It was six in the morning. I had no desire to sleep. Not with her nestled into the curve of my body, her breaths falling against my chest and her hair tickling my chin. I ran soothing lines up and down her arms, staring at the ceiling, complete and content. She’d been mumbling something in her dreams—words I couldn’t make out—and her small twitches always seemed to calm whenever I stroked her arms. I enjoyed being her safe place.

Her phone beeped from the nightstand. I ignored it, despite wondering who could be messaging her at such an early hour, but then a second and third text came through soon after—the pings as speedy and urgent as the phone calls had been the night before. I reached over as slyly as I could, careful not to disturb her. When I turned the phone my way, the messages glared back at me, each one from Roberta.

I swallowed harshly and read the next two.

And there it was: the whopping crash back down to reality after the heavenly night before. Everything made sense now. The ignored phone calls. The uncertainty and disbelief Danni had in us making it. She was getting grief on all fronts, especially from Roberta.

I knew the main thing I should have been worrying about was this Johnny Miller douche Roberta was clearly trying to distract Danni with, but the thing that got under my skin the most was the way she spoke to her—like she was the goddamn woman who birthed her.

My jaw tensed and ticked as I laid the phone back in its original spot, rolled away from Danni as carefully as I could and swung my legs to hang off the edge of the bed. All I had on were my boxer shorts, and the immediate absence of her against my bare skin turned me cold.

The weight of a decision I had to make suddenly felt too heavy on my shoulders. I gripped onto the edge of the mattress with my hands, sighing softly.

“Morning,” she breathed behind me. I didn’t turn around. I didn’t have to. I could imagine the dopey smile on her face, and I could see in my mind the way she stretched her arms above her head and pushed her toes out to a point. I was missing a naked treat. I knew that, but I didn’t want her to see me looking angry, or worse, disappointed.

“Hey,” I muttered quietly.

She glided across the mattress, moaning those sexy, half-asleep moans before she slid her hands around my shoulders and kissed the back of my head.

“Crazy,” she breathed against me. “An insane night of sex and sleep, and you still smell so fresh. I’m crying no fair, Marcus. I probably smell like turnips over here.”

I reached up to squeeze her hand before I pressed a kiss to the back of it. “Nope. You’re like cotton freakin’ candy, baby,” I told her quietly.

“You’re saying all the right things again.”

I closed my eyes, enjoying the feel of her lips against my neck as she pressed a kiss there.

“I don’t always say the right things.”

She groaned between kisses across my shoulder. “Tell me when you’ve said one thing you shouldn’t.”

“In about five seconds’ time.”

She paused, her lips freezing and hovering above my skin.

“Because I’m going to say something that’s going to make you mad. Something that you don’t want to hear, but something that needs to be said.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, weak, a whisper.

I turned to face her, needing to look into her eyes so she could see the way I felt.

“You shouldn’t have been with me last night.”

“What?” She blinked.

“Your phone beeped three times this morning. It’s only just gone six a.m. I didn’t know if it was urgent so I checked the home screen and guess what I saw?”

“Roberta,” she sighed, sinking back until her bum rested on the heels of her feet.

“She’s angry at you.” I tucked her morning hair behind one ear.

“I can explain.”

“That’s the thing, Danni. You don’t need to explain shit to me. You’re the boss of your own world, your own decisions, and the way you run your life. What you do or don’t do is up to you.” I let my hand drop to her thigh and leaned forward. “But if you expect me to sit here and be the sole reason why you’re going to fuck your future up, you can think again.”

“Marcus,” she whimpered, tilting her head to one side. “Don’t start this lecture, okay?”

“Someone needs to.”

“No, they don’t. I needed to see you. I needed to be with you, and I don’t care who the hell tells me that I was wrong because for me it was right. For God’s sake, I’ve been in love with you since being with you in Greece, and I held out eight whole fucking weeks before deciding that I couldn’t wait any longer to admit it to your face. I spent eight weeks away from you when you needed me the most. You were broken, and I wasn’t there to squeeze your pieces back together. Do you know how much it has killed me? Do you know how many times I got a taxi to the airport of whatever country I was in, only to turn back around at the last minute because I knew you’d be mad at me? I put everyone’s feelings before my own, but once we landed in Manchester again, I couldn’t wait even one more day to get to you. Being so close… I couldn’t resist, and nothing you do or say is going to make me feel guilty about loving you more than I’ve loved anyone else before.”

Her voice shook with each new admission, but she didn’t look sad. Just annoyed.

“And quite frankly,” she went on. “Roberta can kiss my arse if she thinks she can dictate what I do and don’t do with my own love life.”

I raised both brows and stayed silent.

