“Are you going to tell me what I’m making?” Dani asked.
“Hot chocolate. From scratch. Makes everything a little better.”
She paused and when she spoke again, I could hear a small smile lifting her voice.
“Didn’t expect that from you, to be honest.”
“Why not?” I asked.
“Thought you would be the type to tell me that a bottle of whiskey would solve the problem and make me sleep like a baby.”
I shook my head. “I doubt you’re much of a whiskey-drinker. Probably a tequila girl.”
Dani made a disgruntled noise. “I hate how you figured that out on the first guess.”
I breathed a quiet laugh.
“What do I do next?” she asked.
I gave her the measurements and told her to heat the stove until everything had melted. Then add the milk and cinnamon with a pinch of salt.
“How does a tough biker guy like you know how to make hot chocolate from scratch?” Dani asked.
I considered that for a moment. I didn’t talk about my past with anyone, not even my MC brothers. Standing out here in the dark with a dog barking in the distance and the wink of a traffic light on the corner, casting red, yellow, and green across the pavement, I found the truth slipped out easily.
“My mother made it for me when I was a kid. It’s the only thing I remember about her. She got sick - cancer - and died by the time I was four years old.”
“Oh,” Dani whispered. “Crow, I’m so sorry.”
I bowed my head, scuffing the toe of my boot against a crack in the pavement. My mother was the only gentle presence I’d had in my life. After that, it was stealing cars with my father and getting wrapped up in the wrong crowd, again and again, before I joined the Alpha Riders.
“It was a long time ago,” I said. But that didn’t really take the sting away. I’d simply grown used to it.
“Thank you for sharing it with me,” Dani replied.
A few more minutes passed and I heard a quieter metallic clink.
“It’s all melted. Mixing everything together now.”
I waited as she tasted it, wishing I could be in that kitchen with her, smelling the chocolate and cinnamon.
“Oh my God, that’s incredible,” Dani said.
“A cup of that should put you right to sleep,” I replied.
A heartbeat of silence passed and then she said, very quietly, “You know, there’s enough here for two people. I can’t drink it all and I’d hate for it to go to waste.”
I didn’t respond, didn’t want to presume what she was saying.
“You can come in,” Dani whispered. “If you want. I’d appreciate the company.”
“That’s what your friends are for, Dani,” I countered.
Another pause, longer this time. It went on and on until I thought she might have hung up. Then she said, “But I want you.”
It had to be the adrenaline talking. Or the shock of being followed today. Or the simple fact that it was one o’clock in the morning and Dani probably hadn’t slept a wink all night. Exhaustion could mess with anyone’s common sense.
“Dani,” I said. “I don’t think you realize - ”