He attempted a smile. “No, Shay. Thanks, though.”
She leaned down and planted a kiss on his cheek, and then she squeezed his shoulder and moved on without making a fuss that drew more attention his way. He really appreciated that.
He tried to at least appear interested in the conversation around him. Mo and Billy showed off the tattoos of griffins they both got to celebrate their new security firm, and Tara was entertaining everyone with her scarily encyclopedic knowledge of trivia, in this instance, about the real creature that mythological griffins were based on.
And that was when Sean saw Daniela come out the back door of the Cortez’s house. Wearing a little black dress that looked kinda like a long T-shirt and those black Converse and dark sunglasses, her hair sleeked back in a ponytail. God, she was sexy and gorgeous and—really fuckin’ angry at him.
She stood on the back deck and surveyed the party-goers, a mix of Noah’s WFC friends and his parents’ friends and neighbors, and Sean knew it the instant her gaze landed on him. Not just because she started heading his way, but because he felt it. Whatever that magnetism was between them remained despite the fact that he’d royally fucked up.
Dani said quick hellos as people noticed and stopped her, but she didn’t linger in any of those conversations. She just kept moving in his direction, and he had no clue exactly what was coming at him—nor was he sure he wanted to find out in front of all these fine people.
No superhero here, and all that.
So he got up and started threading around the outside of their group, and still she made for him. And then she was right there in front of him. “Can we talk?”
He hesitated.
She lifted her sunglasses on top of her head. Her eyes weren’t swollen and red like they’d been last night, but that wasn’t to say that she looked good exactly. She still looked upset, which made that boulder in his gut even heavier. “Please?”
“Uh, I don’t know, Dani,” he said, moving away from the group. Not really wanting everyone to hear what a shitty thing he’d done. Not wanting her to hand him his ass at this particular moment after he’d been doing such a stellar job kicking it himself. “Now’s probably not the best time.”
“When, then? I’ve been calling and texting.”
She had? He’d turned his phone off last night after he left her place and hadn’t turned it back on again, figuring it wouldn’t matter anyway. He frowned. “Yeah, sounds like me the day before.”
Dani ducked her chin and nodded, and man if he didn’t feel like an asshole. “I know,” she said, “and I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize to me, Daniela. You don’t owe me anything.” Sean powered on his phone, surprised when a barrage of missed calls and message notifications popped up, but he swiped past those and thumbed on the ride app. It was going to cost him a fuck-ton of cash to get from where the Cortezes lived out here near Mount Vernon back into the city but leaving was for the best.
“Wait, what are you doing?” she asked.
“I’m gonna head out,” he said, waiting for the frustratingly slow app to load. He walked a few paces away, hoping to pick up another bar and get a stronger signal.
“Stay,” she said.
The word tugged at something inside his chest, even as the app finally loaded and he hit the button to request a pick-up. Surprisingly, there was a car only five minutes away. He shook his head. “My ride’s gonna be here in five. I gotta go say my good-byes.”
He went to the picnic table where most of the WFC gang—Mo, Billy, Shayna, Noah, Kristina, Jud, Jesse, and Tara—were all laughing at some story that Jud was telling, his southern drawl loud and animated. Sean braced his hands on Mo’s big shoulders. “I’m sorry to say this, but I’m gonna go. I’m not…feeling great.”
As everyone called out their regrets and sympathies, Mo peered over his shoulder. “You sure you need to go?”
“Yeah, man.”
Frowning, Mo nodded. “You need a ride?”
“No, you stay and enjoy. I’m covered.” He gave everyone a wave, but when he turned to leave, Dani was standing just a few feet away. “See ya, D.”
“Sean,” she said, catching his arm with her hand.
“I don’t want to fight, Dani.”
“I don’t want to fight, either,” she said, following him.
“Then what do you want?” he asked, not stopping.
“I want you to stay and talk to me,” she said, and he had to admit that there was something in the tone of her voice that tempted him to consider it. Because she sounded upset, but she didn’t sound angry.
Even so, this still wasn’t the place. He sighed. “My car’s gonna be here in two minutes.”