Chasing That Desire | Danny Amendola

Chapter 19

** Danny's POV **

"I'll see you after practice. I love you," I whispered as I crawled on the bed, throwing a leg over Juliet so I was straddling her.

Her honey eyes looked up at me as she brought her hands up and cupped my face. "I love you, too," she giggled and placed a quick peck on my lips.

I could never get tired of hearing those words coming out of her mouth.

I rolled my eyes and looked down at her with a smile. "Babe... that wasn't long enough," I playfully whined as I threw a big pout on my face.

"Awe," she replied back in a baby voice. "You poor baby. What could ever be done to fix that?" She had her normal big, beautiful smile on her face.

"Oh, I don't know," I whispered as leaned down and pressed my lips to hers. I lowered my entire body onto hers and deepened the kiss. My hands moved up and got tangled in her long, caramel colored hair.

When we pulled back to catch our breaths, she  smirked up at me, with her pink, swollen lips. "I love you, Danny, and I love what you do to me, but I think you should head to practice before you're late. You've missed a week... Coach will be mad at you if you're late," she whispered, drawing circles on my cheek bones with her thumbs.

I pouted down at her again. "But Juliet."

Her amused honey eyes were looking back up at me. "You need to go to practice," she said with a giggle.

I rolled my eyes. "Pull the sheets down? Just a bit? I wanna peek," I told her.

Her cheeks became a red and she shook her head. "Danny!" Her hands moved up to her face. "No! This will all still be waiting for you when you get home."

I pouted, then let out a huff. "Fine. If you wanna be that way." I rolled off of her and landed on my feet. "I love you. I'll see you after my appointment with doc and practice."

She nodded. "I love you too. Have a good practice."

I nodded as I made my way out of the room, through the living room, and to the door where I slipped on a pair of shoes.

The drive to Gillette was uneventful, but I couldn't help but think about facing Julian. He and I hadn't talked since I blew up at him for just randomly showing up and the house.

While Juliet mentioned that he may just be the way he is acting because he doesn't want to lose me, struck something in me. I realized that she was probably right, but that didn't give him the right to talk about her that way.

I shifted my car into park and let out a huff as I looked up at Gillette. The place really is beautiful, but the last time I was inside, I got hurt, and that gave me some nervous tingles.

I pulled my keys out from the ignition and slowly got out of the car— it was now or never.

***

"Hey Danny, how are you feeling," Dr. Bergus asked as I walked into the examination room.

"Pretty good. The headaches are gone and I'm feeling like my old self again. I'm so over with the only lifting less than 15 pounds," I told him with an eye roll.

He chuckled and nodded. "I bet you are. Now, have a seat on the table and pull your shirt off please."

I did as he asked and sat down as I pulled my shirt over my head. Doc was quick to put the stethoscope on and moved in toward me, asking me to take deep breaths, check my reflex and stuff like that.

"How's this bruise feeling," he asked as he moved to my right side and grabbed my elbow, lifting my arm up a bit. He began touching it, causing me to suck in a breath.

The bruise went from a black, to a slight purple, and was now turning a disgusting yellow color.

"Still hurts a bit," I mumbled under my breath.

He nodded. "Okay..." Next, he held up a flashlight and began moving it. "Follow the light with your eyes."

I did as he asked.

"Okay. You're perfectly fine, but just as a precaution, I'm going to have you no contact today... and I'll lift the weight restriction, but if you feel like you're pushing yourself too much... Just stop and don't go any further."

My eyes lit up. "Yes! Thank you so much Doc," I told him with a big smile. "Man! I'm so ready!"

"Good luck, Dola. Have a great practice," he said as I hopped up off the table and pulled my shirt over my head.

Just as I got out of the examination room, I almost ran into someone; Julian.

"Hey Danny," he greeted as he grabbed my bicep and held me in place before I could go anywhere. "I-I... We need to talk."

I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, we do Julian," I said as I followed him to wherever he was directing us.

When we stopped, Julian turned and looked at me with sad blue eyes.

"I'm sorry," we both said at the same time.

We both chuckled. I shook my head. "Danny, I'm sorry, I should be a better friend."

I shook my head again. "No Jules. I'm stupid. You're just watching out for me, and I understand that. I-I... it hurts to know you think of Juliet that way, but I don't know what else to do about it," I told him. "I love her, man."

He sighed and nodded. "I know you do, Dola. And I'm sorry. I shouldn't talk about her like that. I just don't want you to be hurt. Your last breakup was bad. I don't want you to go through that again." Julian sighed.

I pursued my lips. "And thank you for being the first one there when I went down... For being there to take me home," I said and reached out to put a hand on his shoulder. "I-I... Can you just please try for me, with Juliet? Once you get to know her... I'm sure you'll love her."

Julian nodded. "Yeah... I-I... Anything for you man," He said.

We went in for a bro hug.

"Thank you. It means the world."

***

So, I've finished writing the book! There will be 29 chapters and an epilogue!

Hope you enjoy the rest of it! :)