Chapter 10
The sky had turned a deep, dark blue, streaked with purple by the time Daniel woke up.
For the briefest moment he couldn’t remember where he was. Then he felt Lisanne’s warm body curled up on his chest, and the memories came flooding back.
He lay still, his chest filling with warmth.
She hadn’t run.
She hadn’t told him she couldn’t date a deaf guy.
He’d shown her the reality at the clinic—he’d even talked to her about cochlear implants, for fuck’s sake.
And then she’d let him have sex with her, let him be her first. She’d wanted him.
It had been amazing. The screwing had been good, sure, but it was more than that. Because she knew him—she knew him. She knew everything, and she still wanted him.
It was hard for Daniel to take in.
Since he’d first started to lose his hearing, he’d convinced himself that no girl would want him if they knew. That had begun his long line of hookups and one-night stands—leaving them before they could leave him when they found out the truth.
But not Lisanne.
Somehow she’d battered her way through all the walls and defenses he’d erected, not even knowing she was doing it.
She was extraordinary.
He stroked the soft skin of her shoulder, amazed that she’d fallen asleep curled up around him, her hair fanned out across his chest. So trusting.
He realized his cock was rock hard against her thigh. That was nothing new: he woke up most mornings like that and, depending on whether he was running late or not, usually did something about it in the shower. He’d really liked to have found a use for it with Lisanne, but she’d said earlier that she was sore, and he didn’t want to hurt her.
He shifted uncomfortably and she stretched sleepily, unconsciously rubbing herself against him. Daniel tried hard to concentrate on some algebra, but it wasn’t easy when a beautiful, naked woman was lying next to him.
She blinked a couple of times, and her skin turned pink as she realized that Daniel was lying beside her, equally naked.
He saw the moment her memories spilled into her mind and he tensed: maybe this would be the moment when she ran.
“How long did we sleep?” she said, squinting to see the time on her cell phone.
“About five hours,” he said, quietly. “It’s nearly seven. Are you okay? How do you feel?”
She laughed huskily.
“Like someone rearranged my bones,” she said, holding her hand over her mouth as she yawned.
He tapped her shoulder.
“Say that again, baby. I couldn’t see your lips.”
“Oh, sorry,” she frowned then stretched again. “I feel like I’ve spent the morning at the gym. Everything hurts.”
She saw the look on his face and regretted the way she’d phrased it.
“I don’t mean it like that, Daniel. I’m a bit sore, that’s all.”
His mouth formed into a flat line.
“You’re not sorry, are you? I mean, about what we did?”
Lisanne smiled shyly, then kissed him softly on his lips.
“No, I’m not sorry about that. It was … wonderful.”
Daniel felt his whole body loosen. Wonderful. He could live with that.
“Um, could you close your eyes just for a moment? I need to get my robe,” she mumbled.
He stared at her in disbelief.
“Lis, we just fucked halfway into next week and you don’t want me to see your ass?”
She blushed even redder.
“I know, just … please?”
Shaking his head, Daniel closed his eyes. He didn’t like doing it, not just because he had enjoyed seeing her body at last, but because it deprived him of another of his senses. With no sound and no sight, it was just blackness and it scared him. He gripped the sheet and duvet tightly, wanting to be able to feel something.
He jumped slightly when she touched his arm.
“Sorry,” she whispered. “I know it’s dumb…”
He smiled reluctantly.
“It’s okay. I get it. Kind of.”
Lisanne looked at him, gratefully. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
She slipped out of the door and Daniel sighed. His erection was still showing signs of hoping for another play date with Lisanne. Staring at it with irritation, he swung his legs off of the bed and searched for his clothes. He pulled on his briefs and tucked his semi inside, cursing it softly. Damn thing never listened to him.
He was just zipping up his jeans when Lisanne returned.
She ran her eyes over his body hungrily, and frowned when she realized he was dressing.
“I thought I’d take you out for dinner.”
“Can’t we just stay here?” she said, yawning again.
He laughed lightly. “We could, but I’ll want to fuck you again and I don’t think that’s a good idea right now.” He glanced back at the bed, wishing he’d thought to cover up the blood that showed on the white sheet.
