“Sure, just let me know when is good for you.”
And just like that, I like Danny even more than I did a few seconds ago.
ChapterThree
Caleb
I walk around my new place, a cottage that is set on the outskirts of town, but I feel empty. Cold. Lifeless.
The only reason I came back to visit was to see my son, but even that was fleeting because it always ends in disaster.
I left three years ago, packing up everything I owned and moving away, because I couldn’t stand to be here when I couldn’t haveher. The woman I loved. The one whose heart I broke because I was a fucking coward.
It’s taken a lot of persuasion from my friend, Anthony, to get me to come back here. A lot. Took him about a year of trying to finally make me crack and offer me a killer job in the process. I mean, I’m forty-two years old now, and to turn down the opportunity he offered would have just been stupid beyond belief.
So, here I am, ready to try and start a new chapter in my life and get over the old one. I’ve been living on repeat for so long and it’s all I really know now.
I can’t risk living nearer the town, because I don’t know if she still lives here, and to run into her would probably fucking destroy me and send me packing again. I’ll never forget her face when I told her to go. I’ll never forget how my heart felt like it was ripping into shreds as she walked out the door.
Why did I break if off you may ask?
Because I was an idiot. A wanker. A fucking twat who couldn’t see the woods for the trees.
I’ve suffered daily since, but I know I need to make something of my life, as Anthony keeps telling me. I know I can’t just keep on surviving without living. So, my plan is simple. New job, new home, repair the relationship with my son, avoid human contact as much as possible otherwise. Will be pretty tricky seeing as my new job will involve dealing with some of the biggest cats in the ad game, but hey, that’ll be enough social interaction for me––and keep Anthony off my back. Seriously, the dude is like an annoying fucking gnat in my ear, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, because as well as being my new boss, he’s also my oldest friend. He’s seen me at my worst, and believe me, that ain’t a pretty sight, so kudos to him for sticking around to pick my sorry arse up off the floor time and time again.
My new furniture will be arriving tomorrow and will signal the fresh start I need. But for tonight, as I sit on my airbed, a jack and coke will keep me company, just one last time.
ChapterFour
Cameron
“Oh my God, stop,” I say through my laughter as Danny chases me around his apartment, trying to tickle me, which he has already succeeded in doing once.
I’m a twenty-two-year-old woman and I’m squealing like a teenager, and I’ve lost count of what date number this is, because it doesn’t really matter anymore. As I make a run for it from behind the sofa, he shouts, “Gotcha,” as his arm snakes around my waist and he pins me to the floor, his body on top of mine and his lips inches away.
The laughter dies on my lips as he looks at me, his expression turning serious, and then his mouth is on mine, devouring me.
I wrap my legs around him, needing him closer. Our kiss becomes frenzied, as if we are lovers about to be ripped apart. My body is on fire as he steals my breath. My heart is pumping so hard from being chased and from the feeling of having him on top of me, but then an abrupt knocking at the door has him pulling away from me with a frown on his face.
“Who the fuck is that?” he questions, but I’m guessing he doesn’t expect an answer, because clearly, I have no idea, and neither does he.
“Leave it,” I say breathlessly, and his lips connect with mine once again, but whoever is at the door is persistent as they pound on it again, and again, and again.
“Christ’s sake.” He huffs against my lips before saying, “Don’t move, I’ll be right back.” And then he’s up and out of the room before I can protest. I bet it’s just a fucking salesman or something, albeit a very persistent salesman—whoever it is, they have shitty timing, because things were about to get so good.
I stay on the floor, listening to the sound of his muffled voice, and then another deep voice is speaking to him. See? Salesman. I knew it.
I sit up and strain my ears, but I don’t need to strain for long when the muffled voices become more like shouts.
“You can’t just show up here and demand anything, especially when you’ve been gone for the last few years.” Danny’s voice.
“You bet your arse I can’t.” Deep voice with no name, yet. “I’m your father.” My eyes go wide at that piece of information. Oh fuck me, this is not good. Danny doesn’t mention his dad much, and when he does, it’s never really to say anything good. I guess their relationship broke down years ago, and I have no desire to pull at that thread—or at least I didn’t until now. I figured he’d tell me when he was ready to.
“Yeah, when it fucking suits you,” Danny shouts back, and then I hear footsteps stomping through the apartment. I feel like a deer caught in the headlights as I quickly scramble to my feet and brush myself down, running my fingers through my hair to smooth it out a little after the rough and tumble on the floor.
“Don’t walk away from me, Danny,” comes the voice of his father, and my heart kicks up a notch. Why does that voice sound so familiar?
“Fuck off,Dad,” Danny says sarcastically, right before he storms into the lounge with a pissed off look on his face.