The idea that she still wanted to spend time with him, that she continued to treat him the way she had before she found out he had ended someone’s life, it all seemed too good to be true—and despite the fact that he had accused Jake of getting ahead of himself, the truth was, Danny was afraid he might be the one guilty of it.
He took another bite of pizza. “Just because she didn’t give me my walking papers doesn’t mean she wants to be with me.”
“It means she still wants to be around you.”
Danny shook his head. “I’m not gonna push her. I don’t know what she wants. This has gotta be on her terms, alright? Just leave it alone.”
He needed to keep reminding himself of that. Because the more he thought about their situation, the more hopeful he became, and he couldn’t afford to be on a different page than she was.
“Invite her out for your birthday.”
Danny laughed in disbelief. “Did you not hear a single word I just said?”
“No, I heard you,” Jake said around another mouthful of food. “I just think you’re being a fucking tool.”
Danny stopped chewing as he stifled a smile. “Since when is it acceptable to call your boss a fucking tool to his face?”
“Come on, man,” Jake said. “I see what this is about. You don’t want to get your hopes up in case she’s not offering you what you want from her. But the bottom line is, this girl likes being around you. Maybe she wants to be your friend, maybe she wants to be more. I get the whole ‘give her space’ thing, but if you play this too cool, you’re gonna fuck it up. You don’t wanna look indifferent. You think she’s gonna stick around in any capacity if she thinks you don’t give a shit either way?”
Danny stared at his friend. Maybe it was because Jake spent so much of his time saying things that were intentionally provocative or offensive, but on those rare occasions when he came from a place of sincerity, his words seemed that much more profound.
“Invite her out for your birthday,” Jake suggested again. “Friends go out for each other’s birthdays. You’re not making any assumptions or declarations by including her. Me and Tommy aren’t even bringing chicks, so it’s not like there’s gonna be a couples vibe or anything. You like this girl. You like being around her. Stop wasting time you don’t have.”
Danny ran his hand through his hair as Jake’s words echoed in his ears, bouncing around his skull and burrowing into his consciousness until they were beating in his blood.
You like being around her. Stop wasting time you don’t have.
He hadn’t seen what he was doing as wasting time, but Jake did have a point. His days were numbered, and he wanted to spend as many of them with her as he could, friends or otherwise.
Stop wasting time you don’t have.
Danny twisted the cap back on his drink. “I’ll think about it,” he said. “Can we shut the fuck up about this now?”
Jake gave him a flimsy salute before he shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth.
“By the way,” he garbled around his mouthful. “I’m not bringing a girl, but I might still try to get a blow job in the bathroom. Leah doesn’t need to know that, though.”
And just like that, Jake was back.
Danny burst out laughing before he threw a wad of tin foil at him, and Jake shrugged, wiping his hands on his pants before he stood and made his way back out to the garage.
Danny shook his head as he turned back toward the table, and then he reached in his pocket and pulled out his phone, staring at the screen for just a moment before he opened a new text window and clicked on her name.
You free this weekend? We’re hitting up Dave and Buster’s for my birthday.
He hit send and exhaled, putting the phone on the table before he picked up his pizza.
A minute later his phone vibrated with her response, and he stopped chewing as he swiped the screen with the side of his finger.
Happy birthday! And definitely. Call me later.
He smiled, clearing the screen before sliding the phone back in his pocket.
No more wasting time you don’t have.
“I’m not going in that thing,” Leah said as she took a sip of her beer, and Jake scoffed.
“Oh come on. It’s a game!”
“Yes, it’s a game. A 4D game where you lock yourself in a confined space and not only see and hear but also feel the monsters attacking you if you don’t kill them fast enough. No thanks.”
“What are you, eight?” Jake said. “It’s not real.”
“Then you go in!” Leah said through a laugh.
Jake smirked, resting his elbows on the table as he leaned across it toward Leah. “Care to make this interesting?”
She put her beer down and mirrored his position, leaning toward him. “Always.”
Danny grinned as he brought his drink to his lips, his arm resting on the back of the booth behind her.
“Okay,” Jake said, sitting up and looking around the table. “Okay, so…”
“He’s got nothing,” Tommy said with a laugh, and Danny chuckled as Leah sat back against the booth, turning her head to look up at him. He looked down at her, a smile curving his lips, and she shifted in her seat, closing the small distance between them so that their bodies were touching from shoulder to knee.
His arm came down from the back of the booth, wrapping around her shoulders, and she brought her hand to his knee under the table.
From the second he had picked her up that night, he could tell something was different. Not only was the awkwardness between them gone, but any hesitation, any sense of restriction, had completely vanished as well. On the ride down, she had reached over the console and held his hand. And several times throughout dinner, she had found an excuse to touch him. A playful slap here, a shoulder rub there, and now her hand on his leg.
On the surface Danny was completely calm and collected, but underneath, his adrenaline was racing with every touch, with what it could mean, with the awareness that each one heated his veins and made his heart beat faster and his breathing grow shallow.
“Got it!” Jake finally said, grinning triumphantly. He reached across the table to the remnants of their appetizers and pulled two buffalo bites off the plate. He put one in front of Leah, and the other in front of himself before grabbing the hot sauce from the side of the table and shaking an excessive amount on each one.
“Dude, those are fucking Firehouse wings,” Tommy said. “What are you doing?”
“Upping the ante,” he said before he reached into Tommy’s plate of nachos, pulling two jalepeno peppers out of the cheese and placing them on the top of each piece of chicken, like a cherry on top of a sundae.
“Is he gonna make me eat that?” Leah said in Danny’s ear, and he leaned down to her, reveling in the scent of her hair.
“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Tell him to fuck off.”
“Swear jar,” she said, and Danny grinned as she sat up to face Jake. “Alright, what are we doing?”
“We each eat this. Whole thing. One bite. Whoever drinks first, loses. And if you lose, your ass goes in Dark Escape.”
Danny watched as Leah pursed her lips, weighing her options.
“So, we’re not allowed to drink anything,” she clarified, and Jake smiled.
“Not unless you want to lose.”
Her shoulders rose as she took a deep breath, and then she exhaled in a rush. “Okay, let’s do it.”
“Seriously?” Jake asked.
“Yeah,” she answered with a smile. “Why? Were you all talk just now?”
Danny smirked as he and Tommy made eye contact across the booth.