I Love You, I Hate You: Part 1

My heart sinks to my feet, hoping the message would be from Danika. I check her messages. There's no change. My texts sit in her phone, unseen.

Me: Nowhere until I find Danika.

Piper: Stand on the trunk and look to your left.

Me: I am not standing on her car. It’s brand new.

Piper: Your loss.

If the hatch dents, Danika’s going to kill me but at this point I’m desperate. I’ll fix whatever I break. I hop my ass on the trunk first then shimmy myself into a standing

position. I look to my left, as directed, and there—under Piper’s favorite hideout—are two blobs of black.

“Thank fuck.” I jump down and run all the way to them.

Piper smiles up at me, as I slow my stride. The oak tree’s large branches fan out, shadowing the ground. A cool reprieve to the hot Florida sun. “Took you long enough.”

I roll my eyes and plop down beside Danika. The relief of having found her is unreal. I thread my fingers with hers, finally feeling peace. “Bite me.”

Piper scrunches her nose. “You’re not my type.”

“Are you okay?” I ask Danika. She looks fine, but there’s no telling what’s going on in that pretty little head of hers.

“Are you?” She flips my hand over, examining my knuckles. Outside of being a little swollen, they’re fine. They’ve seen worse days.

She lifts my hand, kissing each red mark. A shiver runs through me. I’ve never had anyone kiss my wounds better. Mom used to rub her thumb over my cuts and say you’re fine. I nod. “I’m sorry I ran out on you.”

“What did Gunner say?”

“Does it even matter?” Piper asks, saving me from telling Danika he said she was a shitty lay. I know they haven’t slept together, but it still pissed me off. Gunner shouldn’t be smearing Danika’s name like that.

“I guess not.” Danika’s gaze rises to meet mine. “Can we go? I don’t think I can take any more today.”

34

Logan

It’s been a long, hard week, but every day Danika gets a little better. I don’t know what she’s going through. Don’t know how to help her because she’s not talking much. So, I take a page out of Cooper’s handbook.

I’ve been by Danika’s side as much as possible which means I’ve skipped football practice all week. I drive her to and from school; sometimes in her car, sometimes in mine. I even convinced Principal White into temporarily changing my schedule to match hers. And you know what?

It’s working.

Every day I see that flicker of light in Danika’s eyes get a little brighter. She smiles a little more and laughs a little harder.

I’m doing it. I’m the glue that’s putting her back together and that feeling is better than any high I’ve ever felt.

I lift my arm and wrap it around Danika as she crawls in bed beside me. She rests her head on my shoulder and sets a bowl of popcorn on my lap. We’re halfway through season one of Netflix’s Love is Blind and Danika finally understands what all the Jessica-memes are about.

“Do you think any of it is real?” she asks.

I watch her watch the TV, trying to understand where the question comes from. There’s a longing in her eyes and I think I get it. She wants to know if the love is real. If people can fall head over heels with each other in such a short amount of time. I move the bowl of popcorn off my lap and to the bedside table.

“Hey, I was eating that,” she whines, but she’s not angry. If she was, her brows would pinch together, creating a tiny wrinkle on her forehead.

“Have you ever been in love?” I ask.

She shrugs and looks down at her stomach. “I don’t know. Maybe.” Her gaze raises to meet mine. She looks so vulnerable. So beautiful. “Have you?”