You Can't Go Home Again (7 page)

“Really? So you don’t think it’s odd that you’re here? Look
around the room, Danielle. Which of these things doesn’t belong? You’ve never
fit, never been like the rest of the group. Sara and Beth were on cheer with
Jenn. All of us guys were in football and basketball. You don’t play sports,
don’t cheer. Hell, you won’t even perform in front of people.”

By now everyone had stopped moving, and just like the night
before they were listening in silence, stunned by Jace’s odd behavior. And he
wasn’t nearly done.

“Admit it. You knew you didn’t fit, that you were different.
That’s why you hightailed it to L.A. and never looked back!” Jace knew he was
yelling, or just shy of it, but couldn’t seem to stop himself. He didn’t even
realize the room was silent until he heard both Brian and Nicole shout.

His head snapped around, taking in the audience, and the
horrified expressions on their faces. The flash of movement caught his eye as
Danielle very slowly got up and walked out of the room.

Right then, Jenn, angrier than Jace had ever seen her,
shoved his shoulder, pushing him back onto the couch. She had tears in her eyes
when she screamed at him, “She saved my life, you son of a bitch!”

She turned, ran from the room, and headed down the hall to
their bedroom with Brian hot on her heels, tossing one last glare over at Jace.

Jace stood up, grabbed his beer and started to walk away.
After a few steps, he stopped, glanced back at Zack and nodded toward Nicole.
“Could you…”

“Yeah, I’ll get her home.”

Jace nodded and stalked off without another word. He walked
out the front door, hoping against hope that Dani wasn’t out there. Then he
wasn’t sure if he was relieved or disappointed when he didn’t see her. He
walked around the block, across the neighborhoods, through the park and into
the empty field about a mile away. When he thought he’d gotten control again,
he turned back. He had to go apologize to Jenn.

When he got back to the house, he saw the lights were out
and all the cars were gone. His apology would have to wait until tomorrow, it
seemed. As he turned to walk to his bike, he heard Jenn’s voice from the porch
swing.

“Tell me you didn’t really mean that. Tell me that my
memories of those years aren’t that wrong. That you’re not really the
judgmental asshole you seem to be right now. Tell me that my soon-to-be
husband’s best friend, his best man, is not really like that.”

Jace stepped back onto the porch, coming to sit in the swing
next to her. “Jenn, there are no words for how sorry I am.”

She glanced up, and in the glow of the moon, he could see
the shimmer of tears still in her eyes. “I don’t want to hear sorry, Jace. I
want to know what the hell is going on. And neither of you will tell me. Is
this going to happen at my wedding? Are you and your nasty temper going to ruin
that, too?”

She watched as Jace hung his head, scrubbing across his face
with his hands. “No, it won’t happen. I promise. I’ll…figure something out
before then.”

“Jace, we were friends in college, right? I mean, that was
real, wasn’t it? All of us?”

“Yeah, we were friends, Jenn.”

“Then why would you even say that to her? Are you really
that mad that she left? Phones work both ways, you know, and I never saw you
ask for her number either. Besides, she left town, not you.”

Jace’s shoulders tightened, almost imperceptibly, but Jenn
saw it. “You think she left you? But…why? Because she didn’t come back when you
were in the hospital? Jace, she didn’t…”

Jace jumped off the swing. Jenn saw too much; she always
had. How she’d missed this for so long, Jace would never know. “It doesn’t
matter. You’re right. I had no right to say any of that. I didn’t even mean it.
Look, I’m really sorry. I will get this under control before your wedding,
okay?”

Jenn nodded. “Okay.”

“So…are we good?”

Jenn was quiet for a moment, letting Jace stew in his own
worry. “Yeah, we’re good. But you need to talk to Brian tomorrow.”

“I will, I’ll call and take him to lunch and let Dave open
up for me. And I’ll go by and apologize to Dani.”

He saw Jenn shaking her head. “Don’t, Jace. Just leave her
alone. Unless you’re sincere, I don’t think an apology will help right now.”
She stood up, preparing to go back in the house. “You know, when I asked her
how she was, before she left, all she said was that you were right.”

“She said I was right?”

