“Why the hell did you invite them?” I grip the steering wheel as Nick frowns at me from the passenger seat.

“I was under the impression that you had already invited the girls to go skiing with us,” he says with more sarcasm than necessary.

I grab my phone and check the time. Dani is late. Blowing out a breath, I grumble, “Newsflash, genius. I didn’t mean it.” I had ignored their calls and thought I was out of the woods.

I sit with the engine idling for ten minutes debating whether we should grab lunch now while we wait.

“Hey, if you don’t want to wedge yourself between two gorgeous women and their unnaturally large breasts, that’s fine by me. They’re not too discriminating if I recall correctly, so…”

He lets his comment hang in the air as he waits for me to lay claim to them. Which I don’t.

Shifting my car into first, I pull into the street as my phone rings. J-squared. Shoot me the fuck now. Maybe I should call this off before I find myself having to avoid them on the slopes.

I’m putting the phone to my ear and about to shift into second when Nick yells and throws his fist into my chest.

My heart is caught somewhere in my throat when Dani steps off the curb. Right in front of my car.

* * *

My whole life flashes before my eyes as I slam on the breaks, but my BMW slides on the damp road and barrels toward her. Dani watches as though frozen, her hair gusting in the wind. Her eyes close at the last minute when she makes contact with my car, her hand slamming onto my hood with a loud thud before she disappears on the other side.

“Dude, you hit her,” Nick says, stating the obvious.

I leap out of my seat and race around the car to find Dani on the ground, her luggage a few feet behind her. Her hair splays out beneath her like she’s floating in water. I fall on my knees next to her and brush a few strands out of her face.

Although I’m grateful I don’t see any blood, that doesn’t make me feel any better. She could still have internal injuries.

“Dani, can you hear me? Dani?”

She moans, and at the sound of her voice, my heart begins beating again.

“Jesus, man.” Nick stands next to me, offering nothing but ongoing one-liners.

Somehow I manage to find my phone.

“911, what’s your emergency?”

Speaking is difficult, but I manage to croak, “I hit a girl with my car. Hurry up, she needs an ambulance.”

I toss the phone to Nick to finish the conversation, and I turn to Dani. My thumb wipes away a tear that’s sliding down her cheek. Even though she’s unconscious, I’m struck by her beauty. Her smooth skin. Her perfect lips. The way her eyelashes barely touch her cheek. I’m overwhelmed the way a kid is the first time he realizes that space is somehow infinite and expanding.

Yeah, scared shitless.

A brief image of Dani dancing behind a cage flickers behind my eyes for some reason, and I fight the urge to cradle her in my arms.

“Why did you hit me? I wasn’t that late.” Her voice is soft, barely a whisper.

My breath catches in my chest and then I find myself laughing. “Fuck. Dani, I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry.”

“The cab dropped me off on the wrong street…”

Her eyes flutter open, and one glance at her has me aching in ways I didn’t think possible anymore. Something taps my wrist a minute before I realize it’s her hand.

“You’re going to need this,” she says, wincing.

I look down as she unwraps her fingers to reveal my driver’s license. My heart pounds out a frenzied beat as I realize I’d be totally screwed right now without it.

A siren finally cuts through the sound of blood roaring in my ears. Nick bumps me hard with his knee. “Coach is going to have your ass, man. He’ll probably kick you off the team for this.”

I grunt at him, irritated that he’s probably right, but that’s not what’s important right now. Heavy doors slam to my right as a cop runs up to us.

“Sir, step away from the woman.”

I swallow. God, I’m in deep shit.

Dani tugs on my hand. “No, don’t leave me, Jax.” Tears well up in her eyes and spill down her pale cheeks.

The policeman kneels down to take a closer look at her.

She closes her eyes briefly before she says, “Jax is my friend. I want him here.” She struggles to say every word.

With a surprised look on his face, the cop stares at me long and hard before he turns back to her. At least he doesn’t ask me to move. He feels for her pulse, asks a few questions about her injuries, and then, satisfied she looks stable, takes out a notepad. “Ma’am, can you answer a few questions about what happened?”

She shouldn’t have to deal with this. “I hit her. It was my fault. I was driving and—”

“It wasn’t his fault.” Dani pulls on my hand again until I look at her. Her face is wet, and her eyelids are heavy. Her eyes shift back to the cop. “I was, uh, on the phone, and I didn’t look for traffic when I crossed the street. I was coming to see him. Jax is my friend.”

No, I was the one on the phone. The truth is hammering in my chest until I feel like I’m suffocating, and I look to Dani to tell her she doesn’t have to do this, but when my eyes meet hers, she shakes her head slightly.

The ambulance finally arrives, and an EMT races up to us and checks her vitals.

I stand there, answering the cop’s questions while the paramedic rips up the leg of her jeans to reveal a huge bruise along her knee and thigh. Jesus Christ. I could have killed this girl.

“Shouldn’t I know your name before you start ripping off my clothes?” she asks, making the paramedic grin. He’s a young guy, maybe in his mid-twenties.

I feel myself scowling at him.

The policeman takes another emergency call and prepares to leave. Satisfied that I didn’t intentionally try to run her over, he says I didn’t break any traffic signs and doesn’t even give me a citation.

Fuck, I owe this girl.

I watch the cruiser pull away. Nick lets out a sigh.

I’m starting to think everything will be okay, that Dani is alive and things could have been so much worse because I’m clearly a total dumbass, but that feeling of relief is short-lived as Dani starts crying when the paramedics load her in the ambulance.

“Can I go with her?” My voice is thick with emotion.

The guy shakes his head. “Family only, sir. I’m sorry.”

I don’t know where the words come from, but they’re out my mouth before I can stop. “She’s my girlfriend. I can’t let her go alone.”

Finally, he shrugs. “If it’s okay with her, it’s okay with me.” He mumbles something to her and then turns to me. “Come on.”

I toss my keys to Nick. “Here, grab her stuff and meet us at the hospital.”