tonight and I’m not prepared to talk about what’s going on with us. Can you just give me some time to process what you’re saying? I wasn’t expecting this and with everything else on my plate, I don’t want to feel pressured into something without thinking it through. Can you give me that, please?” I don’t think I should jump into a relationship right away, especially one with a guy that’s as alpha male as Toby. I just got out of a controlling relationship, and I’m not looking to go there again.
I give Toby a pleading look to just drop it for now, and he does. “Come on. Let’s see what Dani wants, then we can figure the rest out.” He takes my hand into his and we walk into the tattoo shop to see this Dani guy.
The bell over the door rings, signaling our entrance. I spot a guy behind the desk who I assume is Dani. He looks frantic and pissed off at the same time. I don’t know what happened to make him that way, but I would guess the reason is why he called Toby here.
Toby walks up to him, still holding my hand tightly in his. “Hey, brother, what’s going on?” Only releasing my hand long enough to shake hands with Dani, he then pulls me against his side, wrapping his arm around me tightly. I’ve seen this move done enough times to know that he’s staking his claim, though I’m not sure why he would feel the need to do this in front of someone he calls “brother”.
“She’s gone, Toby. I got in this morning to find this note saying that she had to leave town and she didn’t know how long she’d be gone.” I don’t want to get in the way of them talking, so I try to wiggle out of Toby’s hold, but it’s no use. He looks down at me and shakes his head, silently telling me that he doesn’t want me to go anywhere.
Once he sees that I give up on trying to walk away to give them privacy, he looks back over at Dani. “Does the note say why she left? Did something happen that we need to be aware of?” Toby is looking at Dani almost accusingly; like he thinks that he did something to this girl to make her leave.
Dani literally growls and bares his teeth. “The fuck? You think I did something to make her leave?” Not wanting them to start a fight, I decide to step in to diffuse the situation. I have no idea who left, or why. I don’t know Dani and what he may or may not have done to her. I don’t know if he’s even with this girl, but I’ve dealt with enough confrontations to know how to steer it in the right direction to figure out what’s going on and what needs to be done to fix it.
“Now children, we won’t get anything figured out if you boys insist on having this pissing contest. Now Dani, why don’t you tell us what the letter said―specifically?” Dani looks at me with what I can only describe as shock at my words. I know how he feels because I sometimes shock myself with what comes out of my mouth, or my boldness at times.
“Well, I’d be happy to tell you about the letter. All you needed to do was ask.” A feminine voice says from behind me.
Spinning around, I see a woman who looks like she should be on the cover of one of those badass biker magazines. You know, the ones with a sexy chick sitting on an even sexier bike. Yeah, one of those. She has long, dark hair with red and blonde highlights, high cheekbones, full lips, and a lot of tattoos covering her toned body. Who is this girl?
She must see my confusion because she walks up to me with a smirk on her face while reaching out her hand to shake mine. “Hi, I’m Dani. He’s Louie, and you must be Sara,” she says as I take her hand into mine, then she looks over at Toby and winks. I’m flabbergasted and completely speechless. This is Dani? “I can see you’re confused,” she says with a laugh. When I still don’t say anything, she continues, “My full name is Danielle, but everyone calls me Dani.” I feel my cheeks redden with embarrassment at not knowing that Dani was a girl. I look to Toby and the