Page 22 of Please Don’t Go (The Midnight Strike #1)

DANIEL

“Come on, Adrian. Wake up. Please don’t go. Please don’t go,” I chant under my breath as I watch the lifeguard do CPR on him. “Come on, Adrian. Wake up. Please. Please. Please don’t go. Wake up.”

“Danny!”

I flit my gaze to the bedroom door where Angel stands, watching me with worry.

“What?” I stuff my towel in my bag and zip it closed.

“You good? You look a little pale.” He steps into my room and drops down in my desk chair.

“I’m good.” I smile even though my stomach churns. It makes me so nauseous; I feel bile rising up my throat, but I swallow it down.

His skeptical eyes jump to my bag on my bed. “Where are you going?”

“To swim with Josie.”

He sits up fast, almost falling off the chair, and stares at me, stupefied. “Swimming? With Josie?”

“Yup. She’s going to teach me how to swim.”

Angel’s eyes go round, and his jaw drops. “She agreed, and you’re actually going to do this? Are you doing this because you want to learn, or are you doing this to get laid, because if you are, you’re fucking stupid. I’ve seen you in the water.”

“Neither. I’m doing this because it’s the only way she’ll let me help her.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

I grab my duffle bag and drape it on my shoulder. “Nothing. And would you stop assuming I’m into her or want to fuck her or whatever you have in your head? We’re just friends.”

He snickers but it turns into a laugh as he stands. Before he walks out of my room, he looks over his shoulder at me and laughs again.

“What? Why are you?—”

“If I would’ve known you’d be this desperate, I would’ve bet more. Dammit.” He groans, leaning against my doorframe.

“You guys were being serious?” I walk past him and make my way down the stairs.

All the guys are gathered in the living room. Kai and Noah are playing COD and Gray is talking to someone on the phone.

“I’m telling you, Saint?—”

“Hang up,” I demand and stand in front of the TV, blocking the guys from being able to see.

“Fuck out of the way!” Noah shoots me daggers.

“What the fuck?” Kai stands, hands raised. “You got us kill?—”

“The bet is off,” I adamantly say once Angel has joined us in the living room. “I don’t know why you are all?—”

“You got me killed over the bet?” Noah questions, his face stoic, but I hear the agitation in his voice. “You dumb motherfucker. Get out of the way.”

“There is nothing going on between Josie and me. So, stop the bet. I’m sick and tired of you guys?—”

“I’ll talk to you later. Yeah…Danny is losing his shit…wait, really?” Gray laughs into the phone. “How long was it before TJ…couldn’t be me…I can hardly take care of myself…I couldn’t make my bed…you get it…we should?—”

Snatching the phone, I place it on my ear. “He’ll talk to you later. Bye, Saint.” And I hang up before I toss it back to him.

“Okay, rude.” His eyes slightly narrow, and his brows furrow. “What’s wrong with you?”

“No more bets. Got it?” I sternly look at each one of them.

Kai scoffs. “Is this about Josie? Because we’re just playing around.”

“No, we’re not,” Noah disagrees. “You want to fuck or like Josie. Whatever it is, we’re?—”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what’s it like?” Gray tilts his head to the side, eyeing me with curiosity. “Because you punched Bryson for her. Or did we all not see the same thing? Do you know how many times he’s antagonized you over Amanda, but the minute he calls Josie a bitch, you swung.”

Truth is, I don’t know what it’s like. I don’t think about fucking Josie, but I also won’t lie and act like I haven’t checked her out. Still, I don’t want to disrespect her. She’s gone through a lot. But if she hadn’t—what am I saying?

“We’re friends.”

“I’ve fucked many of my friends. Just saying.” Angel noncommittally shrugs.

I narrow my eyes at him, letting him know he’s not helping, to which he shrugs again.

“The real question is who haven’t you fucked?” Kai snorts.

“This isn’t about me, dumbass, and you have no room to talk,” Angel retorts.

“Don’t be lame Danny. I mean if you fall for her or fuck her what’s the problem? Why are you against it?” Gray asks.

It’s not that I’m against the bet because I’ve thought about Josie more than a time or two. But things are different, and our relationship isn’t the kind of relationship I’ve had with other girls or even with Amanda.

Though I’m not sure I can even call it a relationship. She hardly lets me in, and the only reason I’m making any progress is because I agreed to let her teach me how to swim.

I’m not even sure Josie really likes me.

Somedays I feel like I’m getting a read on her and other days, I can’t read her at all. She only tolerates me because we have a class together and we’re hiking buddies, but if it wasn’t because of that, I’m sure we wouldn’t be on speaking terms.

“Just stop the bet. It’s stupid and nothing is going to happen between us,” I exhaustedly say, securing the bag on my shoulder.

“Where are you going?” Kai asks.

Before I get the chance to dodge the question and look at Angel to keep his mouth shut, he’s speaking.

“Swim lessons.”

“You got her to agree?” Gray looks severely offended.

“You gave me the idea. I guess it’s time I learn.” My hand tightens on the strap as another wave of nausea crashes against me. “I’ll see you guys later.”

I ring the doorbell, breathing in slowly and then out. I do this a few more times in hopes the nausea will vanish, but it continues to persist.

But it and my headache only worsen when Josie swings the door open. The realization of what I’m going to do sets my body in a panic.

