Kent glanced over before he could stop himself. Daniel sat there like always, calm as hell, like the world hadn’t done its best to turn him into something ugly. And maybe that was what had pissed Kent off the most. Not really Daniel himself.
The kid, no, not kid. Man. Daniel was a man, and one with enough power running through him to make most assholes piss themselves. Yet Kent had never heard him use it to make anyonefeel small. He had never heard him tear someone down just because he could.
Kent couldn’t say the same.
He shifted in his seat, gripping the wheel a little tighter. He’d been an asshole to Daniel. More than once. Hell, more than he cared to admit. And Daniel had taken it with that damn grin, like Kent’s bullshit didn’t even deserve the effort of getting mad.
The only time he ever saw Daniel’s easygoing nature disappear was when he had been a total dick to Raven or Katrina. Never once when he had called him a freak.
Kent looked back at the surgical center, jaw tight.
Being a Warrior meant something to him. It meant more than he’d expected it to. And somewhere along the line, he’d started realizing the shit he’d dragged in with him didn’t belong here. Maybe life hadn’t handed him much without a fight, but that didn’t give him the right to take swings at people who’d never swung at him.
“Hey, man,” Kent said, the words rougher than he meant them to be.
Daniel didn’t look over. “Accepted.”
Kent frowned. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You were going to,” Daniel shot back.
Kent let out a humorless laugh. “Yeah? You reading minds now?”
“Don’t have to.” Daniel’s mouth kicked up at the corner. “You get this constipated look when you’re about to apologize. Saw it when you apologized to Katrina.”
Kent shot him a look.
Daniel’s grin widened.
Kent looked away first. “I was a dick.”
“Yeah,” Daniel agreed easily.
Kent blinked, then gave a short laugh. “Damn.”
“I accepted the apology.” Daniel shrugged. “Didn’t say I was gonna lie.”
Kent huffed, shaking his head, but the truth of it sat heavy between them. He had been a dick. To Daniel, Raven and Katrina. Hell, to anyone who’d had the bad luck of standing too close when Kent’s arrogant pride reared its ugly head.
Daniel finally looked at him, the humor fading just enough to make the next words clear. “You’re not a bad man, Kent. You just spent too long thinking everything had to be fought for. Sometimes, when someone else walks in and proves they belong without bleeding the same way you did, it pisses you off.”
Kent’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel. Damn, man, how Daniel could do shit like this was beyond, but he was a hundred percent right.
“And Raven and Katrina proved they belonged,” Daniel added quietly. “Over and over.”
Kent stared through the windshield, throat working once. “Yeah, they did.”
For a second, he didn’t say anything else. Then he reached his hand toward Daniel.
Daniel took it without hesitation.
“You’re a good man, Daniel,” Kent said, his voice low as he shook his hand. “And I know you accepted, but I need to say it. I’m sorry for being such a dick. You’re not a freak. You’re actually pretty fucking cool.”
Daniel laughed, and for some reason that made Kent feel less like an asshole.
“I am a freak, Kent.” Daniel shifted in the seat, a half grin on his face. “Seriously, it doesn’t bother me. Maybe it did before I knew what I really was, but now?” He shrugged. “Yeah. What I can do, what I know, is pretty fucking freaky.”
Kent chuckled despite himself.
