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I walk her fifteen minutes to her place and stop at her door when she turns to face me. “You’re being unusually quiet,” she challenges, almost daring me to tell her what’s on my mind.
“Yeah, sorry,” I say, still not sure if I should bring this up. “I was debating whether or not to ask you something.”
“Sure,” she smiles. “Hit me with it.”
Arching a brow, I try not to grin at the cockiness stretched wide across her face. “You may not like it,” I warn.
Dani leans up against the closed door, props her foot against it, and crosses her arms over her chest trying to look hard. “Try me.”
I take a deep breath, hoping I’m not going to upset her. “Your ex cornered me at Micky’s tonight,” I explain, watching the way her back stiffens and the spark in her green eyes begins to fade. “So, I guess that leaves me wondering what the story is.”
Her body goes rigid, and I instantly hate myself for bringing it up. “Shit,” she sighs, before taking a moment. I watch her, waiting to see how she wants to play this before she waves toward the outdoor seating on the porch. “Wait here.”
My brows furrow as she bolts inside and returns a minute later with a blanket. She takes my hand and drags me to the small sitting area, pulls me down, and curls up beside me. “You’re not going to like this story but promise me you won’t try to fix anything.”
“I can’t do that,” I tell her.
“Then I can’t tell you what happened.”
“Fine,” I sigh, not liking this one bit. “I promise.”
“Okay,” she starts, looking out into the street to avoid my eyes, her tone shaky and hesitant. “Wow. This is harder than I thought. Apart from Sophie, I haven’t told anybody this.”
I put my arm around her shoulders and pull her in tight, giving her all my support and comfort. “It’s okay, take your time. But remember, you don’t need to tell me anything you’re not ready for. If it’s too much, we can stop right now.”
She takes a deep breath and shakes her head, her determination to get the words out stronger than I could have ever known. “I started dating Brett two years ago after we met at some bullshit party the swim team put on. He swept me off my feet, right from the get-go. You could say it was love at first sight.” She scoffs and rolls her eyes. “I was crazy about him, and we were inseparable. A few months in, he was begging me to move in with him, but I loved living in the dorms with Sophie, and call me old-fashioned, but I didn’t want to move in with a man who my parents hadn’t met and approved of yet. So, we waited out the year, and over Christmas break, he came home with me and charmed the pants off my parents. Even went as far as asking my father for his blessing to marry me. Which of course, my dad happily gave.”
She pauses and takes a deep breath, and I can tell this is where it gets hard for her. “So, when we got back, I moved in, and it was magical. Well, the first few months were. He started failing his business degree and would come home stressed out and angry and would snap at me about little things. I always did my best to make sure the washing was done and dinner was cooked so he could focus on his studies. Looking back now, it makes me sound pathetic, but I loved him, and I wanted everything to be perfect.”
She gives me a tight smile and looks out toward the road, watching as the cars silently drive by. “I had gone out with Sophie and Jared to this bar for her birthday, and even though it was pretty trashy, we were having a great time,” she smiles. “Right up until Brett showed up to find me dancing with Jared. He stormed in, grabbed me under the arm, and hauled ass out of there. He called me every name under the sun, even though I’d told him a million times that Jared was gay. Apparently, that didn’t change the fact that I was still a whore. I didn’t realize until the next morning that my arm was covered in bruises.”
My body tenses under her, knowing that dickhead put his hands on my girl, and feeling the movement, she turns in my arms and gives me a dazzling smile that breaks my heart. “Calm down,” she murmurs, almost teasing. “I haven’t even got to the best part yet.”
“Please tell me it doesn’t get worse than that?” I beg of her.
Dani squeezes my hand, and suddenly she’s the one giving me support. “Oh, it got plenty worse,” she says with a scoff. “It started with the name-calling and not letting me go out. He got super possessive, and one night he left his phone out on the bench when a text came through. I saw a girl’s name and I couldn’t help myself. I unlocked the phone and opened the text to find she was confirming the hotel they were going to meet in and if he wanted her to dress in black or red lingerie.”
