Dangerous to Know & Love (30 page)

“Daniel’s parents died two years ago in a car crash,” Lisanne blurted out angrily.

There was a horrified silence.

Daniel was the only one who didn’t know what had been said, but he saw Kirsty’s expression morph from combative to shocked.

“Oh… oh! I’m so, so sorry, Daniel! I had no idea. Lis never said. I… I’m so sorry.”

He looked to Lisanne for a translation of the conversation.

“Your parents. She didn’t know.”

“Oh.”

He shrugged and stared out of the window again, but when Lisanne held his hand in her lap, he didn’t pull away.

Kirsty was sitting quietly in the front, stoically ignoring Vin’s angry glances. There were no more attempts to talk.

When Vin pulled up outside the dorms, Daniel got out without speaking and Lisanne muttered a simple, “Night.”

But as Daniel turned to walk away, Vin rolled down his window and reached out with his right hand.

“Sorry about your parents, man.”

Daniel stared at him for a moment, then shook Vin’s hand.

“Thanks,” he said, quietly.

As Vin’s car pulled away, Lisanne grabbed Daniel’s arm, forcing him to look at her.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t tell her because… well, it was private.”

He smiled tiredly.

“It’s okay, baby. I don’t want people feeling sorry for me, whatever the reason.” He let out a deep breath and forced out a smile. “See you upstairs in five.”

“Good luck with that, buddy,” said another student in a disgruntled tone, as he walked away from the girls’ dorms. “They’ve put a security guard on the fire door – guess the dean got wise to it.”

“And the hits just keep on coming,” muttered Daniel. “Looks like we’ll both be sleeping alone tonight, baby doll.” He sighed. “Guess I’ll see you in the morning.” He gave her a small smile, “We have a beach party to go to.”

Lisanne wanted to sulk and stamp her foot. It had been a fantastic night – the gig had gone really well, and now everything had fallen apart. All she’d wanted was to fall asleep on Daniel’s chest and wake up for some awesome morning sex. Now her plans had been ruthlessly quashed.

He rubbed her arms and kissed her lips gently.

“See you at 9:30. Night, baby.”

Then he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked slowly toward the lot where he’d left Sirona. Lisanne felt bereft and filled with sadness for him. He looked so alone.

*    *    *

She slept badly, tossing and turning and waking several times. In her dreams, she kept seeing Daniel walking away from her. It was upsetting.

As soon as her cellphone started chirruping at 8 AM, she sent a text to Daniel.

* L: slept horribly without u.

No fun : ( see you later. LA xx *

His reply made her smile.

* D: See you SOON *

She dashed into the shower before other girls from the dorm started lining up. Then she stood wrapped in a towel, staring at her wardrobe, wondering whether it would be warm enough to wear shorts. When her phone rang, she briefly considered ignoring it. The caller ID showed it was her mom and she didn’t have time for a long talk right now. Sighing, she answered, praying for a short conversation.

“Hi, mom. How are you? How’s dad? What’s Harry up to?”

“My! Someone’s in a hurry this morning! And I’m sad to think it’s not because you’re going to church.”

“Yeah, kind of busy. A bunch of us are going out to the Island. It’s supposed to be hot today – maybe as high as 70. Should I wear shorts?”

“Are you going on that motorcycle of Daniel’s? In which case you definitely need long pants, my girl!”

Lisanne shook her head. “No, mom. Vin’s driving us – Kirsty’s boyfriend. He’s got a brand new SUV – totally safe.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that. Wear shorts and take jeans, then you’ve got everything you’ll need.”

“Okay, thanks, mom.”

“Honey, I know you’re in a rush, but I just wanted to ask you very quickly about Thanksgiving – you haven’t said which day you’re coming.”

“Oh,” said Lisanne. “Um, mom, I was going to talk to you about this, but now’s not a good time.”

“What do you mean, Lisanne?” said her mother, in a sharp voice.

“I thought I’d stay here for Thanksgiving. With Daniel.”

There was a long silence. Lisanne held her breath.

She hadn’t discussed anything with Daniel, but having heard everyone excitedly talking about their plans for Thanksgiving, she couldn’t bear to think of Daniel stuck here with just Zef. She didn’t even know if he’d want to see her, and blurting this out to her mom now had been impulsive to say the least.

“Lisanne, you know Thanksgiving is an important holiday for our family. All the cousins make an effort to be there – it’s the one time we really see each other. And Pops and Grandma Olsen are coming a long way to spend some time with
you
. Your father and I would rather you be here with us.”