Lisanne followed his gaze and looked horrified.
“Ugh! That’s gross!”
Daniel caught her arm and made her look at him.
“It’s not gross. It was amazing. I’m just sorry I hurt you.”
Embarrassment made her stiffen in his arms.
“It can’t be the first time you’ve slept with a virgin.”
His lack of response was all the answer she needed. She sat down on the bed, heavily. She wondered how it had been for him—after all, he was used to girls with so much more experience. And it wasn’t possible to have less experience than she’d had.
Shawna’s words from a few days ago came back to her: maybe you’re just a lousy lay. Her shoulders sagged. Maybe now he’d had her, he’d lose interest.
Daniel was worried by the conflict of emotions he saw on Lisanne’s face.
“Baby, talk to me,” he said, quietly.
“You’ve slept with so many people,” she said, sadly.
Was that all that was bothering her? He tried to find the words that would reassure her.
“Do you know why?”
“Because you could.”
He shook his head and twined his fingers with hers.
“No. Because I knew they wouldn’t want me once I was deaf. After … it … I don’t know. It was … easier.”
Lisanne stared at him.
“But … but you’re beautiful—and hot—and all the girls want you,” she said, confused.
“They want what they think I am,” he answered. “They don’t know I’m disabled.” He spat the word out bitterly.
Lisanne was silenced. Was that how he saw himself?
“Daniel, I…”
He closed his eyes, refusing to look at her.
She stroked his cheek and let her finger trace around his beautiful, sad mouth. But he turned his face away from her.
She kept touching him, coaxing him gently. Finally, he turned to look at her.
I hear you, she signed with her hands.
He smiled and placed a soft kiss on the end of her nose.
Then her stomach gave a loud rumble, and she rubbed her eyes tiredly.
Tapping his shoulder, she stood up.
“Come on then. Let’s go get something to eat. I’m starving.” She laid a gentle kiss on his pouting lips. “All that exercise has given me an appetite.”
Daniel gave her a wry smile. “Better than going to the gym?”
“Way, way better,” she laughed.
He let her tug him to his feet, then he wrapped his arms around her waist.
“You are so amazing,” he said, into her hair.
Lisanne didn’t know if she was supposed to hear him or not.
She pushed him away gently.
“Elephants shoes,” she breathed.
His eyes widened, and he smiled at her.
They settled on dinner at Taco Bell, on the basis that it was both nearby and cheap.
Daniel was halfway through his steak burrito when Lisanne casually mentioned that her parents would be in the city the following week.
“They’ve been on at me to visit the campus and see my dorm room. So, I was wondering, maybe we could all go out for lunch or something on Saturday? Or coffee? Maybe.”
He stopped mid chew, sure that his face must look as horrified as he felt.
“You want me to meet your parents?”
Daniel felt the need to clarify, because he was damned if his brain was processing her words accurately. Lisanne nodded warily.
Shit! She really did want him to meet her folks. How the hell was he going to get out of that one? Then he thought about how much it must mean to her to ask him. They were dating now: she wasn’t some random girl he’d screwed. His stomach churned, thinking about all the things that could go wrong. Then an image of his own parents came to him, and Daniel couldn’t help thinking how much his mom and dad would have liked to meet her—how happy they’d have been that he’d found someone.
He swallowed his food and took a large gulp of soda before he answered.
“Okay,” he said, quietly. “I’d like to meet your parents.”
“Really?” Lisanne beamed at him.
God, he loved it when her whole face lit up like that.
“Yeah. They’ve got a pretty amazing daughter—it would be good to meet them.”
Although he very much doubted that they’d feel the same about him. Daniel was no fool, and he could imagine just how not pleased her folks would be when they met him. Was unpleased a word? He had a feeling it was about to be invented—probably next Saturday. But if Lisanne wanted him with her, he’d do anything to make her happy.
Lisanne looked so surprised and delighted, he couldn’t help smiling back.
“So … have you told them? About me? About us?”
