ARAWN
I’m tapping my fingers nervously against the steering wheel, as I wait for Danny to come out of that woman’s building.
I have to admit that I felt my heart exploding in my chest as I figured that Danny was lying to me because he was in her flat. And God did my body react to it when I finally got to hear her voice again.
As if it wasn’t bad enough that I had it haunting me night by night, I was now also yearning for it.
Also, that stupid cancelation fee for the girl that I had booked for tonight is bugging me beyond measure.
Great. Just great!
I sigh deeply as I see him finally exiting the building, running towards my car.
“Woah!” He shouts as he opens the door to my new Audi. “Is this a R8, bro?”
I chuckle, as I push the button to start the engine and watch him get into the car. “Yeah.”
“Awesome! I wanna drive it!” He says, still looking around while putting on his seatbelt.
The car fills with his perfume mixed with the sweet one of Nerthus, and I groan.
You have to be fucking kidding me.
Changing the gear, I drive off, my brain already screaming at me to turn back.
Get more than just the scent.
“You aren’t old enough to drive! Have you requested your learner’s permit yet?”
He snorts, starting to fumble at the multimedia system. “Permits are for losers. People like us don’t need them!”
I laugh, scratching my chin. “People like me don’t. You certainly do!”
“Hey! Since when are you driving manual by the way?” He changes the subject, making me want to kick him out of the car.
“Thought I would try something new.”
He hums, nodding as he looks around. “You should take Amber on a date in this. I’m sure that she would fall for you immediately.”
“That’s not how it works, son.” I laugh, inhaling the last bit of her perfume I can make out in the air. “And me and Amber aren’t dating material.”
He tsks, throwing his hands up. “She said the same thing to me. But if you ask me, she is totally into you.”
“Ask you, huh?”
“For real, bro. I can see such things straight away.” He says, totally convinced of himself. “They don’t call me the lady whisperer for nothing.”
That actually has me cracking up, and I shuffle his hair while he glares at me. “Oh, boy. I needed that.”
“I’m serious.”
“I know. But sometimes being serious doesn’t help. Being into someone or having a certain attraction towards someone doesn’t help either. If the odds are against you, there is nothing you can do.”
He leans back into his seat, thinking about what I just said before he asks me, “What are the odds with Amber?”
Shaking my head, I try to find a response to justify my stupidity. “It’s complicated.”
“This is the one stupid answer you grown-ass idiots give us kids. I thought you were my bro!”
“Danny…”
“No, tell me. Because otherwise I’m getting off here and watching the second movie with her. I like her!”
“Yeah, like everybody does.”
He turns in his seat to stare at me agape, “What is that supposed to mean?!”
“Harvey likes her too. And Jensen is obsessed.”
“I don’t know about Jensen because I run the other way when I see him coming. But Harvey has his shit together. If he likes her, I like her even more. And you have lost your mind.”
He turns in his seat, letting himself fall against the leather backrest. “And you should protect her from Jensen.”
I’m not getting lectured by a 15-year-old, am I?
Clearing my throat, I take advantage of a red light to turn to look at him. “Danny, I’m sorry that I have to tell you this way, but you are a big boy, and you deserve to know. Amber spent her time with me because I paid her to. She doesn’t like me. Not really, and not the way you think. And she doesn’t need my protection from Jensen, she took him as a client as he offered a suspicious amount of money, and I have to accept that. But I’m not the type for that. Do you get what I’m saying?”
He nods as he continues to look at me like a puppy who was just told that his mommy left him.
“Okay, great,” I say, tapping his knee a few times.
Driving off as the light turns green, I stay quiet, waiting for him to recover.
“Bu…” He breathes out, stopping himself. “But…”
He tries a few times to get something out but fails every time. I give him all the time he needs to sort out his thoughts.
“She wouldn’t do that!” He says, his face distorted as he stares to the ground.
“What?”
“Cheat on you!” He shouts, “She told me I cheered her up tonight. And I know she was sad about you.”
“Danny, calm down,” I say, looking back and forth between the street and him.
“Let me out, I’m going to her!”
Groaning, I hold his arm, trying to get him to stop trashing around. “Danny, no! I’m bringing you home. You can call her tomorrow.”
As he stops trashing, he hits his back against the car seat several times, his lips shaking.
“I’m sure Jensen hurt her! She would never do that!”
This sentence of his makes my chest squeeze in anxiety, as it feeds something that I was trying to bury deep down.
The idea that she was trying to get away from him, and I was too stubborn to listen.
“What do you mean?” I ask, laughing at myself and my desperation.
“A friend of mine was at the Sin Palace and told me about something he saw. Jensen apparently attacked a girl in the middle of the club, and they even fought outside the club. He told me that she was a beauty with red hair, and I didn’t make any connections to it but now that you tell me about Amber being around him… Maybe it was her. She needed your help, and you weren’t there.”
I sigh, passing my hand over my face. “Do you know how it ended?”
“Not really.” He pushes out a shaky breath. “All I know is that Dario came and solved the situation, I guess.”
“Dario?” I smirk while I would like to total the car. “Then it wasn’t Amber.”
“It wasn’t?” He looks at me with big eyes, and I shake my head.
“No, if Dario had brought Amber home, he would have told me.”
He falls silent again, and it isn’t until I park in front of his house that he speaks again.
“I liked her.” He says, rubbing his eyes.
“You still can, Danny. There’s nothing wrong with it!”
“But she was perfect for you!” He whines, as he looks outside and finally calms down.
“I know that,” he adds in a whisper, making my heart crack.