Page 16 of Danger

“Let’s cut through the bullshit,” he almost shouted. Declan was done playing games with Danger. He was going to lay it all out for her and if she didn’t like what he had to say, well, that was her problem.

“Okay, let’s,” she agreed. “What bullshit are you talking about?” He stared her down, trying to figure out what to say exactly, but Danger took his silence as some sort of challenge. She crossed her arms over her chest, and he couldn’t help but look her over. When she got a little hot under the collar, it turned him completely on.

“You’ve been avoiding me for the last week because of the way that you feel about me,” Declan insisted, crossing his arms over his chest, mimicking her stance.

“And how do I feel about you, Declan?” she asked. She was daring him to say the words out loud, and he never backed down from a dare.

“You like me,” he breathed. There, it was out in the open now and there would be no taking it back.

“I like you,” she said.

“See, you can admit it,” Declan said. “And I like you too.”

Danger barked out her laugh and took a few steps closer to him. She uncrossed her arms and poked her finger into his chest. “You’re living in a fantasy world, Declan James.”

“I certainly am not, Bernadette Danger. I see the way that you sneak glances at me when you think that I’m not paying attention. I admitted that I like you, why can’t you just be honest about how you feel about me?”

“Okay, I’ll tell you exactly how I feel about you,” Danger spat. He had a sick feeling that she wasn’t going to admit that she liked him at all. In fact, he was sure that she’d be telling him the opposite.

“I think that you are an egotistical, arrogant, ass who has no social skills and no idea how to speak to or treat a woman,” Danger said. She wasn’t pulling any punches when it came to telling him how she felt about him.

“Ouch,” he breathed. “You can call me all the names in the book, but it doesn’t change the fact that you like me, and I like you. We’re both adults, Danger. Why shouldn’t we just admit that we have feelings for each other and move forward?” he asked.

“You mean to say that you want me to tell you that I like you and then what, jump into bed with you?” she asked as though that would be a bad idea.

“Well, we do sleep in the same bed,” he said. “We have for a week now. Why not see where this thing goes?”

“We sleep in the same bed because there is only one bed in this horrible house, and we had to toss the flea-infested sofa out into the driveway. I have no choice but to share a bed with you, Declan. Don’t mistake my desperation for a good night’s sleep for me having feelings for you. It’s simply not true,” she insisted. He could tell that she was lying. She seemed to have a tell that he had figured out during their week together. Declan had always been good at reading people.

He took a step into her personal space and leaned over as though he was going to tell her a secret. He had to give it to her, Danger didn’t even flinch. “Your right eye twitches when you lie, Danger,” he whispered. Her gasp filled the room and he almost felt bad for saying what he had to her—almost. But a sick part of him took pleasure in her discomfort, especially since she was refusing to tell him the truth.

“It does not,” she spat. “You know what, I don’t have to stand around here and take this abuse. I’m going to go to bed early. Good night,” she shouted. Danger turned and headed for the stairs and all Declan could do was watch her run up to the room that they shared.

He stood there for what felt like an eternity instead of mere minutes, trying to figure out if he had read her all wrong. Was that possible? Sure it was, but he knew that deep down, she was lying to herself. Bernadette Danger liked him and there was no convincing him otherwise.

Declan walked out of the bathroom wearing just the gym shorts that he slipped on after his shower. The room was dark, but he was able to find his way to the bed that he and Danger had been sharing over the last week.

“You awake?” he whispered. She didn’t answer him, and he wanted to call her on faking sleep again, but he didn’t want to fight with her right now. They had already done enough fighting for the day, and he was exhausted. All he really wanted was to crawl into bed and sleep for days.

Declan climbed into bed and found himself pressed up against a wall of pillows again. “What the feck?” he whispered. “Not this again,” He started to dismantle the wall that Danger had put into place while he had been showering, and she sat up.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

“I’m taking down your makeshift barrier,” he said, holding up one of the pillows as a form of proof. “Why the hell did you do this again?” he asked. He tossed the pillow to the floor and Danger jumped out of bed to retrieve it. She was putting the pillow wall back into place as quickly as he was tearing it down.

“I put it there for a reason,” she insisted. “I wanted some space and privacy, and this wall was my solution.” She tossed another pillow onto the pile, and he gave up trying to keep up with her.

“This isn’t necessary,” he said pointing to the wall of pillows. “I thought that we were past all this. I said that I was sorry. What else do you want from me?” he asked. He could barely make out her facial features in the dark, but he could tell that she was rolling her eyes at him. She seemed to do that quite frequently around him. “Are you rolling your eyes at me again?” he asked.

“How did you know that?” Danger asked.

“Because you do that a lot around me. Do I piss you off, Danger?” he asked. “Because you seemed pretty pissed off earlier.” That was a question that he wasn’t sure he wanted her to answer, but he had nothing to lose.

“No,” she squeaked. “You get on my nerves, and you occasionally make me angry, but you don’t piss me off,” she insisted.

“All right, then why do you need some space from me? You did agree to share the bed with me. Has that changed?” he asked.

“No,” she breathed, “I don’t mind sharing the bed with you, Declan. It’s just that you make me nervous, and I thought it might be easier for me if we had some kind of barrier between us.” That wasn’t something that he was expecting her to say to him.