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What happens when my month here is up? And we no longer have to hide? And I have to choose between accepting every part of Adrian or walking away from him for good?
Chapter Twenty-Three: Adrian
“I was wondering where you were.” I step out of the forest and into the clearing.
Danielle has her neck craned over her shoulders, her hazel eyes tight with worry.
She is sitting on a blanket on the ground. Her knees are drawn up to her chest, and her face is half-bathed in moonlight.
When I step closer, a flicker of uncertainty flashes across her face. She stamps it out and swings her gaze forward.
In the distance, I hear the sound of rushing water.
Almost loud enough to drown out the unsteady pounding of my heart in my ears.
Slowly, I cross over to Danielle and sit down next to her. She leaves a few inches of space between us and hugs her knees. I swallow.
“Do you feel like you’re ready to talk now?”
Danielle sucks in a harsh breath. “I thought I was, but after that therapy session, I’m not so sure.”
My stomach clenches. “You didn’t tell your therapist about us, did you?”
Danielle frowns and stretches her legs out in front of her. “I didn’t use your name.”
I blow out a breath. “Okay, good because that would complicate things for no reason.”
Danielle’s frown deepens. “Is that all you care about? You don’t even want to know what she said?”
I twist to face her. A furrow has formed between her brows. “Do you want to tell me?”
Danielle makes a low noise in the back of her throat but won’t meet my gaze. I’m facing her completely. I try to take her hand, but she moves it away.
I have no idea what’s happening. Only that Danielle feels further away than she did this morning, and I don’t like it.
I don’t like it one bit.
“I don’t know if I should tell you,” Danielle says, in a voice so low that I strain to hear her. “On the one hand, I am working on being more honest and keeping lines of communication open between us.”
I pause. “And on the other hand?”
Danielle swings her gaze to mine, her hazel eyes moving steadily over my face. “I don’t know if it’s going to do any good. Actually, I’m pretty sure it’s just going to make things worse. And I don’t think I’m ready for that.”
I search her face. “Why would it make things worse?”
Unless she’s ready to end things between us, I can’t imagine anything tearing us apart. Or being big enough to justify her worry.
Except for Brian.
But she doesn’t know about him yet.
Danielle makes a vague hand gesture. “Because we haven’t exactly started off on the right foot. We’re lying to everyone around us. And I know you explained the reasons to me. But it doesn’t really give us a solid foundation, does it?”
I shake my head. “We know the truth, Danielle. Isn’t that what matters?”
She stands up and runs a hand through her hair. “Yes, but I feel like there’s a lot that we still don’t know about each other.”
I rise to my feet. “Like what?”
