“My friend? Again? Really?” Sammy smirked and side-eyed me the moment we were both sitting in the back of Dad’s car again.

I stared dead ahead, unable to stop the small half-smile that crept on my face as I leaned in closer to her. “Cameron Davis? Really?” I whispered.

Our heads were practically touching. “You can’t blame me for wanting him, bro. Even you’d nail Cam if he’d let you.”

“Don’t make this weirder than it already is, Sammy.”

We drove away from Castlehill, and I could still feel the addictive sting of Danni’s kiss on my lips. I was riding on the high of her telling me she loved me. I was desperate to get close to her again—to hold her and touch her so I knew she was real.

We’d arranged to meet that night. She was taking me out for dinner. That’s right. Not the other way around. Danni wouldn’t have it. I was in for a night of being spoilt, apparently, and I couldn’t fucking wait.

When we arrived back at my parents’ place, I hobbled upstairs as best I could, got myself showered, trimmed the stubble that was a permanent feature on my face these days, and hopped into some smarter clothes. My choices were limited, what with the strapping on my legs. No skinny jeans for me. I threw on a loose pair instead and a grey T-shirt, finishing it off with my black leather jacket. I flattened down the curlier parts of my dark hair and sprayed some aftershave on my neck, staring at myself in the bathroom mirror when I’d finished.

I searched the reflection of my own eyes. In less than a year, the man staring back had changed more than ever before. There was an awareness of life around him now, an aura that made him seem more real to me than ever before. His skin was darker, his eyes a little heavier yet, somehow, clearer, too. The stubble around his jaw made him look older, less fresh-faced and cheeky than he had once seemed to me. The changes were subtle, but for the first time ever, on that night, they looked drastic.

Life, it seemed, made a man out of a boy when he least expected it to.

The doorbell rang around the house, and a small smile tugged at my lips as I imagined Danni downstairs waiting for me.

Her infectious laughter soon filled the air as someone opened the door and let her in. I watched my own smile change from sedated to high as a kite. She did that to me. She woke me up every single time. I shook my head at my reflection, hoping the guy in the mirror knew just how fucking lucky he was that a woman like her loved him.

Don’t screw this up, Marcus.

I gave myself one last whispered pep talk in the mirror and then hobbled on my crutches to the top of the stairs. She was halfway up them when she stopped in her tracks and glanced up at me from under those incredibly thick lashes of hers. Danni’s grin shone brightly, her fingers flexing on the bannister.

“Well, you look rather nice,” I told her quietly, my eyes roaming down to the red strappy cotton summer dress she was wearing that hugged her breasts and her waist before flaring out to drop down to below her knee. Danni’s shoulders were delicate, yet strong. A model combination that made everything she wore hang off her and cling to her body with perfection. Her ruby red lips made her teeth shine brighter and her blue eyes pop, and I swear, in that moment, she didn’t seem real to me. “You look magnificent, actually.”

“I’m trying to impress someone,” she said through her smile.

“I think you’re impressing everyone.”

“There’s only one man’s opinion that concerns me.”

“Whoever he is, he’s one hell of a lucky guy.” I smirked. “I hope he’s worthy of you.”

“He’s worth ten of me.” She took a step closer. Then another, and another, until she was at the top, gliding to a graceful stop in front of me. “Maybe twenty. He’s kind of the best man I’ve ever known.”

I gripped my crutches tightly, wondering if I could get away with leading her to my bedroom, locking the door, and screwing her ten ways from Sunday. Her white teeth sank into her plump red lip, and I was jealous… really damn jealous that it wasn’t me who was tasting her.

“God, Danni,” I groaned in the back of my throat. “You better hurry up and kiss me, or I’m going to risk breaking my legs again by throwing the crutches away, pushing you up against that wall, and screwing you at the top of these stairs without a care in the world.”

“No breaking anything,” she whispered through an almost shy smile, her cheeks blushing and making her shine before she leaned in and pressed her lips against mine.

She tasted like strawberries and chocolate, and she smelled like a love I wanted to get lost in.

Her hands rose to hold my cheeks as she held on and pressed her chest against mine. Within seconds, we were in danger of losing ourselves, so it was probably a good thing when Sammy cleared her throat at the bottom of the stairs and made us break away. I blinked several times and tried to think of anything that would tell the party in my pants to quieten down.

“Your carriage awaits,” Sammy said through a knowing smile from the bottom of the steps.

“Our carriage?” I asked, looking between her and Danni.

