He’d been brave enough to kiss Ash.
A few more leather-clad men swaggered past him toward the entrance. Was leather required, like some kind of dress code? Danny glanced down at himself. Torn jeans, black T-shirt, nail polish, and eyeliner. He’d even wore a few more chains than he had last night and had spiked his hair. On his wrists were leather bands. Did that count?
Before he could chicken out, he slipped in behind the men.
The music slammed into him like a fist. The bar was jam-packed with towering, broad-shouldered guys, their voices booming over the bass. Danny’s stomach knotted, but he forced his feet to move.
Danny weaved through the crowd with quick, uneven steps, pausing whenever someone brushed past him then snapping forward, knees knocking, until he reached the bar and gripped its edge so hard his knuckles hurt.
Okay. Breathe. You did it. Yay, go me!
A bartender glanced at him then sauntered over. “What can I get you?”
Of all the scenarios Danny had rehearsed, none had ended with Ash not being here.
“I’ll take…” He glanced at the shelf behind the bartender then at the soda gun. “A Coke,” he shouted over the music.
Just drink it and go. I should’ve never come here.
Someone moved in behind him, close enough that Danny felt the heat before the actual touch. A plate of golden onion rings appeared before him. Danny’s heart skipped as a familiar scent enveloped him.
“On the house.” There was something primal in the way Ash’s low voice curled around the words, rough and rich, like the last sip of bourbon.
Danny gripped the counter edge, fighting the urge to lean back into the solid warmth behind him. He turned, finding himself trapped between the bar and Ash’s body.
“Didn’t think you were here,” he said, his voice catching as he noticed how Ash’s T-shirt stretched across his broad shoulders, how his eyes caught the amber lights above the bar.
“Saw you walk in.” Ash slid onto the stool beside him, their knees brushing. “Made a kitchen run.”
Danny ducked his head, hair falling forward like a shield, his heart threatening to burst.
Ash’s fingers brushed Danny’s ear, featherlight, tucking the dark strands away. The touch trailed down to lift Danny’s chin. His fingers lingered, thumb grazing his jawline. “Hi.”
“Hi.” Caught in the warmth of Ash’s gaze, Danny’s lips parted slightly.
“Try one.” Ash tore off a piece of onion ring, holding it to Danny’s lips. “Stole them from the kitchen just for you.”
“Committing crimes on my behalf?” Danny teased, his shoulders relaxing, just as they had last night. There was just something about a guy feeding you.
Ash’s laugh was quiet, deep, and entirely unhurried, a sound that tugged at something low and needy inside Danny. “Only for you, honey bear.”
His eyes flicked up, meeting Ash’s heated gaze. Without thinking, he leaned forward, taking the offered bite. The salt hit his tongue first then Ash’s fingertips, warm and slightly rough. Danny moaned and licked his lips at the best onion ring he’d ever tasted.
Ash’s eyes darkened, pupils expanding as a sound rumbled from his chest, something between a growl and a groan that settled low in Danny’s belly like liquid fire.
Chapter Four
After Ash hand-fed him the last onion ring, Danny ducked into the bathroom again. It was becoming habit whenever Ash overwhelmed him. He splashed some cool water on his face then braced his hands on the porcelain sink, exhaling slowly.
Sixty seconds. That’s all he needed.
Just sixty seconds where his chest didn’t tighten every time the man smiled at him.
Just sixty seconds for his pulse to steady without Ash’s gravity pulling at him, making his carefully constructed walls crumble like wet sand.
Danny twisted his hair spikes back to attention then fished the eyeliner from his pocket. The black lines he redrew were perfect, everything his emotions weren’t. He smoothed his eyebrows with his thumb, avoiding the hollow gaze that stared back at him from the mirror.
“What’re you doing?” he whispered, hand sliding under his shirt, fingertips tracing over the raised scars on his back. “Why are you trusting someone you barely know? It’s going to end badly. It always does.” He made a noise of disgust. “Stop sabotaging yourself. You took a step forward. Don’t backslide, damn it.”
