Page 290 of Hot Mess
I’d taken Danica’s dad for a rip up the coast highway in my Camaro, as soon as I brought it over on the ferry, and that was it. Next thing I knew, he was inviting me down to play poker with his buddies. Dude liked old cars, beer and music, and he had a great sense of humor.
Plus, he was a nice guy. Like I finally got to see where Danica got her kind nature from. Her mom was nice enough, in her own kooky way, but Danica’s dad had a selfless heart, just like Danica did.
So the fucking opposite of my dad.
“You’ve been really cool with him,” she said. “So thank you.”
“You don’t have to thank me. I’m not doing it to kiss his ass. I just like him.” I brushed her hair off her shoulder and laid my hand gently on the side of her neck. The lantern lights sparkled in her eyes as she gazed up at me. “I know it sucks for you that your parents split up. But you’re fortunate to have such a great dude for a dad.”
“I know,” she said. “And it didn’t all suck. They’re better apart than they were together. And I still get to have them both in my life. Everyone’s happier this way.”
“Some people just aren’t meant to be together,” I agreed, brushing the tip of my nose down hers. “But I’m glad they hooked up. They made a couple of amazing daughters.”
Danica smiled. I could’ve just saidanamazing daughter, but that would’ve been excluding her twin sister from the equation, and that wouldn’t be cool. I knew Danica loved her sister, no matter how they butted heads. And truth be told, Daniella and I had gained a certain mutual respect.
Objectively, she was as beautiful as Danica was, even if I only had eyes for my Dani. But Daniella had other good qualities, too. Like her dad’s goofy, twisted sense of humor—when you could get her to relax and actually open up a bit, instead of just spewing her opinions at you.
“I think that’s true,” Danica agreed. “Some people are definitely not meant to be together for a lifetime. And others…” She kissed me. “Well, maybe they are.” She glanced aside and I followed her gaze. “I hopetheyare.” She was looking at Brody and Jessa, who were dancing slowly nearby.
“They are,” I said. I was pretty fucking sure of that.
Brody Mason wasn’t the kind of guy to let a good thing go.
Neither was I.
“And who knows,” Danica said, peeking up at me. “Maybe, if we’re lucky… we’ll be around one day, like twenty years after we first met, dancing and still in love… just like them.”
“It’s got nothing to do with luck,” I told her. “But it is incredibly likely, if you keep being you.”
She smiled.
“Hey, Danica?”
“Yes, Ashley?”
I cleared my throat a little and just said what I wanted to say. No holding back. I’d promised myself that.
I’d promised Danica that.
“If you keep being you… I might just marry you one day.”
She smiled at me. And instead of freaking out or pulling away, like other people had done when I got serious about them, Danica just held me tighter. Her eyes sparkled and she looked at me that way she so often did—like she couldn’t quite believe how amazing life was.
Funny thing about life; I felt the same way when I looked at her.
“You keep being you, Ashley,” she said, “I might just marry you back.”
Epilogue
Ash
It was close to midnight, but Dolly’s yard was still pretty full of people. Everyone enjoying each other’s company, the liquor, the music. And as my friends celebrated around me, I just stood sipping a beer—and watching Danica talking to Matt across the lawn.
Andfuck… did I have a problem.
I knew that now.
I knew I had to tell her about what happened between me and him at that castle in England.
