Coming Home (13 page)

It wasn’t the first time Jake had given him that piece of advice, but in this case, there was one glaring problem.

He didn’t want to fuck her six ways from Sunday.

Well, he
did
, but that wasn’t all he wanted. Because the day they had lunch together, he didn’t want the meal to end, and that night on the phone, he could have talked to her for hours.

With her it would be more than just a fling, more than some hookup he used to entertain himself while he still could.

“Yo,” Tommy said, coming in from the reception area. “Jake said we’re hittin’ up The Rabbit Hole tonight?”

Danny closed his eyes and dropped his head.

“Did he now?” Fucking douche.

“I just texted Damon. He’s on tonight, so we should definitely go.”

Danny took a deep breath before he opened his eyes and looked up. “Alright. I’m in,” he said, vowing to make Jake wash the shop floor every night for the next year.

“Goddamn, this place is ripe tonight,” Jake said, taking a sip of his beer as he scanned the crowd below.

The Rabbit Hole was part club, part bar; on the lower level, there was a large dance floor, with the main bar taking up the entire wall on the right. Surrounding the dance floor on all other sides were a few small tables, and above that—on the second level—were the roped-off VIP areas, each one consisting of a large U-shaped white leather couch with a low table in the center. The middle of the second floor was cut out so that each booth looked down on the dance floor and the main bar.

“So which lucky girl is about to turn you down?” Tommy asked from the booth, and Danny laughed.

“This girl can turn me any way she wants,” Jake said. “DeLuca, come look at this.”

“I’ve seen girls before,” Danny said, his arm draped over the back of the booth.

“Not like this,” Jake said, never taking his eyes from the dance floor.

“Humor him,” Tommy said, “or we’re gonna be listening to his cheesy-ass double entendres for the next two hours.”

Danny rubbed his hand over his eyes before he got up with a sigh. “Ten bucks says I can see her plastic parts from here.”

Tommy chuckled as he brought his beer to his lips, and Danny walked the few steps over to the balcony.

“Check her out,” Jake said. “The blonde in the orange top.”

Danny’s eye immediately landed on the bright orange halter that ended halfway down the girl’s stomach.

And the indecently large breasts that were bursting out the sides of it.

“Wow,” Danny said, rubbing the back of his neck. “She seems…classy.”

“She’s got the sickest tattoo on her lower back. Watch when she turns around.”

But Danny was no longer looking at the blonde with the fake chest. His eye was on the dance floor just to the right of the door.

She was here.

Her arms were over her head as she rolled her hips in time to the beat, her body moving in tantalizing waves as she sang the lyrics to the girl dancing beside her.

Holy. Shit.

“Hot, right?” Jake said.

Danny nodded, having no idea what he’d just said yes to. She was wearing dark jeans that hugged her legs all the way down and a flowing white tank top that was missing a strap on one side. The only part of her body that was exposed was that shoulder, and yet she was a hundred times sexier than the girl Jake was frothing at the mouth over.

“Your girl here yet?” Jake asked from beside him.

Danny shook his head slowly, his eyes still on Leah. “No, not yet.”

He’d spent the entire day thinking about it, but he still hadn’t decided what he was going to do. He never answered her text earlier, so it wasn’t like she was expecting him. If he left without seeing her, she’d never even know he had been there.

And as he watched her swaying her hips provocatively to the pulsing beat, he realized that was probably the best plan of action.

Leah scooped her dark hair back into a ponytail with one hand and fanned herself with the other before she gestured to the girl she was with. The girl nodded, grabbing Leah’s hand, and they walked off the dance floor together, approaching another girl who was sitting at the bar. She turned to the girls and said something, and Leah threw her head back and laughed, wrapping one arm around her.

“If she stands you up, it’s her loss, man,” Jake said before he took down the rest of his beer.

“Thanks,” Danny said as he smiled weakly, glancing over at him.

Jake clapped him on the back before he said, “I think I need one more beer in me before I talk to orange halter. You want?”

“I’m good,” Danny said, leaning his forearms on the railing and clasping his hands in front of him.

“Alright, I’ll be back,” Jake said, making his way around Danny and heading for the stairs that would bring him down to the main bar.

Danny wet his lips, allowing his eyes to drift over the lower level of the bar, but every few seconds, they would find their way back to her.

The bartender had just brought the girls a round of shots, and the three of them held their glasses up while the smallest one said something that made the others laugh. They all clinked their glasses before taking the shots, and just as they were lining up the empty glasses along the bar, a guy approached them.

“Oh Jesus.” Danny laughed, giving him the once-over. Even from all the way up on the balcony, he could see the meticulously gelled blowout and the blatantly fake tan the guy was sporting. Not to mention the button-down shirt he wore open.

With nothing underneath.

He sidled right up to the smallest friend, reaching out to swipe the hair out of her face as he said something to her, and she jerked backward with a look on her face that had Danny flinching for the guy while fighting laughter.

Without answering, she walked around to the other side of Leah, putting some distance between her and her admirer, who was clearly unfazed by the rejection.

Because he went right for friend number two.

Danny watched the guy put his hand on her shoulder, massaging it creepily as he said whatever line he’d been saving up for her. This girl was a little gentler, it seemed; she kept her expression in check as she held up her left hand, pointing at it with her right.

Danny was too far away, but he assumed she was showing him some type of wedding ring.

“Tough break, pal,” he said with a laugh, shaking his head.

The guy took a step back, looking like he was going to admit defeat, but then he turned, smiling at Leah as he said something. She smiled politely back before she turned her attention back to the dance floor, and he moved to her side, resting his elbow on the bar as he leaned close to her ear, saying something else.

Danny’s smile dropped.

Her expression was smooth as she answered him, never taking her eyes off the dance floor, and the guy smiled, taking the tiniest step closer to her.

