“You’re afraid of men,” he said, sitting on the bed by her side.
“No,” she said, shifting away from him, “I’m not.”
“Uh-huh,” Danny said, not really believing her as he reached over and gently swept her long hair back onto her pillow.
“Yeah, that would explain why most of my friends are guys,” she drawled, reaching back to slap his hand away.
“I see,” Danny said because he did. It all made sense now, the comments that she’d made while drugged out on Benadryl, her reaction to him and her choice of friends. “You’re afraid of sex,” he blurted out before common sense could take over and help him keep his mouth shut.
“I’m not afraid of sex!” Jodi snapped, sitting up to glare at him.
“Look, I’m sor-”
“I’m just not into sex, okay? Are you happy now?” Jodi demanded angrily and it was at that point that he decided that he’d already fucked up past the point of redemption so what was one more fuck up?
“You have absolutely no idea what you’re into because you were with a man who had absolutely no idea how to please a woman,” Danny pointed out.
Her mouth moved, but no sound came out as she registered his words and he realized something rather important. She didn’t remember what she’d said to him the other night. Well, if she wasn’t pissed at him before, she definitely was now. So, there really was no point in apologizing at this point, not when he’d ruined any chance he’d had with her. Not that he’d ever really had a chance with her, Danny realized.
“Look, men just aren’t attracted to me. They go out on one date with me and by the time the appetizers arrive, they start looking at me like I’m the sweet little sister that they never had, but suddenly realize that they want. There’s never going to be anything between us, because sooner or later, you’re going to realize just like every other guy before you that I’m just not the kind of girl that drives a man crazy.”
He blinked down at her…just blinked, because really what was there to say?
Except maybe…
“You’re an idiot.”
“What the hell?” Danny demanded just as she nailed him in the face with the pillow.
“I’m an idiot?” Jodi demanded, pulling the pillow back and with another swing, nailed him in the face again before he managed to grab the pillow away from her. “You’re the idiot!”
“I’m the idiot?” Danny asked, tossing the pillow aside.
“Yes!” she hissed, grabbing another pillow and-
“Really?” he calmly asked as he picked her up and placed her on his lap, adjusting her until she was sitting sideways with her legs hanging over the side of his legs. He wrapped his arms loosely around her, but it was clear that he wasn’t going to allow her to move.
“Really!” Jodi snapped, trying to shove his arms away, but he simply ignored her and kept his arms where they were.
“You’ve been standing me up all this time because you think that I’m not really attracted to you,” he mused with a rueful shake of his head and a chuckle that she really didn’t appreciate.
“All this time…” she repeated back slowly, shaking her head in disbelief. “You only started to bring up this asinine idea of going out with me a few days ago!”
“True,” Danny murmured, leaning down so that he could brush his lips along her jaw, startling her. “But I most definitely don’t see you as a little sister,” he said with a chuckle as he tightened his arms around her and pulled her closer so that she could feel-
“Oh, my God,” she whispered around a choked gasp.
“Definitely. Not. A. Sister,” Danny said, stressing each word as he turned his head and pressed a kiss against her neck, robbing her of the ability to speak or think, for that matter.
“So,” Danny continued pressing kisses along her neck and jaw, “why don’t we finish our date and at the end of the night, you let me show you just how enjoyable a goodnight kiss can be.”
“What the fuck just happened?” Danny asked as he stood there, staring at the door and wondering where he’d gone wrong.
He’d had Tinkerbelle in his arms, brushing his lips against her soft skin, and was saying all the right things one minute and the next…
He’d been unceremoniously kicked out, the bowl of popcorn shoved in his hands and the door slammed shut in his face. She’d even ignored him when he’d inquired about that goodnight kiss. He stood there for another minute until he accepted the fact that she wasn’t coming back and he realized that he was starting to look like an idiot standing there.
“Shit,” Danny muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as he reluctantly turned around and headed back to his apartment.