“Well,” she said, looking at him sideways with a sexy smile. “Mom knows that I’ve been working with you on the Business assignment. I may have mentioned to her that you’re really cute.”
“Cute, huh? Not awesomely hot? Or fucking amazing in bed?”
Lisanne immediately flushed beet red and Daniel smirked to himself, enjoying her embarrassment every time he mentioned anything to do with sex.
“Um, no! And my mom definitely won’t be hearing that any time soon!” she said, adamantly.
“Huh. So no tongues in front of them? I don’t know, baby doll, do you think you’ll be able to keep your hands off of me?”
“You are so bad!” hissed Lisanne, trying not to laugh, but rather shocked all the same.
Daniel grinned at her and winked.
She sat back and sighed. He looked so deliciously bad boy sitting there, with his pierced eyebrow and his tats peeping out from under his t-shirt. That boy was sex on legs. And now she knew what she was talking about.
Truthfully, she was still feeling sore, but gosh, it had been worth it. She felt changed beyond recognition, and that everyone ought to be able to tell just by looking at her. She cringed when she thought about how she’d cope with Kirsty asking how they’d spent their day. It was going to be so obvious. And she’d definitely have to do some laundry.
But at least she wouldn’t have to face Kirsty until tomorrow—she had another whole night to spend sleeping with Daniel.
Sleeping with Daniel!
Her toes curled up ecstatically at the thought.
When they arrived back at her room, Daniel had to sneak back via the fire exit. He tapped on her door and she let him in.
He grinned at her.
“There was a fucking line of guys waiting to get in,” he laughed. “Jeez, I thought we were going to have to take numbers or something!”
He pulled her into a hug and nuzzled her neck. Then he leaned back to look at her.
“What’s the matter?”
Lisanne smiled nervously. “I don’t want to, um, you know. Not tonight. I still feel a bit…”
“Hey, it’s okay,” he said, stroking her face with his thumbs. “I told you—we don’t have to do anything you don’t want.”
“Really?” she said, relieved. “Because I’ve read that guys think about sex every 15 seconds or something.”
He laughed loudly, his eyes dancing with amusement.
“Yeah, or more often than that around you, baby doll. Jeez, where do you read this stuff?”
Lisanne didn’t answer, suddenly becoming very busy hunting for clean sheets in her closet.
Daniel watched her for a moment, then helped her make up the bed with fresh linen.
“By the way,” she said, deliberately and obviously changing the subject, “where does Zef think you are?”
Daniel raised his eyebrows.
“Zef? I’ve no clue. Why would he care?”
His question pulled her up sharply. Zef didn’t care? Then she realized that Daniel didn’t have anyone who cared whether or not he went to school or got good grades—or even whether or not he got up in the mornings. The thought made her unbearably sad. She flung herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck.
“Hey,” he said, surprised. “What’s all this? I mean I like it, a gorgeous woman throwing herself at me. I was just wondering if there was a particular reason.”
“No,” she mumbled into his chest. Then looking up, she repeated, “no reason.”
His face said he clearly didn’t believe her, but he let it go.
“Okay, baby, I’m going to sneak off to the men’s room now. If I’m not back in ten minutes, it probably means I’m in the dean’s office having my ass handed to me.”
Lisanne gave a shaky smile.
Daniel pulled the door open a crack, winked at her and slunk out, closing it quietly behind him.
For a moment she stood dazed, then gave herself a mental kick. She pulled off her clothes, changing into a baggy t-shirt and robe, collecting her towel and caddy.
Daniel returned in far less than the allotted ten minutes, grinning at her attire.
“Bunny slippers?” he snickered, staring at her feet.
“My mom gave them to me!” said Lisanne defiantly, her face flaming.
“Nice!”
Trying to maintain some dignity, Lisanne said, “I meant to ask if you wanted to borrow my toothbrush.”
Daniel grinned at her, knowing that changing the subject was her favorite way of dealing with his teasing.
“Got my own,” he said, pointing to the back pocket of his jeans, as he tugged his t-shirt over his head.
“But … but…” stuttered Lisanne. “You didn’t know you’d be staying here!”