And just like that, Danny’s decision was made.

Friends. They could be friends. Friends texted each other.

And friends hung out at bars together.

He turned and walked quickly toward the stairway. She seemed to be handling herself just fine, and she had two girlfriends down there with her, but he didn’t give a shit. That douchebag had ignited something visceral in him, and he wanted her by his side tonight.

He rounded the corner after passing the bouncer at the bottom of the stairs, scanning the crowd until he spotted her again.

Jersey Shore was still nestled up beside her, using the noise of the bar as an excuse to lean close to her whenever he spoke. She leaned away just enough to be noticeable, but not enough to be rude, forcing a smile and answering briefly before she looked at her friend and widened her eyes.

Just as Danny approached them, he heard the guy say, “Come on, hon. Let me buy you a drink. You’re too pretty not to have a drink in your hand.”

Without thinking, Danny snaked his arm around Leah’s waist, resting his hand on her hip as he pulled her into his side.

“Thanks, but she’s all set,” he said.

As the guy’s eyes met Danny’s, his seductive expression faltered.

“Sorry, bro,” he said, holding both hands up in a peace offering before he turned and made his way to the other side of the bar.

Danny watched him until he was far enough away that he knew he wouldn’t be coming back, and then he looked down at Leah.

“I hope I didn’t just blow that for you. Were you planning on taking My Cousin Vinny home?”

She smiled as she turned her body to face him. Danny kept his hand on her so that when she turned, it traveled along her lower back, coming to rest on her opposite hip.

“Take him home?” she said in horror. “No way. I was probably just gonna bang him in the bathroom and then bail.”

Danny laughed loudly, and she grinned, her chin lifted slightly as she looked up at him.

Someone cleared her throat loudly, and Danny turned to see the two girls from before staring pointedly at Leah.

Her expression and posture straightened simultaneously. “Oh, sorry. Guys, this is Danny. Danny, this is Robyn and Holly.”

Danny took his hand off Leah’s hip and reached out, shaking each of theirs. “Nice to meet you,” he said. “Did you guys just order drinks?”

“No, not yet,” the little one—Holly—said. “We’re waiting for the bartender.”

Danny stepped forward and held up his hand, and a second later, Damon glanced up at him from behind the bar. Danny made a wide circle over the girls’ heads with his finger before pointing back to himself, and Damon gave him the thumbs-up and then pointed up at the second level.

“That’s my friend Damon,” Danny said to the girls. “You guys are all set.”

“All set?” the one named Robyn asked.

“Yeah, you’re on the house tonight.”

Danny caught the smile that lifted the corner of Holly’s mouth as she elbowed Robyn just before he turned back to Leah. “We have a table up there, if you guys want to come up.”

He could still see Holly and Robyn in his peripheral vision, although they clearly didn’t know that: Robyn was nodding enthusiastically while mouthing an exaggerated “say yes” at Leah, while Holly gave her the OK sign, looking him over as she mouthed the word “hot.” He pressed his lips together, trying to keep a straight face as he waited for her reply.

“Um, yeah, sure,” she said before turning her attention to the girls, and as soon as Danny followed suit, both girls immediately straightened their expressions. “You guys want to go upstairs?”

“Sure,” Holly said nonchalantly. “Danny, this is so nice of you. Thank you.”

“No problem,” he said. “Follow me.”

Danny led the way to the back stairs, nodding at the bouncer who sat on the stool at the bottom.

“What’s up, Dan,” he said, gesturing for them to pass. As the girls followed him up the stairs, he added, “Have a good night, ladies.”

Danny rounded the corner and made his way toward their booth, and as Tommy saw him approaching, he called out, “Danny boy! Where the hell did you just run off to?”

“I saw a friend. Tommy, this is Leah, and that’s Holly and Robyn.”

“Welcome, ladies,” Tommy said, sliding over to make room, and Holly slid in first, followed by Robyn and then Leah.

When Danny slid in behind her, she smiled wryly. “I had no idea you were such a big shot,” she said.

“A big shot?” He laughed. “Hardly. I’m just a lowly mechanic who happens to know the head bartender.”

“A humble big shot? Those are the most dangerous kind.”

Danny smirked and Tommy said, “I think Damon’s sending drinks up. Does he know they’re up here?”

“Yeah,” Danny said just as Jake approached the table with his beer.

“What do we have here?” he asked, eyeing the girls as he slid in the booth next to Tommy.

“DeLuca,” Tommy answered, nodding over at him.

“
All three of them
?” he asked, raising his beer in salute. “Impressive.”

Danny leaned down, bringing his lips to Leah’s ear. “That’s Jake. I apologize in advance for him.”

She laughed, leaning in conspiratorially as she nodded toward Holly. “Wait until this one gets going. They’ll cancel each other out, and then we’ll be even.”

Danny smiled as one of the waitresses approached them with a tray of six shots, placing one in front of each person at the table.

“Alabama Slammers all around,” she said with a wink before she walked away, and Danny’s smile fell.

“Who ordered these?” he asked flatly.

Everyone reached for a shot as if he hadn’t spoken, and Danny pushed his to the center of the table.

“I’m good, if anyone wants that.”

Tommy lowered his shot, looking at Danny over the top of it. “Bro, you have to take it. It’s for Bryan.”

The words took the air right out of his body. Danny stared at his friend from across the table, concentrating on taking his next breath.

He had no idea what expression he was wearing, but it must have been something truly special because the color instantly drained from Tommy’s face before his eyes flitted away.

He could see that Leah was watching him, and he reached across the table, pulling the shot back as his jaw tensed. His knee began bouncing under the table, and all he really wanted to do in that moment was pick up the glass and throw it against the wall.