Lisanne felt horrible. “Mom, I know. But… He’ll be here all by himself and I can’t just leave him.”

“Why isn’t he spending time with his family?”

“He only has his older brother, and Zef will be busy with his… friends.”

“What about Daniel’s parents? Where are they? Won’t he be with them? After all…”

Lisanne had to interrupt.

“Mom, no. Daniel’s parents… They were killed in a car accident. Two years ago.”

“Oh my!” her mother gasped. “That poor boy!” Then there was a long pause. “Just wait a moment, sweetheart – I’m going to put you on hold.”

Lisanne huffed ineffectually as she held the silent phone to her ear.

After what seemed like forever, her mother came back on the line.

“Well, I just spoke to your father: we want you to bring Daniel to stay with us for Thanksgiving. No one should be alone at this time of year.”

“What? Dad agreed to that?” Lisanne’s tone was disbelieving.

“Yes, he did,” said her mom, decisively. “So could you please ask Daniel – he’ll be more than welcome.”

“Um, okay. Thanks, mom.”

“I’ll talk to you later, honey. Have a lovely time at the beach.”

The call ended and Lisanne stared at her phone, wondering if she’d just imagined the whole conversation. Surely she couldn’t invent a universe where her father would willingly invite
the boy
she was sleeping with
to come and stay in his house. It was too weird. Good, definitely – but weird.

After the initial shock wore off, Lisanne began to be excited by the idea. She’d like Daniel to meet her family in a more acceptable way. The question was, would he come?

When she heard the rumble of Daniel’s motorcycle, she realized she’d spent nearly 20 minutes staring at her wardrobe. Hurrying, she pulled on a pair of cut off shorts and a tank top over her tankini, and tied a plaid shirt in a knot at her waist. Then she pushed a pair of jeans into her backpack along with sunscreen, a paperback, and a large beach towel big enough for two.

Daniel was leaning on the saddle of his bike. With his sunglasses covering his eyes, and casually smoked cigarette hanging from his lips, he looked like a movie star.

And then Shawna made her appearance.

“Hi, Daniel! I didn’t know you were in on this. That’s so cool! Oh wow, did you get a new tattoo?” and she trailed a finger down his bicep.

Daniel twitched his shoulder in an irritated gesture.

“You know I’m with Lisanne, right?”

Shawna gave a fake giggle and batted her false eyelashes at him. Daniel’s gaze grazed her breasts as he wondered if they were fake, too.

He turned away, but not before Shawna had guessed the direction of his look and leapt to the wrong conclusion.

“I’ll keep your side of the bed warm,” she whispered.

Daniel didn’t hear her. He’d seen Lisanne, and a huge smile lit his face as his eyes swept up and down her bare legs. It was the least he’d seen her wear outside either the bedroom or the stage.

“I like!” he said, with a grin.

On cue, Lisanne blushed.

“Um, thanks. Didn’t you bring something to swim in?” she said, gazing at his empty hands.

“Sure, baby doll. You want to see?”

He opened the top button of his jeans and pulled down enough of the waistband to reveal a band of dark blue cotton.

“Daniel!” hissed Lisanne, her eyes darting around to see if anyone was watching.

Shawna’s eyes were drawn like magnets to the exposed skin that he was carelessly flaunting.

Daniel laughed.

“Nothing you haven’t seen before, baby.”

And he pulled her into a hug.

Shawna tossed her hair over her shoulder and sucked her teeth.

The small drama was interrupted by the arrival of Vin and Kirsty.

The SUV pulled up to the curb, followed by a convoy of three other cars, all crammed with kids from the college.

“Ready to catch some rays!” shouted Kirsty, happily.

One of the other drivers came hurrying over to Vin’s window.

“Hey, man. I’m seriously overloaded. Can you take one more?”

“I don’t know, Paul. I’ve already got three in the back.”

“We’re good, Vin,” said Daniel, surprising them all. “Lis can sit on my knee.”

Vin smiled. “You heard the man – everyone in.”

One of Vin’s football buddies, an enormous cheerful guy called Isaac, sandwiched himself in the middle, squashing Shawna into the door.

Lisanne perched awkwardly on Daniel’s knee.

“Are you okay,” she asked nervously. “Won’t I cut off the circulation in your legs? I’m pretty heavy…”

He laughed lightly. “No, baby doll. Best seat in the house. Just relax.”