Daniel tried to hide a smile—and failed utterly.
“I keep a spare with Sirona,” he said, raising his eyebrows.
Lisanne spluttered futilely while he continued to smirk at her. Then he leaned down and planted a soft kiss full on her lips.
“It doesn’t mean anything, baby doll. Been doing it for years.”
“Oh!” huffed Lisanne, not entirely sure if that made it better or worse.
She hid her glowing face and shuffled off to the bathroom, the ears on her bunny slippers waving as she walked.
When she came back, looking calmer even if she didn’t feel it, Daniel was already in bed. He grinned up at her, looking the picture of ease, his hands behind his head, his glorious, muscled chest bare.
Lisanne’s throat dried and she started to feel warm in all the right places—or wrong places, considering she still felt a pulse of faint pain between her legs.
Her eyes followed the contours of his chest, down to his defined abs and muscled stomach. The boy was built! She realized her eyes were lingering on the sheet below his waist. When she finally dragged her eyes up to his face, he was watching her with an amused expression.
“Your eyes are bugging out, baby doll,” he said, with a smile.
“Why do you call me that?” she said, crossly.
His smile faltered.
“Don’t you like it?”
“Not much,” she lied. “It makes me sound like a toy. Besides, Roy calls me ‘baby girl’.”
Daniel’s eyes darkened dangerously. “You never told me that.”
“You didn’t ask.”
“Fine,” he said, with a scowl. “I won’t call you that anymore.”
“Fine,” she said, her irritation rising to match his.
She stomped around the room, annoyed with herself and Daniel’s over-reaction. Every time she snuck a glance at him, he was frowning at the far wall. She sighed—sometimes it was hard work having a boyfriend.
She tried to remember what her mom had said about never letting the sun set on an argument—particularly as she’d set it in motion.
“Hey,” she said, walking to the bed and leaning down to kiss him, “I don’t mind that much.”
His mind was clearly elsewhere because he spat out, “If that asshat lays a finger on you, you’ll tell me, right?”
Lisanne blinked. He was jealous?
“Roy’s never touched me, not like that. I mean, he gives me a hug, but he’s just being friendly.”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed even more.
“I mean it, Lis. If he does one more thing that makes you uncomfortable…”
He left the threat hanging in the air, but the look on his face made Lisanne shiver. For the first time, she could believe some of the things people said about him. He looked dangerous.
“Roy hasn’t done anything,” she said, firmly. “But there was something I wanted to ask you about.”
“What?” he said, his face still angry.
“I heard you got into some fights this week.”
He didn’t try to deny it or pretend he didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Yeah, what about them?”
“You didn’t tell me.”
He shrugged.
“Why didn’t you tell me, Daniel?”
“Why would I?” he snapped. “It wasn’t anything to do with you.”
Lisanne felt her temper beginning to rise as quickly as his. Two minutes ago she was feeling fully fed and sleepy, and looking forward to spending her first night with her boyfriend: now she was just pissed.
“It’s nothing to do with me that my boyfriend’s brother is a drug dealer?” she hissed, her tone incredulous.
Daniel’s eyes were fiery.
“Don’t go there, Lis.”
“Why not? Everyone else seems to know! I don’t think there isn’t anyone who hasn’t warned me not to date you because of it! I even had some skank come to my room and try to buy drugs from me.”
Shock, hurt, and anger flared in his eyes, and Lisanne immediately regretted what she’d said.
“What?!”
“Yes, some sophomore heard that we were dating and came to my dorm room to buy ‘something for the weekend’.”
Daniel rubbed his hands over his face, and when he looked up his eyes were stormy.
“Kirsty threw her out,” Lisanne went on. “You have to do something about Zef. You have to stop him…”
“Fuck this!” he snarled, leaping out of bed.
He started pulling on his jeans.
“Daniel…” Lisanne said, hesitantly.
“No!” he shouted, making her jump. “No! You don’t get to judge him! You don’t know what he … I don’t have to listen to this fucking shit.”
He turned his back and continued dressing hastily, thrusting his bare feet into his boots. Lisanne knew she had about five seconds to fix it—she had no clue how.