There was a slight hitch in his voice. He coughed, trying to
cover it, but he saw the quick tilt of Jenn’s head. When her voice softened on
the next words, the anger finally giving way, Jace knew she’d heard it.

“Yeah, Jace. She said you were right. Not about screaming at
her in front of everyone, but in what you said. When you’re calm enough to talk
to her, to make her believe that you were lying, then go and apologize. Until
then, just leave her alone.”

Jace nodded, and Jenn shut the door.

* * * * *

Dani woke up the next morning, her eyes feeling like she’d
poured sand in them, her mouth tasting like she’d eaten an entire field of
cotton. As she grabbed her pillow and rammed it over her head, it occurred to
her that two weeks around Jace might be enough to make her into an alcoholic.
Oh, wasn’t that a lovely thought.

She was lying in bed debating whether to roll over and go
back to sleep, or just lie there and die, when her cell phone rang. Why had she
brought the damn thing upstairs? And why was it so loud?

Pulling the pillow tighter around her ears, she stuck one
hand out of the blankets, slapping around blindly on the nightstand to find her
phone. As her fingers finally seized on it, she yanked it under the pillow,
pressing it to her ear.

When it rang again in her ear, she pulled it away. While she
was cussing at it, she finally found the green button to answer the damn thing.

“What?”

Jenn laughed on the other end. “Morning, sunshine. Feeling
the aftereffects of too much wine, I take it?”

“Why the hell are you calling so early, and so perky?”

Another laugh. “It’s not early, it’s almost ten. And you
promised to help me clean up this god-awful mess. Whoever thought eleven people
for dinner was a good idea ought to be shot.”

Hearing Dani’s answering groan, Jenn continued. “So, get up,
get some coffee and take a shower. I’ll be there to pick you up in a while. You
can bring your car home, since you left it here.”

Dani groaned again.

“Get up, Danielle, or I will bring my perky ass over there
and throw water on you.”

Knowing that Jenn would do exactly that, Dani finally sat up
in the bed, pressing her hand to her forehead and growling into the phone. “I’m
up. And when you get here, you’d better bring me something to make me happier!
Something greasy and bad for me.”

“Fine, now get in the shower. I’ll see you in a bit.”

When she heard her doorbell ring around eleven, she figured
Jenn had finally gotten tired of cleaning the kitchen by herself and had
decided Dani was done sleeping. She flung the door wide, a huge smile on her face,
anticipating the greasy tacos or burgers and French fries Jenn had surely
brought with her.

“It took you long e…nough.” Her voice trailed off, getting
quieter as the wind was sucked from her lungs.

Jace was standing there, not Jenn.

She watched the quick play of emotion across his face,
feeling somehow exposed, as he eyed her skimpy shorts and tank top, from head
to toe and back again. She was wishing she’d had the forethought to put on a
bra when his eyes stopped, leveling one long look at her breasts. .

His voice was tight when he asked, “May I come in?”

Jace, in her house. Alone with Jace, in her house. She felt
her body heat right down to the tips of her toes just from looking at him, and
he wanted to come in. She took another look at his face, forcing herself to
make eye contact. He didn’t look angry. And she did need to talk to him. They
had to work this out, for Jenn and Brian if nothing else.

“Look, Dani, I just came by to…”

“Sure. Come on in.” She stepped back, allowing him entrance.

* * * * *

He walked through the door, surprised to find that it still
looked very much like it had over six years ago. The last time he’d been to
this house was for her parents’ funeral. Other than all the missing knickknacks
and personal touches, it was still the same.  

“It still looks the same.” He turned to face her. “You
really haven’t been back here at all, have you?”

Dani raised her eyebrows, throwing him a sarcastic look.
“What, you thought I was just avoiding you? Don’t flatter yourself.”

Knowing he deserved much worse than that, Jace took the
comment in stride. He strolled into the living room, settling into one of the
chairs.

“Please, make yourself at home,” Dani muttered under her
breath.

* * * * *

Seeing the smirk, Dani knew he’d heard her. Rolling her eyes,
she followed him into the living room. Her mother would roll over in her grave
if she saw this total lack of manners. Feeling like a cranky teenager, Dani
offered, “I don’t have much here, but I have coffee, water or a soda. If you
want something to drink.”

