Chapter 20

Shawn

I wanted Daniel out of his damn head. When I’d come back here, it hadn’t initially been for more sex. That had been a happy accident. Maybe.

Seeing him open the door, still standing there in nothing but his boxers with my cum still dried against his skin, I had to solidify that he was mine. Not that he’d had any clue what he’d signed up for with me.

Daniel tensed in my hold, and I knew he still had to be overthinking this. The way his body wound up like a spring ready to snap, he was prone to bolt at any second. I couldn’t have that, not when I’d finally had him opening up.

“When I was seven, I got in so much trouble because my mom wasn’t paying attention when she took me with her to one of her boutique shops. I tore two whole racks of dresses off their hangers and ripped them before she even knew what was happening.”

Daniel immediately stopped trying to pull away from me to stare. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because you told me something personal, and I think you should know something about me?”

He relaxed a little, his shoulders drooping a little under my arm. We rested against the headboard as I continued my story.

“Mom and Dad were always busy. I think I just wanted some attention. I don’t know. There was a better way to do it, but my mom had been talking to this lady forever, and I’d tried to ask her five times if we could go home. She kept brushing me off... so I started yanking on the dresses.”

Daniel’s eyebrow rose. “So, what I’m hearing is that you’ve always been a spoiled brat?”

I huffed. “Spoiled? Maybe. I wouldn’t call myself a brat, but I knew how to get my way, or at least get attention. Even if it was negative. At that age? Attention was attention. I didn’t care how I got it.”

Daniel, who was still naked, pulled his knees to his chest. Was he uncomfortable sitting here like that with me, both of us naked? Without asking him, I grabbed a blanket and threw it over us, wrapping him close to me. His eyes widened in surprise, but this was about making him more comfortable around me.

“Is there anything about me you want to know?” I asked, trying to get him to delve deeper on his own.

Daniel chewed at his lip for a second. His skin was warming against mine under the blanket and I liked the way he felt against me. There was something so perfect and right about it. Maybe I’d been too intense in the past, teasing him the way I had. Especially now that I knew about his past of being made fun of.

After a prolonged silence, he looked up at me, eyes dancing with questions. “I told you I was bi. It occurs to me that even though you hang out with all the guys, I guess I don’t know where you stand?”

In a way, I hated that question. Mostly because I never knew how to answer it. The label of my sexuality had never been all that important to me. I saw someone, and I liked them, so I went after them. Parts didn’t matter. There was a name for that. That was fine. People could call me pansexual all they wanted, but I didn’t want to settle. Was it really important to slap some sort of cookie-cutter definition on what I felt?

“You ever watch Schitt’s Creek ?”

Daniel nodded slowly.

“Do you remember that weird analogy that David made about liking the wine and not labels?”

I got another nod, and I took a deep breath. “I guess you could say that’s me. Except, I’m really adamant about not liking the labels.”

“So...” He trailed off, brow creasing in confusion as he looked around the room. “What does that mean?”

I laughed, hooking a finger under his jaw and bringing his attention back to me. “It doesn’t mean anything. I like people. All people. I don’t want to stick a name on that. Is that okay?”

We were back to Daniel looking so lost in thought. He fidgeted beneath the blanket, and before I knew it, his fingers slid between mine. Holy. Shit. Were we holding hands?

The guy who had just tried to punch me earlier was now holding my fucking hand. This was unreal. Though, I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. I wanted to savor the connection I was building with Daniel. He’d been so much of a mystery to me, and I wanted to uncover more layers. The problem was figuring out what I could ask him without having him shut down completely.

“You’re an only child?”

It was a dumb question. I’d met his parents. Maybe there was a story there. Had Daniel wanted a brother or sister?

He cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah. I think—I think maybe I was a surprise. Mom always called me her miracle. I didn’t get it growing up. Lord knows I made their lives hell. I was always getting into trouble with Art...”

There was that asshole... I wondered when he’d come up in conversation. Daniel tensed as he said his name, but shook it off and continued with his story. “When I was a teenager, Mom finally told me she’d been told she’d never be able to have kids. Some sort of genetic condition she has. I can’t remember what it is right now, so it was a shock when she found out that I was coming.”

My hand squeezed his. When I started this, I hadn’t thought our conversation would get so deep, but maybe if I avoided the subject of his friend who was currently locked up, I’d be okay.

“My dad wanted a boy. Bottom line. Someone to carry on the family businesses, I guess? Which is stupid because a girl can do that just fine, but what the fuck ever. Mom gave him me on the first try, and so they stopped.”

The way Daniel’s thumb rubbed against mine sent goosebumps trailing up my arm. It was weird how a simple touch could ignite so many feelings and sensations. He rested his head on my shoulder and a small part of me felt like I’d won some sort of major prize. In this small moment in time, Daniel Morgan didn’t hate my guts. I just had to figure out how to keep it that way.