“And… and… so can you.” She scowled, nodding once.

“Fuck me, you’re adorable when you’re pissed off.”

She pushed out her bottom lip and gave me her best wounded puppy dog look before her own smile tugged at her lips.

“Where were you meant to be last night?” I asked her.

“It was nothing more than a shitty meet and greet party for one of Vincenzo’s fashion buddies. I was supposed to be there as a human ornament and to network.” She sank back even farther, her arse hitting the mattress with a frustrated and muted thud. “I don’t need to fucking network. Kissing arse isn’t my thing. I don’t grovel. I’d rather be a nobody than a somebody who got somewhere just because they brown-nosed the right crowd of pretentious arseholes.”

“That’s my girl.” I grinned, oddly proud of her for refusing to be another yes girl, but equally frustrated that she couldn’t see how close to the start of something big she was.

“I thought you were mad at me?”

“After the incredible sex, the sweet nothings, and the fact that I’ve never been happier, it’s pretty hard for me to be mad. That doesn’t mean I think you did the right thing. What will your parents say when they think I’m responsible for your career going up in flames before it’s even really begun.”

Danni pushed her hair out of her face. “I really wouldn’t worry about my parents.”

“What does that mean?”

She glanced down at the bed, picking at an invisible something on her knee before she glanced back up at me through her thick eyelashes. “They secretly hate that I’m doing this gig, Marcus. My mother is a lawyer. My dad is an accountant. They make the money and have the brains. Despite what I’m doing now, I know deep down they would have loved me to follow in their footsteps.”

“Wait.” I shuffled in closer to her, cupping her cheeks in my hands and searching her eyes. “You never talk about your mum and dad.”

“That’s because there isn’t much to say.”

“They’re your parents.”

“And yet, there still isn’t much to say.” She pulled my hands down, holding them in her lap. “And I’m perfectly okay with that, so don’t try to give me a psychology rundown here.” Her voice was soft and serene, completely at peace with the words they were speaking. “Some kids just aren’t that close to their parents on an emotional level. It’s no big deal. They’ve given me everything I could ever want in life and more. I’ve never, ever gone without. My grandparents provided the hugs and laughter side of life for me. They showed me that kindness and compassion are things much more valuable than money. Gramps and Nana gave me all the confidence I could ever need. Mum and Dad took care of the basics and my surroundings. I have no regrets or sadness about my life as a child. I was so privileged it wasn’t fair to the other kids around here. ”

I searched her eyes, not wanting to question her further. She’d said her piece, and I chose to believe the words that came out of her mouth. Being a cynic was no fun for anyone.

“I’m glad you had someone to show you the way.” My thumb ran over hers.

“Me, too.”

“And now it’s my turn to show you where you need to go next.”

“Oh no,” she said through an exhale.

“Listen to your minty fresh boyfriend for a second,” I started, pulling her closer and running my hand over the curve of her naked waist as her chest pressed against mine. “I saw the messages Roberta sent you. I hate the way she spoke to you, but the woman loves the shit out of you, Dan. She just wants you to do well. You’ve got to look beyond the grizzly mask she wears and the barking orders, and see what’s going on inside of her. The woman is panicking that you’re going to lose a good life. She sees so much potential in you. We all do. She also sees how stubborn you can be. We all do.” I grinned, wanting to sink my teeth into her bottom lip as she stared at me in feigned annoyance. “You owe her your full commitment on this one. If I hadn’t come along and we hadn’t clicked, you’d be grateful for this side of her. The side that wants to get shit done—wants to see you succeed.”

“But—”

“And,” I cut her off, digging my hand into her hip and tugging her close again. “Don’t worry. I already know she wants you to hook up with some Johnny Miller dude, too.”

Danni’s eyes popped. “God damn it, I hate that guy. Tell me Roberta did not mention him on text.”

“She did.” I gave her a nod. “But it’s cool. It’s part of your job.”

“No, it isn’t. Modelling is my job. Not being paraded around with a man I can’t stand on my arm. I wanted to take you, remember? I wanted you to be my guy at this fancy, big wig event.”

“And I will be for the next one. My crutches probably wouldn’t go well with your outfit anyway.” I smirked. “Just go out there and do this one thing right for Roberta, and then we can go from there. It’s work, Danni. For you, it’s just work. What you do out there is for a purpose, for appearances, for your future, and you don’t have to worry one iota about me having an issue with it. He can walk you down some grotty old red carpet, so long as it’s me that has this.” I moved my hand across her stomach, trailing a finger up between her breasts before I let my palm fall flat right over the place where her heart was beating furiously. “This is what I’m interested in. This is what I’m going to get jealous of someone else holding on to. Not your hand, just this.”

