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“Yeah, this is fine. No, I think they ghosted me. Whatever.” He downed the rest of Jimmy’s drink then reached over to down the last two sips of Seth’s glass that was still sitting on the table. “Have you guys paid?”
“Yes, Seth took care of it,” I said and Daniel nodded.
“Alright, let’s go.”
We stood up, and Daniel led me to the parking lot. He didn’t exactly wait for me as he waded through the mass of people, so I had to fight my way to keep up with him. Finally, he stopped at a sleek, red sports car with custom chrome hubcaps and a portrait of a bikini-clad woman on the side.
I rolled my eyes at it. I was sure he thought he was so cool with it, but to me it just looked silly.
He got in the driver’s side, and I got in the passenger’s side, wishing the car wasn’t so small and cramped. I understood that these kinds of sports cars were supposed to be made for speed, so all the extras didn’t matter. But for me, legroom was not an extra. I squeezed my bag in by my feet and put my phone on my lap. Daniel didn’t seem to feel like talking at the moment, so I was sure we wouldn’t be doing any of that. Might as well entertain my brain, so I wasn’t constantly worried about how fast we were going or if we were narrowly passing a tractor-trailer that could squish us without even caring.
I buckled my seat belt even though Daniel didn’t, and we were off to a slow start, seeing as there were so many people still walking around. I half-expected Daniel to start honking and yelling at those in his way, but to his credit, he didn’t. He was calm, quiet, and focused, which I could appreciate.
I texted Jimmy.
Me: Leaving the beach with Daniel now. How are things there?
Jimmy: Things are okay, could be worse. Will explain later
Jimmy: Have to go deal with stuff. Let me know when you are home?
Me: I will, promise
Jimmy: Good ??
I almost wanted to write “I love you” but didn’t. The thought had been in my head for a few days now, especially after I thought he was cheating. I doubted I would have had that strong a reaction if I didn’t love him. It was crazy, though, and way too soon. Can people really fall in love that quickly? Or was it just lust?
I wanted to think that I wouldn’t let myself fall for such a fragile emotion, but it could happen.
And what if he didn’t feel the same way? Before I told him how I felt, I needed to see his love for me in his face, and I needed to see it in his eyes. Then I would tell him in person, so I could see his reaction. I needed to know we were on the same page, and I couldn’t do that through text.
“You really like my brother, don’t you?” Daniel asked, hitting the button to roll his window down and looking over at me, staring at my phone with our texts open. I blushed and shut the screen off, putting it back on my lap.
“I do,” I admitted, smiling. “I didn’t expect to, but he really is amazing.”
Daniel grunted in response and passed a minivan on the highway. I looked at the exit sign and realized we were going in the wrong direction of the highway if we were heading back to the penthouse. We were heading south when we should have been going north.
“Umm… Daniel? We are going the wrong way. We need to turn around.”
Daniel ignored me. I waited for him to just take an exit in order to turn around, but he didn’t. We passed two more exits before I spoke again, worry settling deep into my gut.
“Daniel, I want to go home. Where are you taking me?”
“Shut up,” he snapped and I quieted, wishing I had just taken the Uber.
I started typing a message to Jimmy, but Daniel’s hand shot over my lap, grabbed my phone out of my hands, and chucked it out of his open window. I stared at him, wide-eyed. Had he really just done that? What happened to the boisterous, seemingly nice guy I had met? Now his face was stern, lips set in a hard line, and his brows were furrowed as he returned his hand to the wheel and continued down the highway. Sweat had begun to drip from his temples, and if I looked closer, his left leg was bouncing, like he was nervous.
If I hadn’t been so trusting or so tied up in my feelings for Jimmy, I might have noticed the change in him sooner. I knew he had been a little off at the Flagship, but things had escalated.
What was going on?
“Daniel, I just—”
His arm swing off the steering wheel, and he backhanded me in the face. The blow had his knuckles hitting my eye socket, and my face exploded with pain. I cried out and put my hands over my injured eye, blinking frightened tears out of the other. The eye he had hit, I kept shut. The blow had been hard and fast, and it stung. My skin puffed up, and I knew I was going to have red lines on my face.
“I’m sorry, just shut your damn mouth for five seconds! Fuck, how does Jimmy put up with you? Sure, you’re cute, but damn!” He swore and took the next exit, following closely behind a slow-moving SUV. He honked the horn in his impatience and swerved to try to get around the SUV on the ramp.
I slid over in my seat to be as far away as possible from Daniel wondering what was going to happen to me. Was I being kidnapped? What had I done to make him want to do this? Did Jimmy know? What would happen when Jimmy found out if he didn’t already know?
