“And then you,” he mumbled against the dashboard.
She held her breath, waiting for him to continue, but he never did. He didn’t speak again for the remainder of the drive, and Leah kept her hand on his back, trying to soothe him. It wasn’t until she pulled up to the curb in front of his building that she realized she might have a huge problem on her hands. If he had passed out, based on how drunk he was, there’d be no waking him up. If that were the case, she had no idea how she would get him out of the car and up the stairs.
Leah cut the engine, looking over at him. She watched his back expand and contract with every breath, but he still hadn’t moved.
“Danny?” she said softly, and to her surprise, he turned his head to look at her. He blinked a few times, his eyes bleary and unfocused as he tried to sit up.
“Hey, it’s okay,” she said as she leaned over and ran her hand through his hair, and he closed his eyes. “You’re home. Let’s get upstairs, okay?”
He nodded wearily, and she exited the car and came around to his side, helping him out onto the sidewalk. He was leaning most of his weight on her as they walked into the lobby, and as they stood waiting for the elevator, Leah’s legs began to tremble with the task.
You’re almost there. Hang in there.
Danny rested his chin on the top of her head as he ran his hand over the back of her hair. “You’re so good, Leah,” he sighed.
She smiled softly as the doors dinged open, and she managed to get them both inside before the doors closed, leaning them up against the wall. He rested his head on top of hers again, and she could see in the reflection of the doors that his eyes were closed.
She could tell he was close to passing out, and Leah glanced at the numbers lighting up above their heads, willing them to go faster.
As soon as the doors opened, she stood up, pulling him to a standing position as she rubbed her hand up and down his side. “Come on, Danny. Almost there, okay?”
By now she was using all her strength just to keep him steady as they stumbled down the hallway toward his door. She had his keys in her hand, and she opened the door quickly before tossing them somewhere on the floor. She needed both arms to help him now, and every muscle in her body strained with the effort.
Leah glanced around the small space quickly, noticing two doorways off the living room. Assuming that his bedroom had to be one of them, she began walking them in that direction.
“Come on. A few more steps,” she said, her voice strained as they tripped and staggered across the living room, and when she turned them into the first doorway and saw his bed, she thought she might cry with relief.
Leah gave him a gentle shove and he lurched forward before falling back onto the mattress with a groan, his eyes already closed.
“Holy shit,” she said to herself, rolling her neck as she leaned up against the wall to catch her breath.
She stared at him, his chest rising and falling with his arms splayed out at his sides, and that’s when she noticed what he was wearing: a dark blue button-down, black slacks, and a belt. She glanced down at the black dress shoes still on his feet and sighed, walking the few steps over to the bed before kneeling down.
Leah undid his laces and removed his shoes, placing them up against the far wall so he wouldn’t trip over them if he got out of bed for any reason tonight.
Okay, that was the easy part.
She stood at the foot of his bed, her hands on her hips as she looked him over.
It would be like seeing him in a bathing suit. It’s not a big deal.
With a deep breath to strengthen her resolve, she climbed up onto the bed and sat on her heels at his side. Just as she brought her fingers to the buckle on his belt, she felt his hand slide up her thigh, coming to rest more than halfway up.
Her breath caught in her throat.
“I lied to you,” he said hoarsely, his eyes still closed.
“About what?” she whispered, her fingers still frozen on his belt buckle.
He laughed lightly, but his face contorted in disgust. “So many things.”
She didn’t want to be affected by him anymore, but she felt her heart drop at his words.
He lied to her?
Leah shook her head quickly. It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. He didn’t want her, and they weren’t anything to each other. She was just going to make sure he was comfortable, and then she was going to get the hell out of there.
With renewed purpose, she undid the belt buckle, followed by the button on his slacks. Leah gripped the zipper with the ends of her nails, trying to avoid any contact as she slid it down. His hand rode a bit further up her thigh, his thumb beginning to make soft, sensuous passes over the thin material of her pants, and as Leah moved from the bed, his hand slipped from her leg and slapped down onto the mattress. She stood beside him and leaned over, hooking her fingers in the waistband of his pants.
“I lied to you about lunch,” he mumbled.
Before she could even decide if she would play into this or not, he went on. “I wasn’t meeting a friend.”
Leah pursed her lips as her stomach churned. She didn’t want to hear the rest. Instead, she gripped the top of his pants and yanked somewhat forcefully. They jerked over his hips, and she immediately pressed her lips into a hard line as she closed her eyes.
Boxer briefs. Tight, gray boxer briefs.
She exhaled slowly and opened her eyes, tugging his pants the rest of the way down and removing the belt before she folded them and draped them over a nearby chair. She came back to the bed and climbed on, dutifully keeping her eyes above his waist as she started undoing the buttons of his shirt.
His hands came up and grasped hers, stilling her movements as his eyes fluttered partially open.
“I wasn’t meeting a friend. I wasn’t meeting anyone. I lied because I wanted to see you.”
The breath left her body in a soft rush. She had not been expecting that.
“Oh,” she managed softly, but her voice was so quiet, she doubted he heard her.
He rubbed his thumbs over the backs of her hands as his eyes fell closed again. “It was stupid, you know? I didn’t even know you,” he mumbled groggily. “But I kept thinking about you. I saw you at Gram’s, and I kept thinking about you, and I didn’t even fucking know you.”
Leah gently slid her hands out of his grasp as she tried to refocus on undoing his buttons, but she could feel her heartbeat kick up in her chest.
“I had no right to ask you out,” he said with a slight shake of his head. “So I bullshitted you. I bullshitted myself, and I pretended we were just meeting so you could get your bracelet. And then I saw you, and I didn’t want you to leave.”
He was ranting, the words spilling from his mouth like an avalanche, and part of her wanted to stop him. She didn’t want to hear this. Because if what he was saying was true, why did he leave her the way he did last weekend? Why had he spent the past week pretending she didn’t exist?
His hand slid up her thigh again, and Leah ignored it, focusing all her attention on undoing the buttons.
“So I made you have lunch with me,” he muttered. “And you know what? I was kind of hoping I’d hate you. It would have been so much easier if you were a bitch, or an idiot, or someone who annoyed the shit out of me. ‘Cause then I could have just put this shit to bed.”
His hand left her thigh as he brought it up to his face, rubbing his eyes roughly before he let it fall back to the bed with a slap.
“But of course you weren’t any of those things,” he said with another humorless laugh. “You were smart, and sweet…and fucking beautiful,” he added, clasping both of her hands in his again.
She slipped them out of his grasp. “Danny, don’t.”
He smiled softly. “I figured we could just be friends, you know?” His voice was low and throaty as he added, “No harm in that, right?” He shook his head as he pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes before running them up through his hair. His eyes flew open, but they were bleary and unfocused. “But every time I talk to you, I like you more and more, and every time I see you….it’s so fucking hard, Leah.”