Slow No Wake - By Dakota Madison Page 0,49

put his hand to my face and looked deeply into my eyes. “I know you can do a lot better than me.”

“I didn’t know there was anything better than the best.”

Daniel pulled me close and wrapped me in a tight embrace. “I think I’m the one who got the better end of this deal.”

I guess we both felt lucky to have found each other.

We walked quietly for a while, then Daniel asked, “Are you going to introduce me to your sister?”

I gulped. “I’d like to avoid it as long as possible.”

Daniel stopped walking and turned to me. He cupped my face in his hands. “You have nothing to worry about. I’m not your ex-fiancé. I would never do what he did. Ever.”

I could feel a tear slide down my cheek. Daniel brushed it away with his thumb then placed a gentle kiss in its place. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “I know you were hurt. I know how that feels. I was hurt, too. I know how difficult it is to trust again.”

Then he placed a soft kiss on my lips.

***

Hannah followed me around the apartment like a puppy as I packed my stuff. “Is it just you and Daniel going?” she asked as I placed my bikini into my overnight bag.

“No,” I said vaguely.

“Who else is going?” she asked in a casual tone that was anything but casual. She was pumping me for information. She could pump all she wanted; she was still not going with us.

I looked her in the eyes. “Does it matter who else is going if you’re not?”

She shrugged.

I grabbed my cosmetics case and headed into the bathroom. My sister followed me. She watched as I packed my toiletries.

“How many other people are going?” she asked.

I placed my toothbrush and toothpaste into my case. “I’m going with four guys. Are you happy?”

Hannah went wide-eyed. “You’re going camping with four guys? No other girls are going to be there? Just you and four guys? Is that safe?”

It never even occurred to me to question whether it was unsafe. “Daniel is a very big guy. He’s extremely protective of me. He won’t let anything bad happen to me. Honestly, I don’t think he’ll even let me out of his sight.”

I didn’t want to admit that Daniel was so ‘protective’ that he modified his entire work schedule to keep his roommate away from me. Not that he didn’t have good reason.

“I’m just worried about you,” she said.

That got me thinking. I wondered if something had happened to Hannah at some point and that’s why she was worried. I thought about all of the times she had gone out with groups of guys and the possible things that they could have done to her. It made my stomach clench. Here I was thinking that Hannah wanted to tag along for her own benefit, but now I had the feeling she wanted to tag along so I would be protected.

“Is there another reason you’re worried? Maybe something that happened to you?”

Hannah glanced down and didn’t respond for a few moments. Then she slowly nodded.

“Is this something you want to talk about now?”

She shook her head.

“Maybe we can talk about it another time?” I asked.

She nodded.

“Okay,” I said. I took her in my arms and gave her a hug.

TEN

Locked In

“This has to go, too,” I said, as I handed Joey-G my toiletry case.

He inspected the back of his Ford Excursion for an empty space. The case was small but ample trunk space was already packed to capacity with tents, camping gear and luggage to accommodate five people. Not to mention all of their kite surfing equipment.

“Maybe you can put this on the floor by your feet?” Joey-G suggested as he handed the bag back to me.

Daniel took it from my hands. “I’ll put it next to me. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“Are you sure?” I asked. “You need more leg room than I do.”

Daniel kissed my cheek. “Let’s get in the car.”

Joey-G hopped into the driver’s seat and Ricky rode shotgun. That left Eddie, Daniel and me for the back seat. I had a feeling the next few hours were going to be a bit uncomfortable.

Eddie took the left passenger side, behind Joey-G and I slid into the center “hump” seat. Daniel sat to my right, behind Ricky. Both Eddie and Daniel were tall and muscular guys, so it was tight.

Once we were on the road, Eddie made a point of stretching out so his right leg was touching my