She tapped his arm but he wouldn’t look at her. So she forced herself in front of him and grabbed his face.
“I’m sorry!” she said, quickly. “I’m sorry. I worry about you.”
He tried to pull himself free, but Lisanne hung on, as a cold, creeping fear took over her body.
“Please, Daniel!”
Finally, he looked at her. “He’s the only family I’ve got.”
His voice was low and raw, and Lisanne felt physical pain when she saw how much she’d hurt him.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered again, even though the words seemed deeply inadequate. “Please don’t go.”
He stared at her, indecision clear on his face.
I hear you, she signed.
He closed his eyes.
Defeated, Daniel sat back down on the bed, resting his elbows on his knees. His head hung down and he wouldn’t look at her.
“It was three days after my seventeenth birthday when Mom and Dad died,” he said, his voice soft with grief. “Zef could have just stuck me in a foster home or something, but he didn’t. He became my legal guardian when he was 22. He really had to fight for me—the fucking social workers said because I had special needs, that he wasn’t competent, for fuck’s sake. As if he hadn’t lived with all that shit for years. Luckily the judge asked me what I wanted, and they let me stay with him.”
He looked up at Lisanne, his eyes pleading. “He’s my brother.”
Daniel’s voice cracked on the last word, and he dropped his eyes to the carpet. Lisanne knelt down in front of him and took his face in her hands.
“Thank you for helping me understand,” she said, at last. “I’m sorry I … I’m just sorry. Okay?”
He nodded and rubbed his eyes. Lisanne was shocked to see tears.
“Come to bed,” she said, gently.
He nodded again, kicked off his boots and threw his jeans back on the floor. Then he lay on the bed, staring up at her.
Quickly, Lisanne pulled off her robe and slipped into bed beside him. He wrapped his arm around her and she lay on his chest, listening to the deep, even sounds of his beating heart, gradually slowing, as his breathing calmed.
She reached out with one hand and turned off the light.
They lay quietly in the peaceful darkness, and Lisanne was just falling asleep when she realized something: Daniel hadn’t denied that his brother was a drug dealer.
She lay awake for a long time listening to the soft sounds of his breaths.
* * *
Waking early, the first thing Lisanne saw were Daniel’s hazel eyes smiling down at her.
“Hey, beautiful. This is a great way to wake up.”
He relaxed back onto the bed and kissed her softly, letting his lips drift across her throat—sweet, loving, undemanding. But despite the gentleness of his touches, they seemed to arouse her entire body.
She wondered if it was too soon, whether or not she’d still be sore. She felt okay, but she had no idea how she was supposed to feel emotionally: sort of shy, sort of sexy, sort of weirded out that she’d lost her virginity—and to Daniel.
On the other hand, it was pretty obvious how he was feeling—or one part of him, at least.
Lisanne reached down and wrapped her hand around his hard length. Daniel’s eyes flew open with surprise, and Lisanne heard his sharp intake of breath.
“S-sorry!” she stuttered.
“Hey, don’t apologize! It feels freakin’ amazing to have your hands on me like that.”
She continued stroking him firmly, and Daniel breathed deeply and his eyelids fluttered. He gazed out through his long lashes, his mouth slightly open. Then he leaned over and kissed her deeply, sweeping his fingers over her breasts. Lisanne shivered as he moved his head down and took her in his mouth, his warm lips sensual on her body.
She moaned, hoping that he’d feel from her chest, the vibrations of desire.
Starting where he’d left off the day before, Daniel made love with a new sweetness and intensity that surprised them both.
Lisanne felt her body respond to his touch, his taste, the heavy weight of him on her. She called out his name as he buried himself inside her.
He stared down into her face, his eyes dark and passionate as his body moved, pushing deep inside her. Lisanne felt a delicious tremble begin in her body. She called out again, and she had to shut away the painful thought that he’d never hear her call his name. Never. He’d never know the sound of her voice.
Tears sprang to her eyes and he kissed them away as his body told her how much he cared.
Afterward, warm and sated, their bodies twined together like wild flowers, Lisanne stroked Daniel’s smooth skin and smiled to herself.