He settled her comfortably and proceeded to suck the soft skin at the side of her neck.

Isaac elbowed him. “Hey! I don’t want to see you mauling your girl all the way to the beach, man!”

Daniel smiled. “You can have Shawna. She’s available.”

Lisanne hid a giggle, while Isaac eyed a furious Shawna warily.

“Hey,” said Vin, “no mauling for anyone – car rule.”

“Since when?” murmured Kirsty, raising one eyebrow.

Vin just smiled. “Lis, we need your iPod for some cool tunes. Pass it over.”

Lis handed it to Kirsty, and the car was soon filled with the rocking sounds of Gin Wigmore.

“I don’t know this one,” said Kirsty, after several more songs.

“This is Lykke Li.”

“Licky who?”

Lisanne smile. “Lykke Li – she’s Swedish.”

“And who was that one before?”

“Asa – she’s sort of soul jazz, from Paris, France.”

“And the one before that?”

“Birds of Tokyo.”

“From Japan?”

“From Perth, Australia.”

“What about good ole US rock?” snorted Isaac.

“There’s some Linkin Park on there.”

“Outstanding!” yelled Isaac, who seemed easily pleased.

Lisanne liked sharing her music but felt uneasy knowing that Daniel couldn’t. He gave her a quick smile and spent the rest of the ride gazing out of the window. It was his default position on car journeys.

The trip was short and uneventful, if Lisanne discounted Shawna’s sulky presence. Daniel half heartedly obeyed Vin’s new car rule, and contented himself with kissing her hair and resting one hand on her bare thigh.

Lisanne was fizzing with happiness. She’d never had a boyfriend before, never been to the beach with a bunch of friends, never made out in a car. She felt as if the whole world was filled with possibilities when Daniel was at her side. She felt safe and adventurous all at the same time.

She wriggled on his lap and leaned down to kiss him.

“What’s that for?” he said, grinning up at her.

Lisanne shrugged. “I’m happy.”

His grin widened, then he kissed her back.

“Car rules!” chanted Isaac and Vin at the same time.

Lisanne pushed Daniel gently.

“What?” he said, opening his eyes.

“Car rules,” she said with a smile.

“Yeah, well, you’re a bad influence,” he replied, his eyes flashing with humor.

The temperature began to rise along with the sun, brilliant in a flawless blue sky. Vin turned on the air conditioning but Kirsty begged for open windows instead. He agreed immediately, unable to deny her a single thing.

“It’s too windy back here,” grumbled Shawna. “It’s messing up my hair.”

“We’re going to the beach, Shaw. You know, sand, seawater?”

“It’s drying out my skin,” she moaned.

“Okay, fine,” said Kirsty, shaking her head as she rolled the window back up.

When they arrived at the beach, they spilled out, happy and yelling excitedly. The other cars parked behind them and they started unloading the trunk.

The sand was a pale gold, the color and texture of unrefined sugar, and the light breeze tugged at Lisanne’s heart. She felt ridiculously happy and when she turned to look at Daniel, wanting to share the moment, the grin on his face made it feel like her body couldn’t possibly contain such pure joy.

The sound of cursing distracted her. Isaac had dropped a heavy cooler on his foot – and from the sound – and weight – of it, it was filled with beer. More and more beer coolers were unloaded, as well as an array of food.

“Um, Kirsty,” she said, quietly. “I feel really bad – I didn’t bring anything. Can I give you some money or something?”

Kirsty smiled and shook her head. “No, we’re good. Tell you what, there’s a store over there – why don’t you buy some more chips. You should see these guys eat – there’s never enough chips.”

Lisanne was grateful to her friend. Kirsty knew that she didn’t have much money, but chips she could manage.

She tapped Daniel on the shoulder. “I’m just going to buy some chips and a bottle of water. You want anything.”

He shook his head. “No, I got it, baby,” and he strode across, selecting three enormous family size bags of chips and a large bottle of water.

He was almost hidden by the chips as he walked back, making Lisanne laugh. She took a bag from him and they followed the others to the shoreline, staking out an empty patch of sand.

Vin and his buddies had already stripped down to their swim shorts, and Isaac was spinning a football on his finger. Shawna stood with her back to the ocean, enjoying the view of near naked male flesh, while Kirsty laid out an enormous beach towel and proceeded to rub sunscreen into her arms.