“Yeah. Of course. I didn’t even want to mess around in any of that once I knew how deep he’d fallen for her. Once I accepted it. I just had to get my ass out before I got more hurt.” I smoothed Danica’s hair back from her face. “How is it I can tell you all this shit and you don’t freak out?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I feel envious, hearing you talk about other people like that. Hearing how much you cared about them. Like I missed out on something, not being there? But I want to know. I want to know you, and if I don’t know this stuff, I’m missing a huge part of you. I’m missing a huge part of your heart. And how can you truly care about someone if you don’t know their whole heart?”
I had nothing to say to that. But I definitely couldn’t remember anyone ever saying anything that amazing to me before. It made me want to kiss her all over.
It made me want to fuck her. Just keep her in this bed all day and fuck her.
So I rolled on top of her.
“How much time have you got for me today?” I asked her. “Because I’ve got some ideas about how we can get to know each other better… Might take a little while, though.”
“Until dinner time,” she said, not sounding all that happy about it. She sighed as I kissed my way down her throat, but not in pleasure. “It’s my birthday tomorrow. There’s a family dinner thing tonight.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Um—”
“Shit.I’ve got a dinner meeting tonight.” Summer and I were meeting with Brody, actually. Summer had put it together.Importantdinner meeting. The one where we were gonna pitch Brody our supergroup idea and ask him if he’d consider managing us.
Not a meeting I could blow off.
“It’s okay, really.”
“You should’ve told me,” I said. “I wouldn’t have made other plans. Shit, Danica. I really can’t cancel this.”
“It’s not a big deal,” she said, “really. It’s Dani’s birthday too, and believe me, that is a way bigger deal. Anything that celebrates my sister’s mere existence is right up her alley.”
“You’re not celebrating?”
“Oh, there will be a celebration. We do the same family dinner thing every year. You can come tomorrow night, if you want to, when we have ourrealparty. We’ll go to the bar, drink our faces off… way more your speed.” She gave me a little smile.
Okay. Wasn’t sure if I liked that at all. Hell yes, I was coming tomorrow. But tonight?
“Let me take you to dinner after my thing.”
Her smile grew. “You’re gonna eat two dinners?”
“For you, babe,” I said, kissing my way down her chest, “I’d eat all day.” I nibbled on her nipple, teased it with my teeth until her breath caught.
“Um… yeah. I’m sure that’s how you keep that washboard stomach so tight… All the extra meals….” She ran her fingers down my back as I kissed the smooth skin between her breasts. “Really, I can’t, though. If I dip out of Aunt Margot’s thing early, I’ll be blacklisted. She’s hosting the dinner thing this year and she’s invited everyone who shares even a drop of blood with me.”
I looked up at her. “And you don’t want me there?”
“It’s not that,” she said quickly. “I’ll be grumpy anyway. Tomorrow will be more fun. All my friends will be there. I’d love it if you’d come.”
“Why so grumpy on your birthday, Danica Vola? And don’t tell me it’s because your sister gets all the attention.”
“No, we both get the attention. Incredibly equally. It’s nauseating. Everyone in my family gets us matchy-matchy gifts every year, like we’re still four years old or something.”
I kissed my way down her soft stomach. “You really are a spoiled brat, aren’t you?”
“I’m not spoiled.”
“Complaining about your family having a dinner for you and lavishing gifts on you?”
“I don’t like being the center of attention, and the gift lavishing makes me uncomfortable. I don’t need gifts.”
“Ah, the truth comes out. You don’t like people doing things for you.”
