He laughed, raising his glass to mine. We clinked, and then I took another large gulp as I stared at him swallowing down a generous sip of his own.
Dane didn’t strike me as the type of guy who did looking distraught, but he kind of looked that way to me then. Not even just distraught. Lost. Which, in my opinion, was even worse.
“Are you scared?” I asked once I’d set my glass down. “For when he turns the company over to you, I mean.”
“Nah, I’m not scared of that,” he said, his voice somewhat rougher than usual. “I can handle the company. We’ve been preparing for this for a long time. I know it won’t be the same without him there, but I’m ready to run it. I’m ready to step into his shoes.”
“If it’s not that, what is it?” I asked. “You said you’re not scared of that. What are you scared of then?”
He scoffed out a dry laugh but dipped his head in acknowledgment. “You picked up on that, did you?”
“There’s not much that slips past me,” I joked, but the look in his eyes remained serious.
Raising his glass back to his lips, he took another deep swallow, swiping his tongue over his mouth when he was done. “I can handle the company, but I don’t know if I can handle life without the old geezer.”
Suddenly switching it up, he narrowed his eyes at me but it was more in thought than because of any feeling toward me. Or so it seemed anyway.
“How much do you remember about my parents?”
My brows jumped and I blinked a few times. “I don’t really remember anything about them. I don’t think I ever met them.”
He let out another dry chuckle. “Yeah, that sounds about right. I used to be over at your place all the time because it was better than being alone at mine.”
“Where were your parents?” It was a question that had been burning in me since I was a kid.
Rick never wanted to tell me, always saying that it wasn’t his answer to give, and since Dane and I had hardly spoken outside of greetings, it had never felt like the kind of question I could ask him.
A cold smile appeared on his lips, and it made me frown to see the usually vivacious, funny, warm guy looking so cold. There really was no better way to describe it.
“They had other commitments,” he said, putting on an uppity voice before that coldness evaporated and the warmth came rushing back to his expression. “Jefferson has been the one true constant in my life. My adult life anyway. If I lose him…”
“I’m sure you’ve got a ton of friends who will be there to have your back,” I said after he trailed off, not really knowing what to say to his fear of losing the man.
Dane snorted, taking another sip of his wine before shaking his head. “I’ve poured everything into my career and I lost a lot of friends along the way. When you’re on the track I’ve been on, not a lot of people want to stick around. There’s nothing in it for them.”
As he said those words, I felt like he was peeling back a layer of himself I hadn’t gotten so much as a glimpse of before. Beneath that layer was a man who was lonely. Perhaps even a little vulnerable. It was almost impossible to think that this was really Dane Oliver sitting in front of me.
The guy had always been such a fucking force of nature. A fortress of confidence and strength who managed to get everything he ever wanted. But even in peeling back that layer, he didn’t come across as weak.
If anything, he seemed even stronger to me for it. I just couldn’t believe he was letting me in far enough to let me see this part of himself, a part he obviously didn’t show to just anyone.
“Well, you have a friend in me,” I offered lamely.
In a flash, the much more familiar Dane was back. A smirk appeared on his lips and his eyes brightened with humor. “You’re a fan of Toy Story? So am I. You should come home with me. We can watch it together.”
I thought he was joking, but later, I realized he hadn’t been. I recognized that he needed comfort and that was probably why I was suddenly in the passenger seat of his car, being driven to his house.