Her lashes fluttered as she looked down before she looked up at me, blinked once and pushed her lips against mine so hard that I swayed backwards from the sheer force of it.

“I love you,” she mumbled against my lips.

“I love you.”

“Don’t you forget about me,” she warned me in song, her favourite Simple Minds track saying everything on our behalf, once again.

I took that as my cue to sing the whole damn song to her, my eyes staring into hers with every word that poured from my mouth. Not once did she tell me to stop. Not once did she say I was ruining the song. Not once did she threaten to finish things with me the next day. Not once did she do anything that made me think she didn’t love every single second of me serenading her.

And that felt really fucking good.

Two weeks had passed since I’d said goodbye to Danni and sent her on her way. I’d tried to avoid the Internet news that filtered through that night she went to the premier of a movie with that double-chinned, muscle dude, model-slash-actor Miller, but it was impossible. With her lipstick marks still on my skin, I found myself watching her with embarrassing attention. She’d looked sensational, obviously. Her eyes sparkled from the camera flashes, and her smile held a world-saving superhero kind of power to it. The whole universe was smitten already.

I couldn’t blame them.

Manchester meets Marston and falls madly in love with model material.

The headlines were all there. She was there. Her natural sunshine lit up the atmosphere.

Johnny, however, looked like his skin was made of rubber and wax, with his extra small T-shirt showing off his helium-filled muscles, and jeans so tight I had to wonder whether his fart would pop back up into his throat if he accidentally let one rip in those things.

“Tell us, Johnny… who is your date tonight for your first big Hollywood movie premier?”

Johnny tugged on Danni’s arm, yanking her closer while Danni gritted her teeth and tried not to show how much she hated the guy. I saw the glare she gave him, though, and it instantly made me smile to myself.

“This is the beautiful Daniella Marston. She’s going to be the next big thing, aren’t you, babe?”

“Oh, I don’t know about that, Johnny,” Danni answered, brushing her hair from her face. “I think that depends on the company I keep on the way up, don’t you?” She flashed him a charming, sarcastic smile.

“How did you two meet?” the reported asked.

Johnny blanked Danni completely, pushing his face in front of the camera and microphone to take the spotlight. “I met Daniella in Rome where we were both attending a fashion event out there. Vincenzo introduced us, and from that moment on, I couldn’t get enough of that smile of hers.”

Danni struggled to control her eye-roll before she slapped on an excited smile and rocked on the heels of her high shoes. “Lucky me.”

“And are you two in love?” the reported asked.

“We’re just friends,” Daniella interrupted. “Isn’t that right, Johnny?”

Johnny looked put out, but he quickly corrected himself. “Good, good friends.” He winked back at her.

Danni let out a small sigh, clutching on to her purse with both hands before she literally shoulder barged him out of the way, flicked her hair, took centre stage down the camera lens and bounced her shoulders. “I’d just like to say a huge hello to Marcus. Remember, you aren’t allowed to forget about me.”

“Marcus?” the reporter asked in confusion.

“An even better friend.” Daniella grinned, wrinkling her nose all cute and mischievous-like.

That video clip had kept me laughing for a good few days. From that moment on, Danni had been mentioning my name whenever she could. When she was in London, I sent her a necklace with a crescent moon on it, telling her that I would always be with her when she chose to wear it. She hadn’t taken it off since. Her Instagram and Facebook accounts were suddenly being flooded with pictures of Danni making M shapes wherever she could. A finger M over her heart. M made out of salt in a restaurant. M scribbled on the back of a postcard for London. Of course, the media assumed it was for Johnny Miller, despite her having mentioned my name at the premier. It was far better gossip to have the up and coming star hooking up with the C-lister of the moment, rather than with a douche back in Leeds who still couldn’t chase a cat away from his door because his legs were so weak.

“Have you seen this?” Sammy asked as she barged into my flat, slamming the door behind her and waving her phone in the air.

I’d moved back to my apartment the week before, needing a bit more independence and freedom now that I was on the road to recovery. My sister now saw it as her duty to practically live with me part-time. She had her own key, and she checked in on me twice a day. It made me feel good having so many people around me who gave a shit.

“What is it?” I asked her from the sofa.

Sammy tossed her phone at me, and I caught it as it bounced off my sofa cushion, into my lap. There, staring back at me on the screen, were Danni’s glorious smile and twinkling eyes. Her hair was styled in a 1940s wave—one side pushed back behind her ear while the other side falling forward in full, heavy curves. Those ruby red lips I loved so much drew me in, and I couldn’t help but grin as I stared down at her.

“Fucking beautiful,” I said to myself.

