“I only vaguely know what a quarterback is,” Eliot admitted.
Danny hummed through a mouthful of his sandwich, waving his hand to indicate that he’d answer once he swallowed. Eliot took the opportunity to grab a sandwich of his own before Danny ate them all.
“It’s an aggressive position.Reallyaggressive. Hence all the injuries.”
Eliot nodded, recalling the list he’d seen. Dislocated shoulders, a fractured collarbone, possible concussions, falls bad enough that they’d taken him away on a spinal injury board, plus the knee reconstructions. That wasn’t even all of it.
“You’re very brave,” Eliot said. “I would not square up against guys that big the way you do.”
“Some people would saystupid,” Danny pointed out between mouthfuls. “But thanks for not saying it.”
Eliot shook his head. “I assume you have your reasons. Stupid is when you do something dangerous with nothing to gain.”
Danny shrugged. “Had to pay for college somehow. Kinda stuck with the game after.”
“What did you major in?” Eliot asked, surprised that Danny had gone at all. He shouldn’t have been, he supposed—Danny clearly wasn’t stupid, and a lot of colleges took sport very seriously. His own definitely had.
“You’re gonna laugh at me,” Danny said, grabbing another sandwich. Eliot was glad to see that he wasn’t in too much pain to be hungry.
“I promise I won’t.”
“Art history,” Danny responded, blushing.
Eliot did have to stop himself from laughing, after all. That was a surprise. “Really?”
Danny nodded. “Really. I didn’t start there, but it’s where I ended up. I started in criminal psychology.”
“Wow. You get more complex every time I talk to you,” Eliot said.
“Isn’t that how getting to know someone is supposed to go?” Danny asked.
He was probably right about that. Eliot had made a whole set of assumptions about him, and many of them hadn’t been fair at all. Now that they were being shattered, he was starting to see therealDanny.
Eliot liked the real Danny. As much as he would have preferred not to, as simple as it would have been for their relationship to really be just business, they were way past that point now. His initial, horrifying attraction to him had matured into respect, admiration, and a crush based on his personality instead of his looks.
Not that he was hard to look at, or anything. From his warm brown eyes to his scruffy blond hair, Danny was objectively a very attractive man.
“I guess,” Eliot responded, getting his phone out of his pocket to check the time.
It was nearly one a.m. Crap.
“Dammit,” he murmured, tucking the phone back into his pocket.
“Problem?” Danny asked.
Eliot sighed. “I’m gonna have to make the hike to the twenty-four hour bus stop instead of the one I normally use to get here,” he said.
“Oh.” Danny blinked at him. “Well, I can give you cash for a cab? I definitely owe you that much, at least.”
“I’m terrified of cabs,” Eliot admitted. It was an irrational fear, but he’d heard too many horror stories to feel safe in them, especially this late at night.
Thankfully, Danny didn’t laugh or interrogate him on it. If anything, he didn’t seem terribly surprised.
“I hate taking them, too,” he agreed.
That was oddly comforting.
It didn’t solve the problem, though. The day had been warm enough and the night wasn’t exactly freezing, but Eliot wasn’t looking forward to the forty-five minute walk to the nearest all-night bus stop, either. Why did Danny have to live in the middle of nowhere?