He was right—it was a great way to wake up.
The peaceful moment of complete connection couldn’t last.
For one thing, Lisanne really needed to pee. And for another, she felt very sweaty and sticky and desperately wanted to shower. And she still felt embarrassed walking around naked in front of him. She knew it was dumb, after everything they’d done—things that made her blush to just think about.
Daniel didn’t have any of the same hang-ups, but then again, everything about his body was beautiful. The word ‘chiseled’ might have been invented for him. He was quite content to wander around her room buck naked, completely relaxed and at ease. He’d even pushed the window wide open, shivering slightly, as he hung out as far as possible to smoke a cigarette.
Lisanne couldn’t stop herself from ogling him. Was it really uncool to ogle your own boyfriend? She didn’t know. But every now and then Daniel would catch her staring, and give her his sexy trademark smile. Except that at times it was definitely more of a smirk, apparently knowing that her thoughts had just gone straight to the gutter. Again.
Eventually he pulled on his jeans and hunted around for his t-shirt, which, for some unknown reason, had found its way under Kirsty’s bed.
“Back in a minute, baby,” he said with a wink, slipping out of the door.
While he was gone, Lisanne pulled on her robe and set about straightening up the bed. It seemed to need a lot more work than usual, and Daniel was already tapping on the door before she’d finished.
“Fuck! Let me in!” he said, looking irritated.
“Why? What happened? Did you get caught?”
“You could say that,” he said, wryly. “That girl Shawna practically dragged me into her lair.”
“What?!”
“She said she had something heavy that needed moving in her room. Probably her butt.”
Lisanne giggled at the expression of distaste on Daniel’s face.
“I would think you were used to that—girls trying to drag you away to do wicked things to you. I kind of like it myself.”
Daniel rolled his eyes.
“That girl can’t take no for an answer.”
Lisanne frowned as Daniel continued to shudder.
“Has she … you know … tried something before?”
Daniel pulled a face.
“Yeah, every time she sees me, especially if you’re not around. Sometimes when you are. It’s getting kind of old.” He paused, alerted by the angry look on her face, that it was time to stop talking about Shawna. “So, baby d … Lis, can I take you to breakfast?”
“Okay, but I need to shower. I won’t be long.”
Daniel groaned.
“What?”
“Girls always say they won’t take long to get ready, but they always fucking do.”
“I don’t,” she said, defensively.
“I’ll time you!” he said, with a challenging look on his face.
“Fine. If I’m ten minutes or less, you pay for breakfast.”
“Deal.”
Lisanne rushed, she really did, but she ended up being the one to pay for breakfast after all. By one damn minute.
“This isn’t a fair bet,” she complained, staring at Daniel’s loaded plate as he tucked into bacon, beans, eggs, and hash browns. A huge stack of toast followed.
Her dollar pancakes and fresh fruit looked meager by comparison.
Daniel winked at her.
“You made the bet, baby d … Lis.”
“Oh for goodness sake! Call me what you like. I’ll just call you … Danny.”
He scowled at her. “That’s a pussy name.”
“And ‘baby doll’ sounds like a sex toy.”
Daniel choked on his hash browns, and Lisanne blushed as realization dawned of exactly how that sounded.
Maggie wandered over to refill their coffee cups and stayed to shoot the breeze for a minute. Lisanne was starting to be less nervous of her. She particularly enjoyed hearing Maggie tease Daniel about things he said and did when he was a kid.
“You should have seen him when he was 14, Lisanne. He was the cutest lil thing. Musta gotten his first tube of hair gel ‘cause he had it all spiked up. He spent damn near an hour checking himself out in the window and fussing with it. And I swear he used to practice talking to girls by hitting on me.”
They both ignored Daniel’s muttered comment, “Hell, no!”
Lisanne laughed.
“What sort of lines did he use?”
“Let me see, oh pretty cheesy stuff, ya know: ‘You sure lookin’ nice today, Maggie. You lookin’ tired, Maggie, come and take your break with me. Did you get your hair fixed, Maggie, ‘cause you’re lookin’ mighty fine today’.”