“Hey, Gar—” She studies me, eyes sweeping over my face then down to my full hands. “What’s with the bags?” she asks, although I feel that’s not what she wanted to say and I’m thankful for it.

She motions for me to come inside and I follow behind her, telling her, “I’m going to make you dinner.”

There are instances where reading her is difficult, but then there are some moments her vulnerability seeps through, and reading her is as easy as breathing.

The conversation we had about her groceries stuck out to me. I knew without her having to go into detail why she lacks the energy to cook. I want to tell her that I’ve been there, but it’s not about me.

As we step in the kitchen, she staggers and spins to face me. “You don’t have to?—”

“I am and I will. Plus, I’m a great cook, and if baseball ends up not working out, I’m considering becoming a private chef.

” I smile at her as I set the bags down on the island.

“Okay, maybe I don’t have what it takes to become a private chef, but let me tell you my rice is private-chef-level quality.

You just wait until you try my tinga , and don’t worry, I’ll make it extra spicy for you. ”

My anxiety has lessened but now I feel…nervous but for different reasons. Am I overstepping? I want to make her happy, I want to help her fill the emptiness, I want to do whatever I can to make her feel good, but I don’t want to push.

She comes a little closer, standing on the other side of the island. “You know how spicy I like my food?”

“You said it’s hard for you to enjoy most foods if they’re not spicy. I also feel the same way.”

We were hiking when she said that. I was trying to get to know her as much as I could, asking her random questions here and there.

“I don’t remember telling you that.” She looks into the bag, but I don’t miss the faint jerk of her lips.

Fireworks. Every single time she does that.

“I’m very good at paying attention. Not to brag or anything, but it’s what landed me captain and how I became shortstop.”

Her lips jerk again and so does my heart.

“I’m pretty sure it was your—” She stops mid-sentence when she pulls out two containers. One has slices of limes and the other slices of lemons, but when she pulls out the lemon squeezer, a laugh slips past her lips. “I…” She trails off, her lips slowly curling upward into a small smile.

Wow…whoa… whoa .

I don’t blink or breathe, afraid it’ll disappear or this is all a dream, but when she locks eyes with me, her small smile just barely deepens, and I swear my brain short-circuits.

Why was I anxious again?

“I figured you could use them. I know it’s been a week, but sometimes the smallest cuts take the longest to heal.” My gaze drops to her plush lips. “And I wasn’t sure if you had a lemon squeezer, but if you do, now you have another so the other doesn’t feel lonely.”

“As a matter of fact, I don’t have one, so this one will come in handy.

And you know…” she says, her eyes distant and reminiscent.

It makes me wonder if she’s thinking about her mom.

She never talks about her, and I don’t want to ask questions because it’s hard for me when people ask about Adrian.

“It’s been a while since I put limes and lemons in my water, but I think I’ll be doing that again. Thanks, Garcia.”

I don’t mean to, but I puff out my chest, feeling immensely proud. “You know, you can call me Danny since we’re friends, or are we not…”

It’s not a question, but at the same time it is. Maybe it’s desperate, but I just want to hear it come out of her mouth.

“I thought that was already established? Don’t friends call each other by their last names?” She seems genuinely confused, and I feel like a dumbass.

“Right, that was already established. I’m sorry. I didn’t?—”

“You don’t have to apologize. That’s actually on me.

I…” She becomes quiet as she takes out the stuff from the bags.

When she opens the fridge, my heart sinks at how empty it is.

With her back still to me, she says, “I’m sorry if I was…

am a bitch. I know I come off abrasive and I’m not the most…

bubbly. I mean, people call me Wednesday and?—”

“Josefine, look at me.”

She still doesn’t turn, so I go to her. Once I’m standing in front of her, she cranes her head back to stare up at me.

My fingers itch to brush them along her cheek. There isn’t a day I don’t think about how her skin felt on my fingers the night I helped change her tire.

“I don’t know who made you feel that way, but I don’t see you like that.

I just see Josefine.” I take one step closer; my arms hang limply at my sides, but they feel anything but that.

They feel heavy, and I’m desperate to reach out and hold her.

“I still don’t know you as much as I’d like, but like I told you that night on the cliff, I want to get to know you.

I want you to let me in and when you’re ready, I’ll be here.

And if there’s ever anything you want to talk about, like your mom, I’ll be here too. ”

Her nose flares and those beautiful brown eyes soften before she casts them down. She tucks her hair behind her ear and nods.

That nod tells me everything I need to know, and for the first time since I met her, I feel like she’s really allowing me in.

I don’t push or prod and together we stock up her fridge and then head out to her pool.

Anxiety flares in my stomach and I start sweating despite how cool the weather is today. Just as I’m about to tell Josie that this is a bad idea and walk back inside, she slips her hand in mine, keeping her gaze on the pool.

“Your sister told me about your brother, Adrian,” she solemnly says, looking up at me.

My heart painfully aches, but as she begins to rub soft circles with her thumb, I feel it less.

“I’m not going to force you to do something you’re not ready to do.

But I want you to know that if you want this, I will help you. ”

I’m a little at a loss for words because where I’m usually riddled with so much anxiety, the fear paralyzes me, I don’t necessarily feel that right now.

Maybe it’s my sweaty palm that she feels or how tightly I’m gripping hers, but she squeezes my hand and stares at me so deeply, her eyes become engraved in my brain.

“I got you,” she softly and earnestly says, but more than anything, it sounds like a promise and I believe her.