Danni’s grin grew as she took one of my crutches and helped me creep slowly down the stairs. She was saving me again, but I didn’t feel weak. Not at all. Around her, I could single-handedly take on the world and win.

“Just shut up and follow my lead, Marcus,” Danni said beside me in her most assertive, slightly seductive voice.

“Finally,” Sammy sang. “Someone who shuts him up.”

I flashed her a playful snarl and whipped my middle finger in the air as Danni guided me outside onto more stable ground before giving me my other crutch. When I looked up, I saw a very swish, silver Mercedes convertible staring back at me. The top was down, and the sun shone on it like it was a damn trophy.

“Is that your car?” I asked, turning to her with wide eyes.

“Sort of. It’s my parents’, but they gave it to me when I passed my test. I just never use it. Despite what people think, flashy isn’t really my thing.”

“Are you… rich?” I smirked. “Am I dating a secretly rich girl?”

“Money has never made me rich. But, yeah, I guess my parents have it.”

She almost looked embarrassed as she brushed her long wavy hair over her shoulder and tilted her head, exposing the bare skin on her neck. I stared at the curve there for way too long, hoping I got to trail my tongue down it and taste her sooner rather than later.

“You’re so fucking perfect,” I muttered when I looked back into her eyes. “So fucking perfect, I wish I could sweep you off your feet right now and make you feel like the most special girl in the world.”

Danni pressed her lips together and tried to control her smile. “You’re already doing it.”

With that, she leaned in for one final kiss before she pulled away and guided me into the car. When she got behind the wheel, she wrapped a white silk scarf around her hair and pushed some heavy looking sunglasses over her eyes.

“Ready?” she asked, strapping herself in and turning my way.

I exhaled slowly, giving her a nod and running my index finger down her bare arm as the sun beat down on us. “So ready.”

“Is it weird that I’m nervous?”

I grinned hard. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

She didn’t answer, but her subtle, shy smirk said enough.

We set off, driving around the streets of Leeds with the wind in our faces and the late sun on our backs. I’d never been in a convertible before, but when Danni hit the quiet country lanes, and we were surrounded by nothing but blue skies and green fields, I reckoned it was the closest I’d ever feel to flying. Alex had been right. There had been so much life around us that we hadn’t seen before the accident, so many things we’d taken for granted, assuming they would always be there for us to admire from a distance. When I turned to look at Danni, I realised she had been one of those things for me. Always there in the background, lighting up everyone else’s life and mine from afar, but never close enough for me to touch and admire her true beauty as much as she deserved to be touched and admired. Even though she’d first come to life for me in Greece, the accident had made her seem more vivid, more perfect, bright, and stunning than ever, and I made a vow to myself in that car that as long as she wanted me beside her, I would never take her for granted again. I would always see her—truly see her.

She was too precious. Life was precious. And even though parts of me were still broken physically, inside and out, I’d never felt as whole as I did in that car on that night. As the sun began to set around us, casting its brilliant shades of orange everywhere, waiting to pass the blue by with a wave and a smile before the night took over for a while, I realised how happy I finally was… Because of her. The woman I now couldn’t take my eyes off.

We drove for miles and miles, looping back on ourselves over and over again, enjoying the time alone with the road whizzing by until it got too cold and Danni pressed a button that made the roof come up and trap us in. I didn’t question where we were going, or why we were driving in circles. The time with her in that car was too perfect for me to want it to end, but Danni eventually veered off down familiar streets, passing Natalie’s parents’ house before turning into a slightly more affluent cul-de-sac filled with just a few exclusive detached houses. The lights were shining from the biggest house at the end, and I stayed quiet as Danni pulled into that drive, turned off the ignition and gripped hold of the steering wheel.

“This is my home,” she said quietly.

“Wow,” I mouthed, my eyes wide as I looked up at the huge detached red-bricked building with white stone pillars by the blue front door. “This is… nice.”

“Yeah, it’s okay.” She unclipped her belt, got out of the car and came round to my door to help me out. “It’s a bit of a show home inside, though. My mum likes it that way.”

I realised for the first time that even though Danni had mentioned her parents quite a lot in our hundreds of phone calls, she’d never gone into much detail. I didn’t even know their names.

“You’re not close to your Mum?” I asked as I slipped out of the car and pushed up onto my crutches with a groan.

Danni’s eyes met mine, and she smiled that secure smile of hers. “She’s my mum. I love her.”

That wasn’t what I’d asked, and she knew it, but I wasn’t going to push.

