“I even confessed my undying love for the damn thing, telling the cupcake how much I loved it. The next thing I know, Dani dropped the Pyrex dish and it shattered everywhere. It scared the shit out of me. I ran over to her, but it was like she was paralyzed. It took me a few minutes to drag her out of the state she was in. She ended up cutting her hand.”
“What? Is she okay?” His eyes widen with concern.
“Yeah, it was just a little cut. I tended to the wound, and she ended up going to bed. I guess it just slipped out of her hands, but her reaction to it…it was strange.”
Zach turns to me with a confused look similar to mine. “What exactly did you say to the cupcake?” He lets out a small chuckle, taking another bite of lasagna.
Laughing, I look at him like are you for real? “I don’t know, man. ‘I love you, cupcake’ or something.”
Zach blows out a breath and puts his head down on his arms, mumbling something under his breath.
“Am I missing something here?” I take a sip of my beer and try to figure out the missing piece.
“It’s not your fault, Ky. You didn’t know.”
“That she doesn’t believe in love at first bite?” I ask jokingly. This whole conversation is a little weird. What am I missing here?
“Emmett.” I’m still not following here. “Emmett used to call her Cupcake.” He pauses. “He used to say ‘I love you, Cupcake,’ and she would respond, ‘Forever and always.’ God they were sickening.”
I snicker. “Hmm, sounds like another couple I know.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “Nope, not even close.”
I settle into my seat and place my head in my hands. “She must think I’m the biggest asshole ever.”
“Hey, don’t worry about it. How could you know? She won’t talk about it, about him.” He takes a swig of his beer. “I guess I should be happy that she came home, huh.”
He gets up and places his empty container in the sink and walks the empty beer bottle over to the trash can. It clanks against the shattered glass when he drops it in. “Sorry about all that, man. Thanks for cleaning this whole mess up and taking care of her hand.” Slapping me on the back, he grabs his workbag and heads toward his room.
Danielle Jacobs really is the whole deal, beautiful and talented, but I have to remember that she is off-limits. She’s so closed off, and while I wouldn’t want to take Emmett’s place, maybe one day she’ll see me as something other than his replacement.
I finish tidying up the kitchen, grab another beer, and head toward the living room to watch some TV.
“What a fucking workout. I’m not gonna be able to move my arms for the rest of the weekend.” Zach stretches his arms out after he parks his Jeep in the driveway.
“Hey, I didn’t say I was gonna go easy on ya, ya fuckin pussy.” I punch his arm as I pass him on the walkway to the front door. He winces and rubs his arm as he meets me on the front porch, while I insert and turn my house key into the front door lock. When we reach the living room, we’re both stopped dead in our tracks by the most amazing voice I have ever heard. The shower was running from our bathroom. Dani must be playing some music or something.
“Wow, I haven’t heard her sing in so long.” Zach leans up against the arm of the couch and takes a drink from his water bottle.
Holy shit, that is Dani actually singing? “That’s your sister singing? As in that’s her voice?” He nods. We both stay in place, listening to the emotion in her voice while she sings. She must not have heard us come in.
I can hear her crying while singing. Shit, I’m on the verge of tears just listening to her. She has the voice of a fucking angel. We continue to listen in silence as she sings a second song. If you heard her voice, you wouldn’t have been able to move either. The first song I only recognized because I saw Snow Patrol in concert once in college, but this one, I don’t know that I’ve heard it before.
“Damn, she can cook, and she can sing. Is there anything your sister can’t do?”
Zach’s head is still down. “Yeah. Moving on.”
“Huh?” I’m not sure what he means by that, but before I can ask more, he rises to his feet.
“Nothing, man. Just that song.” He speaks so softly that if I wasn’t really paying attention, I would’ve missed it. He looks back at the bathroom door and then walks to his room. I’m not sure what that was about. I hear the shower turn off, and my heart begins to race knowing that I will see her in just a few minutes. I’ve never been affected by a girl this way. I start to panic and try to figure out what I should do. Should I be sitting here and tell her I was listening? No, that sounds creepy. I can run to my room or the kitchen and hide till I know she is in her room. Before I can make up my mind, the bathroom door opens. Holy shit, she’s only in a towel…again.
Damnit! Don’t stare, dude.
She has her head down as she walks out, not noticing me standing there frozen. When she finally looks up, she yells, “Fucking hell, Kyler! You need to stop doing that.” She tightens her grip on her towel. Wow, I’m having a bit of déjà vu here.
Her eyes are bloodshot and rimmed
with red, a telltale sign that she’s been crying. I go to step forward to comfort her and think better of it—one, that might be weird, and two, she