Chasing That Desire | Danny Amendola

Chapter 18

"How's he feeling," Julian asked as I answered the front door.

I stepped aside. "Pretty good. He's not sensitive to light anymore. But if he watches TV for too long, or talks too loud, he gets a headache," I told him as he walked in. "He's taking a shower right now."

Julian nodded. "How's he taking not being able to travel with the team tomorrow," he questioned as he moved toward the couch and sat down.

I shrugged. "I mean the best he could possibly take it. He's doing what the doctor said, but I can tell he wants to do more than just walk around the house a bit," I replied. Then chuckled a bit. "I think he's getting tired of me, too."

Julian scoffed and said something under his breath that I didn't catch.

Before I could say anything else, Danny came shuffling out of his bedroom with his dark hair damp, and in a pair of grey sweatpants and a red patriots shirt that hugged his biceps perfectly. "Hey Babe," I greeted with a smile as he walked in, brown eyes meeting mine.

"Hey Hun, Who you talking t-," He cut himself off when he saw Julian standing there and sent him a death glare. "What are you doing here?"

Julian's face softened. "I just came here to check on you. See how you were doing, since Sunday," Julian instantly responded, his voice soft.

Danny's brown eyes darkened, as he squinted at Julian. "Why would you care? Are you still actually my friend," Danny asked, almost in a growl.

Julian sighed and shook his head. "Can we not do this right now? I'm here to check on you, not start a fight."

I looked back over to Danny, who clearly wasn't having it. "Are you fucking kidding me? You're in-fucking-credible. You can't just..." Danny flinched and closed his eyes, took a few breaths, then looked back to Julian. This time his voice was a bit quieter. "You can't just come in and insult my girlfriend behind her back and expect me to be okay with that."

Girlfriend?

Wait, what did Julian do? What did he say about me?

I furrowed my eyebrows, sucked in a breath, and looked from Danny to Julian. Julian's eyes darkened as he looked at Danny. "I want what's best for you, Dola. Can't you fucking see that," he questioned. "Is it really best for you to be with her?"

Before Danny could respond, I was walking out of the room and into the guest room, where I slammed the door shut, locked it, and curled up on my side so I was facing away from the door.

So much was running through my head. Did Danny really already consider me his girlfriend? Was he really willing to stand up to me over his best friend?

And did Julian really hate me that much? I'd never done anything to hurt him.

Tears began pulling from my eyes, and my body began to shake.

"I think it's best you go," Danny's voice said loudly from the living room. "No! Just go! You've already done enough."

There was a slamming of what I assumed was the front door, and then a few soft knocks on my door. "Juliet?"

I didn't answer, I couldn't. "Juliet, Hun," Danny's soft voice mumbled again. Then there was the sound of him trying to open the door.

He let out a loud sigh. Then, there was the sound of a key in the door. Next thing I knew was the bed was dipping down behind me, an arm was draped over my waist, and I was being pulled into a strong, warm, chest.

Danny's hot lips met my neck. "He's wrong. You're what's best for me, Juliet," he whispered as I continued to cry.

I shook my head and brought my hands up to my face. "Hun, you're fine. You were made for me," he whispered. His hot breath brushed past my ear. "I meant what I said the other night. I love you."

I completely stilled and turned in his arms so I could look into his beautiful chocolatey brown eyes. I didn't believe him. My mind was running in thousand directions, and then his lips met mine. He pulled away and brought a hand up so he could brush some of my hair out of my face.

"You'd really consider me your girlfriend," I asked with a little sniffle.

His eyebrows furrowed. "Of course I do, Jules. We've gone out on a few dates, how can I not? We spend every free moment together. We've been sleeping in the same bed for a week now," he said, surprised by my question.

"I-I That was just because of your injury... But... Just... Danny, I love you too," I mumbled as I ducked my head and rested my forehead against his chest and began to cry again.

He ran his hand up and down my back. "Shh, Shh... It's okay, Jules. Shh."

When my cries came to a stop, he brought his hot lips down to my forehead. "Are you okay," he asked.

I nodded and sniffled. "I-I... What did Julian say a-about me?"

Danny pulled away so he could look me in the eyes again. "Julian is just an asshole. You don't need to know what he said," he mumbled.

I shook my head. "I wanna know, Danny."

"He... God... He said you were a whore... He and I got in a fight before the game last week. I-I... He shouldn't be talking about you like that," He whispered.

I sighed. "Danny, he's your best friend. He was worried about you. When you went down, he was the first person by your side... he's the one that brought you home... You need to... To realize he's just watching out for you," I whispered.

Danny shook his head. "He needs to realize you're not going anywhere soon," he replied as he pulled me to him, and rolled so I was resting on top of his body.

I brought both of my hands up and cupped his stubbly face. "Maybe that's the problem, Danny. Maybe he's scared of losing his best friend," I whispered as I moved down to place my lips on his.