“No, I’m good, thanks.”

She plunked down on the couch. Deciding at the last minute
that she’d rather just sit on the floor, she slid off the edge and crossed her
legs.

He smiled again, shaking his head slightly. “You always did
like to sit on the floor.”

“Some things change, some don’t.” She waited a beat before
asking, “Why are you here, Jace? I figure you said everything you needed to say
last night.”

“Yeah. About that… I didn’t mean any of it, Dani. Not a
word.”

“Aaahh, Jenn sent you to apologize.”

“No, actually she told me not to. But she also said that you
agreed with me…thought I was right.”

He looked up at her, and for the first time she saw a
glimpse of her friend, the man she remembered.

“Well, I may disagree with the delivery, but the message
wasn’t wrong. I never did fit, Jace. I am different. I’m sarcastic, not perky,
quiet, not energetic, artistic, not athletic. I knew I was different.”

He shrugged, shaking his head at the same time. “Maybe.
Different but better. And you fit…with me, with Jenn.”

“Really…then why all the hatred? You’ve been spewing venom
at me since I got back into town.” Unable to sit still, Dani hopped to her feet
and started pacing around the room. “I have a hard time believing that this is
all because I didn’t come back for five years. And it can’t be because of…”

She stopped short, turning to face him. Her voice had been
steadily escalating, and was climbing toward a yell.

She could see that her anger was starting to rile his. He
stood up, taking a slow, deliberate step toward her. She didn’t know if he was
trying to encourage her to finish her sentence, or intimidate her into shutting
up.  “Can’t be because of what, Dani? Because you never called? Never even gave
me a phone number so I could call you? Or because you left me? Ran away, left
the damn state, before I even woke up.”

Now he was just a couple of feet away from her. One long
stride and they were literally toe to toe. “I can’t possibly be angry about
that, can I?”

Dani refused to be intimidated. She leaned up on her toes,
bringing her five feet seven inches much closer to his six-foot-one frame. “It
was just sex, Jace. One night of drunken sex. Why would you be so pissed? Is it
a male pride thing? I left before you got the chance?”

“Is that what you think? That I’m pissed ‘cuz you beat me to
the punch?”

His mouth was mere inches from hers. Just as she felt the
pull of his body heat drawing her even closer, he stepped back. One giant step,
putting a decent gap between them.

She closed the gap, stepping forward with her next sentence.
“What else am I supposed to think? If it’s not that, then you’re just an ass to
all the women you fuck! If that’s the case, I should probably tell Nicole. I
kind of liked her; she deserves some warn…”

Before Dani even saw him move, she felt his hands in her
hair, tugging, yanking her head backwards. A split second later she felt his
lips on hers. Startled, her body tensed, prepared to resist, her fists moving
up to his chest. When he pulled harder, one hand on her waist yanking her
against him, she gave up even the pretense of a fight and let herself go.

Her hands slipped up his chest, glided around his neck until
her fingers found his hair. She shoved her fingers through his silky strands,
pulling, pressing his lips harder against her own. At the touch of his tongue
slipping in to graze hers, she moaned softly, every muscle in her body turning
to liquid fire.

Her breasts were getting heavy, achy. The tips were hard,
begging for his touch. Dani began to rub from side to side, desperate to ease
this ache. Jace’s hand ran up her side, the thumb just grazing the underside of
her breast, teasing a small whimper from her. As his hand slipped farther up,
Dani was sure she would burst into flames at his touch.

* * * * *

Hearing her soft sigh brought one of his own to Jace’s lips.
Feeling her body pressed full length against him set off a riot of sensation.
He was already hard, had been since she opened the door in that tiny tank top,
but his shaft pulsed, growing even harder and longer with every sweep of her
tongue. His response to her was so intense, he actually thought he might be
losing his mind, but if this was insanity, he welcomed it.

He felt her nipple, a tight little bud pressing against his
palm, felt her whimper against his lips, and ripped his mouth away in a groan.
He grazed his thumb over her tip, sensed the shiver running through her.
Bending her backward over his arm, he leaned his head down, trailing kisses
down her neck, across her collarbone. He pushed the tank top off her shoulder,
desperate to wrap his mouth around her breast. Another whimper…