“Yeah. And apparently being paired off with this Johnny Miller guy again according to that article,” Sammy huffed.

Article. I hadn’t even read the article, I was too lost in her face, but when I looked at the headline, there it was in all its glory.

I huffed out a barely-there laugh and shook my head.

“Why are you laughing?”

“That’s a weak-arsed headline.”

“It doesn’t bother you?” Sammy scowled at me from above.

“Oh, it bothers me, alright,” I told her, glancing up. “It bothers me that this dipshit here is using Danni to get in the headlines.”

“Doesn’t it bother you what they’re saying? Don’t you want them to know she’s with you?”

I shrugged a shoulder and handed her back her phone. “Does it matter what anyone else thinks?”

She took it from me and shook her head. “How and why are you always so complacent about the women in your life, Marcus? This has heartache written all over it. You know that, right? Soon the jealousy will kick in, the attention she gets will become too much for you. Then you’ll get paranoid, and Danni will get frustrated, and you’ll be right back where you started after falling in love three times… Alone!”

“Jesus, Sammy, what a way to make your big brother feel good about himself. Please, aim that knife a little higher in my back. Go too low, and you might open up an old wound that could set me back months.”

“So dramatic.” She plonked herself down on the sofa beside me, leaning her head on my shoulder until I rested my head on top of hers. “I can’t see you get hurt again, you know.”

“You won’t.”

“Promise?”

“Kid, I love that you worry about me, but when did you become the big protective sibling, and when did I become the guy everyone assumes is going to end up coming last?”

“I think your track record speaks for itself,” she muttered, but I heard the soft smile in her voice as she slapped her hand on my thigh.

“You know Danni isn’t like the other two, though, right? The situation is different. Even I’m different now.”

“I know.”

“And you know that I trust her because I want to and because not trusting the person I’m with just isn’t an option for me. I’d rather be alone, and I don’t want to be alone. I want to be with Danni.”

“I know,” she repeated.

“And do you also know that I love you for having my back so much?”

Sammy sighed softly. “I know.” She angled her head until we looked into each other’s eyes, and she gave my thigh a gentle squeeze. “Just promise me you’ll fight for your happiness this time. Promise me you won’t settle for coming in second place again for anyone. You deserve to be number one. If anything makes you feel uncomfortable, deal with it. Don’t go all in and lose yourself on a chance of happiness. Make it this time. Fight for it.”

“I promise,” I whispered before kissing her forehead.

The knock at the door made Sammy jump up. I didn’t even have a chance to ask who it was before I heard his footsteps and bellowing voice.

“Marcus the wounded,” Cameron cried as he walked past Sammy and came to stand in front of me, folding his burly arms across his chest and pushing his pecs up.

“Cameron the beast.” I laughed. “Nice to see you, man.”

“Likewise, my weak friend.”

“You here to put me through my paces in another weights session?” I asked, hoping he would be. I was desperate to build up my muscles for the next time I would be seeing Danni.

“Actually,” he started, side-eyeing my sister.

She came to stand beside him, looping her arm through his and keeping her stare focused solely on me. “He’s here to take me out,” she finished for him.

“Oh.” I blinked. “Oh.” I blinked again.

Seeing them standing there like a couple felt really fucking weird. Not bad weird, though. It felt like it was weird that I hadn’t already seen it before.

“Is that an ‘I approve’ oh?” Sammy asked.

“Does it matter what I think?” I raised a brow.

“You know it does, bro,” Cam interrupted, looking more serious than I was used to.

I smirked, pushing myself up from the sofa and hobbling over to the two of them. I wasn’t particularly fond of playing it cool. I was a guy who wore his heart on his sleeve, so I threw my arms around the pair of them and pulled them in for a hug. Sammy sighed into my shoulder, and Cam patted my back before I pulled away.

“Just… don’t give me any gory details,” I joked, frowning. “I don’t want to know anything about the Viking’s sword swinging capabilities.”

“Marcus!” Sammy cried in embarrassment. Cameron threw his head back and laughed roughly.

“Legendary, mate. That’s all you need to know,” he barked.

“Eww. Fucker. Get out of here.” I slapped Cam on the back and watched as he took hold of my sister’s hand and started to guide her out of my apartment. “You kids have fun.”

“Remember what I said,” Sammy called back as she started to disappear behind the door. “Don’t play it too cool. Us girls like to be swept off our feet.”

And no sooner had she said it, I heard her squealing as Cameron picked her up and swept her into his arms, right before the door slammed behind them. Their giggles and laughter echoed around my empty room, leaving me staring at the wall, too scared to admit that I already missed Danni. Even though I knew two weeks away from her was only the start of our torturous time apart.