Daniel shook his head, his eyes wide with embarrassment and the tip of his ears red.
“Jeez! Give me a break, Maggie! I was fourteen!”
“And a heartbreaker even then, Danny. But you should have seen him the day he came in after getting his first tattoo…”
Daniel groaned and stood up.
“Come on, Lis. We’ve got to get going.”
“But I want to hear the end of that story!” said Lisanne, trying not to laugh.
Maggie winked at her, then pinched his cheek and patted his arm.
“You bring your sweet girl back here soon, and I’ll tell her how that one ended with you passing out at the table.”
Daniel practically ran to the door.
As soon as they left the diner, he fixed Lisanne with a desperate stare.
“If you value my sanity, don’t ever mention this again, please, baby.”
“Oh, I don’t know, Danny, because you’re the cutest lil thing!”
It was wonderfully relaxing doing ordinary couple things like have breakfast together, and Lisanne was happy to enjoy it to the fullest. But too soon the world claimed them back. Daniel dropped her at the dorms, and left to catch up on his homework, while she wondered which pile of her own work to attack first.
Kirsty returned just before lunch, describing the fun day they’d had at the beach and the amazing, impromptu party at the frat house later on.
“So, what did you do?” she said, with an appraising eye. “Did you have a good time?”
Lisanne simply nodded, afraid that her voice would give her away.
“Oh my God!” breathed Kirsty. “You did it, didn’t you?”
“I don’t know what you mean,” Lisanne mumbled, unconvincingly.
“You slept with him, didn’t you! You totally slept with Daniel!”
There was no point Lisanne trying to deny it—her face told the entire story.
“Oh. My. God!” repeated Kirsty, shaking her head. “So that was the private thing you were doing with Daniel! I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”
“It wasn’t planned,” said Lisanne weakly, but Kirsty didn’t believe her.
“Well,” she said, “how was it? Did you come?”
“I’m not telling you that!” gasped Lisanne.
“You totally did!” shrieked Kirsty. “How many times? Once? Twice? Three times? No way!”
Lisanne shook her head. “I’m not discussing it, Kirsty. It’s private.”
Kirsty giggled. “Not for much longer. Shawna will bust a gut! She’s been crushing on Daniel for like, forever!”
“No!” snapped Lisanne. “It’s nobody’s business but mine and Daniel’s!”
Kirsty just grinned at her. “Oh, take it down a notch, missy. And a word to the wise—morning sex is awesome. Just sayin’. Anyway, I won’t have to tell anyone: it’s just so obvious that you’ve been making the beast with two backs. I can’t say I blame you—I always said Daniel had a great body.”
For some reason Kirsty’s words annoyed Lisanne. Yes, Daniel had an amazing body, no doubt about that. But there was so much more to him.
“He’s a nice person, too,” she said, quietly.
Kirsty threw her a look.
“Sorry, Lis,” she said. “I know you’re crazy about him.”
Which was the closest Kirsty came to an apology.
The week that followed was full on for both Lisanne and Daniel.
She had three evenings of rehearsals with the 32o North guys, and although Daniel insisted on giving her a ride home each time, they barely had a chance for more than a brief make out session as he dropped her off. Sometimes a whole day would go by when she only caught glimpses of him across the quad, or snatched a hurried sandwich with him in the cafeteria.
Daniel had a huge paper for one of his Economics professors, and as that was his major, he was taking it seriously.
Most of Lisanne’s lunch breaks were taken up with orchestra practice, something all music majors were expected to be involved in.
Kirsty was working hard, too, littering their dorm room with scraps of materials, and sketches of clothes designs.
Daniel texted Lisanne constantly, but she was amazed how much her body craved him physically. All the moments her brain wasn’t occupied with work or music practice, she found her mind drifting to all the things they’d done—which almost always made her blush—sometimes at immensely inappropriate times.
She hoped to have a chance to do more sexy stuff with Daniel during the week, but he simply said he couldn’t take her back to his place, and with Kirsty working hard at her desk, they had no choice but to wait.