We made our way inside, and sure enough, it was like walking into a show home. A huge staircase that veered off in both directions greeted us, as did the white marble floors, and all the little delicate touches that made a show home show worthy.

Danni gave me a tour of the entire downstairs, stopping by the kitchen to pick up two bottles of champagne before she guided me to the bottom of the stairs.

“Jesus Christ,” I muttered to myself as I looked up. “I’m surprised you guys don’t have a lift that takes you up there.”

“We do.”

“What?” I gasped, looking at her.

“Nah, I’m just messing with you,” she said through a small laugh. “It’s Calverley, Marcus. Hardly Hollywood.”

“It could be Hollywood.”

“Well, if it is, you’re the leading man.” She grinned. “You okay with the stairs?” she asked, nodding in that direction.

“Sure. Just don’t expect me to come back down once I’m up there.”

“Lucky for you, I wasn’t planning on letting you leave.”

Fuck. I was done for. And we hadn’t even made it upstairs yet. When we did, we veered off to the left, walking down a corridor that must have had at least five doors leading off from it.

“Is this your wing?” I joked.

“Basically,” she answered, her tone serious. Danni walked to the final door right at the very end before she glanced back over her shoulder like the devil I knew she could be, pushed open her door and held it open for me. “This is my room.”

I stumbled in, glancing around at the black, white, and silver decor that must have cost a fortune. There were rows upon rows of bookshelves, something else that surprised me for some reason. I knew Danni was educated and smart, but as I scanned the shelves, reaching up to touch the spines carefully, I began to realise just how little I knew the girl I was in love with.

There were stacks of psychology books, followed by Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, with British history books standing out on the row below them. On the other shelves were romances, thrillers, comedy books, and every Shakespeare play I could think of.

I was just about to turn around and tell her again how incredible she was, when she snuck up behind me, wrapped her arms around my waist and rested her delicate chin on my shoulder.

“Not what you expected from me?” she whispered.

I shook my head before I turned to kiss her on the cheek, breathing against her skin. “Nothing about you is what I expected, and that’s what I love more than anything. I know you, but I don’t know you at all.”

“I love being what people don’t expect me to be.”

“Don’t ever change,” I whispered.

She pressed a kiss to my neck, then she turned me around in a half circle until I was staring at the other surprise she had set up for the night. In the middle of her huge king-size bed was a picnic of sorts, laid out on top of a blanket with a small envelope sitting proudly at the front with my name on. Candles were glowing by her bedside, too.

“Happy first date,” she breathed in my ear.

“You did all this for me?”

“For both of us. I’m not that selfless.” She brought herself in front of me, wrapping her arms around my neck, her eyes twinkling in the muted light. “I never had a guy here when I was growing up.”

“Why not?”

“I wouldn’t allow it.”

I scowled in confusion, shaking my head as I let the crutch loop slide down one of my arms so my hand was free to graze the top of her arse cheek. “Why?”

“It’s silly, really.”

“Tell me.”

“I always knew that when a girl took a boy, a man, to her bedroom, she was giving up her one safe space. She could have the best time ever with him in that room. She could fall in love, screw all night, orgasm five times and have the most amazing memories of her life. But the moment that man walks away, finishes things, and leaves her hanging, every good memory she had becomes a bad memory she can’t escape. I didn’t want to give up my safe space for anyone. I never wanted this room to hold bad thoughts for me.”

“So why am I here?”

“Because I know you’re never going to leave me.”

“I’d never hurt you.”

“Unless I ask you to.” She licked her bottom lip before she pressed it against my mouth and gifted me with one of her perfect kisses. I didn’t care about the pain. I let both of my crutches go and put my weight on my better leg. I needed to hold her. I needed to feel every part of her and press her to me to show her what a privilege it was to mean so much to a girl like her.

“Careful,” she mumbled against me, hearing the clang of my crutches hitting the floor.

“Nope.”

“Marcus, you can’t—”

“Shut the fuck up and kiss me. We have good memories to make.”

Her eyelashes fluttered as soon as I pulled her back to me and held on tightly. I don’t know how long we stayed like that, but it was a long time. I’d never known kissing could get me so fucking high before Danni. I was never in a rush to take it further, to ruin that time of being mouth-to-mouth, nose-to-nose, breath-to-breath. It was a gift from her that I was soaking up every second of.

One day, when she was off being a superstar, I would cherish the memory of those kisses… probably more than I’d fantasise over the memory of sex with her.

A kiss with the woman you love lasts a lifetime.

With her, I knew it would last even longer than that.