacon in the night, slowly collecting up the pieces of my broken heart with a care I’d never thought to show myself. I didn’t know what to do with them, I wasn’t sure I wanted my heart back, but I still took them because I couldn’t resist anything Danny did.
“Mmm, if you keep kissing me like that, I’m gonna suggest we skip dinner and do something else,” Danny said, grinning up at me, his hand casually finding my arse. “You still haven’t fucked my arse yet.”
“As tempting as that is, I’m not doing it tonight.”
“Why not?” Danny asked. He almost looked offended that I’d turned him down and it was so adorable I had to laugh. “Don’t laugh! Why are you laughing? Are you saying my arse isn’t fuckable?”
“It’s very fuckable, and I promise I will fuck it. Have patience, brat,” I said, tapping his nose softly. “But not tonight because I’m… I… I feel like shit and I don’t want to take it out on you.”
Danny tilted his head, like he was considering what I’d said. “I mean, you could? You said you wanted to spank me.”
Something clenched and exploded in my chest, nearly making me gasp. He was too fucking sweet for words, and I didn’t think he even realised it. “I do,” I said, pulling him closer so I could kiss him again, because I needed to make him melt. “But the first time I spank you will be something we agree on and not when I feel like shit. You’re too…” Special? No, I couldn’t say that. It was too intense. “I want everything I do with you to be fun, and I don’t want to think about how fucked up I am when I’m with you.”
“If it helps, I’m having a lot of fun so far,” Danny said, pressing himself against me so I could feel where he was started to get hard.
I groaned. Fuck it, the food would reheat.
I needed to hear Danny screaming my name as he came first.
“I’m sorry your ex was a dick to you today,” Danny said later when we were stretched out on the sofa together watchingJurassic World: Dominion, the empty plates of curry on the floor beside us. His head was in my lap, and I was casually stroking his hair while we stared at the TV, which was maybe the least shitty thing in the whole flat because I owned it. The food had been very good, the film was beyond ridiculous, and this was the best evening I’d had in a long time.
“Thanks.”
“Does he do that a lot?”
I thought for a second, weighing up how much I wanted to tell him. “At the start he did, when I first left. Recently, he’s been quiet. I guess something must have happened today to upset him, and he’s taking it out on me.”
Danny scoffed derisively. “What a prick.”
“I suppose.”
Danny shifted on the sofa and when I glanced down, he was looking up at me with a defiant pout. “What does suppose mean? You don’t think he’s a prick for saying that bollocks?”
I shrugged. “He is, but sometimes I can understand why he’s angry. I did blow up our whole life.”
“Hang on, didn’t he cheat on you? How the fuck can you be the one blowing everything up if he’s the one who cheated?”
It was the same question Shane had asked me whenever I blamed myself, and I still didn’t have a good answer. “I could have tried to fix our relationship. Given him another chance. Worked less, put more time into our relationship. Put him first.”
Danny’s frown suggested he didn’t believe me. “Was it just one time? With one person?”
“No.”
“And did he tell you he wanted you to spend more time together? Did he ever say he was feeling neglected?”