Lisanne was stunned to wake up from an incredibly erotic dream on Friday morning with her body tingling.
“What’s the matter?” mumbled Kirsty grumpily, opening one eye. “Why are you making such a racket?”
Lisanne had no words to answer that question.
By Friday evening, she was exhausted and ready for some downtime.
Kirsty was staying with Vin, so she and Daniel had the dorm room to themselves. They spent the evening making out—as well as discussing, yet again, suitable topics of conversation for when Daniel met Lisanne’s parents the following day—and eating takeout.
“Is Harry coming, too?” Daniel asked, hoping that having Lisanne’s little brother there would make things a bit easier. It always helped having another guy around—he didn’t count Lisanne’s father as he definitely wouldn’t be on the home team.
But Lisanne shook her head.
“No, he’s got some basketball game to go to.”
There went Daniel’s first line of defense.
He sighed.
“And don’t tell them about Sirona,” said Lisanne, looking anxious.
“Should I tell them I like to ride her hard?” he said, raising an eyebrow.
Lisanne ignored him.
“They’ll go crazy if they think I’m riding around on motorcycles,” she continued. “They think they’re dangerous.”
“I’m not going to lie to them if they ask me,” said Daniel, frowning at her.
“You don’t have to lie—just don’t tell them everything,” she pleaded with him. “You’re studying economics: be economical with the facts!”
He began to feel like he’d be better off facing Joe McCarthy than Ernie and Monica Maclaine.
“And try not to swear—or blaspheme. They don’t like that.”
“Why don’t you just give me a list of what I can say,” he said, with a sullen look on his face.
“Oh,” said Lisanne. “That’s a good idea.”
Daniel rolled his eyes, but luckily she didn’t see him do it.
“Economics—they’ll like that. And business studies. That’s fine. And the math, of course.” She chewed her lip, desperately trying to think of any other suitable subjects. “Sport!” she said, suddenly. “Do you play any sport? My dad’s always watching it on TV. He’s a sport nut.”
“I’m a champion at fucking.”
She smacked his arm. “I’m serious!”
“So am I!” He grinned at her. “I played football in high school.”
“Really?”
“Sure!”
“What position?”
“Quarterback.”
“You … You were a jock?”
Daniel laughed. “Your words, baby.”
“So how come you didn’t try out for the college team?”
“You’re kidding, right?” He rolled his eyes again. “Didja forget I’m deaf?”
Lisanne blushed. The truth was she was so used to being around him, making sure that she faced him when she spoke, that it was easy to forget he was deaf. He hardly ever made mistakes when he was lip reading her, and although she noticed he spoke far less when other people were around in case he’d misread them, nobody else had guessed his secret. She immediately felt guilty.
“No,” she said defensively, if untruthfully.
Daniel smirked at her. She hated that he knew when she was lying, but he didn’t call her on it.
“But you played in high school?”
“Lis, it was a special school. We got in the huddle and signed.” Tired of the topic, Daniel yawned and stretched. Lisanne couldn’t help being fascinated by the way his t-shirt tightened over his body. “Did you know the huddle was invented by a deaf guy?”
“I don’t know much about football,” she admitted.
“Doesn’t matter: not many people who do like football know that either.”
“Oh,” she said, feeling more ignorant and challenged by the second. “Aren’t there any deaf NFL players?”
“There’ve been two: Bonnie Sloan in the seventies, and Kenny Walker was a defensive linesman for the Denver Broncos. That was over 20 years ago. Not since then.”
“Oh,” said Lisanne, again.
“So, can I show you my other favorite sport now?” Daniel said, bored of the subject, his face alive with new mischief.
“What’s that?” she said, cautiously.
“I told you—fucking!”
He grinned as he tugged off his t-shirt.
As usual, Lisanne couldn’t help her eyes being immediately riveted to his chest—a fact that Daniel was more than happy to use to his advantage.
“Wanna play, baby?” he said, undoing the top button of his jeans, so they hung a little lower on his hips.
Lisanne nodded, then squealed as he dove at her, throwing her onto the bed.
After that, neither of them was capable of speaking in full sentences for several hours.