Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 82415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82415 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 412(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
“Yeah, sure. I can hang.” Danny kissed my forehead. “I’d take it, but I’m not dressed for it.”
“No biggie.”
We chatted for a couple of minutes before people began making their way in. I sent Danny to my desk before turning on my phone with shaking fingers and logging out of my In Love with My Best Friend email address. Not that he had any reason to get into my phone, but he did know the code, and it wasn’t as if I’d be doing Pilates with my cell on me.
I jogged over and put it in my desk drawer while Danny had his face in his phone. I taught my next class of the day, my head clear and my body invigorated by the time I finished. “I’m gonna go change and clean up real quick. Gimme ten seconds,” I told Danny.
“No rush,” he replied, typing away. Dude, if it was the same guy from the other night, I was in trouble.
After grabbing clothes from my locker, I went into the bathroom, washed up, and changed.
When I got out, Danny was standing by the door, leaning against the wall. He was still on his phone, but looked up and smiled at me, that big Danny-grin that lit up a room. He shoved his cell into his jeans pocket. “You ready?”
“Yep.” I grabbed mine, along with my keys, and locked up.
“You want ramen?” he asked when we stepped outside. It was late spring, the humidity not quite hitting yet, but warm and sunny, which I loved.
“How is that even a question you have to ask? When do I not want ramen?” I really loved food. It was my downfall. There wasn’t much I didn’t devour, so I was lucky to have a fast metabolism.
“You’re nothing if not predictable.” Danny chuckled, putting his arm around me.
First I was grinning, but then I was thinking…wait…predictable? That didn’t sound good. I was spontaneous as fuck. I’d emailed some random dude for advice and then chatted with him for like, a day. “I’m not predictable.”
“Yeah, okay. Sure you’re not.” His words were playful, years of friendship in the tone, but yeah, predictable felt like a different way of saying boring.
My feet suddenly grew roots, holding me in place. “You just called me boring.”
Danny frowned. “I’m pretty sure I didn’t.”
I rolled my eyes.
“Shut up. I didn’t mean it in a bad way, and you know it. There’s nothing wrong with being stable. I like stable. You like stable. You’re my constant.”
Well, I had to admit, I liked being stable, predictable, boring, whatever, a whole lot more then. He kissed my temple again. It was our thing. I loved that we had things.
“I guess I forgive you,” I teased as we continued walking through Midtown. We were quiet for a moment, the question sitting on the tip of my tongue before I pushed it off. “What was up with the guy? The other night?”
Danny dropped his arm from around me and rubbed his face. “Ugh. He’s killing me.”
My heart fell to my feet, maybe even fell out, Danny kicking it around as we walked. “What do you mean?”
“I don’t know. It’s…weird. I think I like him? Not I’m-serious-about-you-and-I-love-you like, but still. It’s fucked up. And I can’t get a read on him. I know he doesn’t want anything serious, and I don’t want anything serious, but something about him makes me feel stupid-giddy in this strange way. I think I want to spend more time with him than I would most people I hook up with, but again, I don’t know why. If it’s because he’s running and I like the chase or what. You know that’s my thing.”
My whole body froze. I tried to keep walking, to break the ice around me, but couldn’t. This was definitely different. Danny liked this guy, and I was caught between a broken heart and wanting my best friend to be happy. But then, it didn’t sound like this man felt the same, and Danny did like the chase. Could that be what this was? That the guy wasn’t as into him as Danny was, so that made him even more interesting?
“What’s wrong?” Danny’s dark brows pulled together.
“Nothing. I…” Think, think, think. I had to play this off like he wasn’t stepping on my heart and crushing it into the concrete. “Holy shit, man. You’re in love,” I teased.
Danny laughed, loud and boisterous and real, which helped me breathe some. “Nope. Definitely not. I’m a little bit in like because he’s funny, has a great ass, and doesn’t seem as into me as I’m into him.”
“Wait…so you’re in like with me?” I said playfully, trying to force myself to be us.
“You’re not that funny,” he joked back.
“I’m fucking hilarious. And I really have a great ass.”
Danny pulled me close, wrapped his arm around me, and we resumed walking. “You’re the best. I don’t know what I would do without you.”