All the Wrong Choices by C.A. Harms

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Jonah

Leaning back in the booth,I place one arm over the bench seat and toy with the ends of Dani's hair, which tickle my hand. I’ve eaten far too much. Dani's been quiet, and I'm not sure why, but know I'll be asking her as soon as I get her alone.

"Saw Heather this morning at the coffee shop," looking away from the side of Dani, I narrow my eyes at Tony and wonder why in the fuck he'd even choose to mention that to me. "She asked about you."

I immediately notice how Addison pokes him hard in the side, and she looks about as happy about the chosen topic as I feel.

"What?" He shrugs. "You two talk. You're friends, right?"

I can feel Dani's eyes burning holes in the side of my head.

"Your point?" I'd punch him if we weren't sitting in a restaurant with an audience.

"Nothing, just thought I'd let ya know she asked about you," he picks up a piece of sweet roll off his plate and tosses it into his mouth. I notice the way he glances in Dani's direction and then back to me. My friend still has some unresolved resentment for my girl, it seems. "I told her she should reach out and ask you herself." Again he looks out of the corner of his eye.

"Excuse me," Dani starts to slide out of the booth, and I place my hand on her thigh.

"Where are you going?"

"Bathroom," she whispers and then continues. I don't argue, though I'm more than sure she doesn't have to relieve herself, she's simply trying to get away.

Immediately both Addison and I turn on Tony. With a slap to his shoulder and an angry look, Addison is out of the booth in a huff. Tossing her napkin down, she glares at Tony. "Prick," Addi whispers harshly before storming off. She doesn't even look back.

"What the hell," he asked but gets no answer. I have half a mind to punch him between his eyes.

Tony looks at me, his forehead scrunching up as if he is confused. "What, you too?" He asks, and again the urge to break his fucking nose hits me.

"What the fuck was the point of that?"

"I was just letting you know."

A few times in our friendship, I've wanted to drop him before he knew what hit him, this is one of those times. "Stop running her through your fucking line of tests. You have a choice here. You can stop being a dick and accept what's happened between Dani and I is our fucking business and move on." It would be his best choice. "Or you can stay the hell away. She's in my life, and she's who I choose."

"Why?" He doesn't back down, leaning forward, his elbows rest on the table as he holds my stare.

"I'm in love with her," he arches one brow. "I've never in my life met a woman who makes me feel the things Danielle does. Yes, we hit a fucking wall, but that's between us. That always has and will always be our fucking story, our obstacle. She's it for me, and I think you know that. This shit ends now. You have a problem with her. I suggest you figure out a way to let the problem go, or I mean it, Tony, stay away."

I climb out of the booth, leaving him staring after me. He has some shit to sort out on his own. I don't care either way. Dani comes first, and I'm not about to sit back while he makes her feel out of place.

Best friend or not, next time, I'm cracking his jaw.

* * *

I sitin the hot tub, watching Dani approach carrying a beer for me and a glass of wine for her. She's started to put back on a few pounds she'd lost, and the light in her ocean blue eyes has returned. Seeing her walk toward me wearing that same blue bikini she wore at Tony's party makes me instantly hard. Thoughts of pressing her to the side of his house, moving in behind her, and damn. I push down on my growing erection, trying to adjust myself without her noticing.

"Thanks," I reach out, taking both the beer and wine glass from her, setting them on the side of the hot tub. "Let me help you."

With one arm outstretched, she starts up the stairs and climbs into the hot, steaming water. "Mm," she moans, and again it goes straight to my cock. Honestly, she doesn't have to do much of anything for me to react to her. "This feels nice," she closes her eyes and I take the opportunity to pull her to me, her front pressing to mine.

“You, feel better," her eyes meet mine, and I press a kiss to her lips. "Have I told you today how beautiful you are?"

"I think at least twice," she confesses, her mouth tipping up into a smile.

"I'm slacking," kissing her once more, I slip my tongue between her lips, and she moans. I love kissing her, love feeling her in my arms. Cupping her ass, I lower us to the water, and instantly she straddles my lap. "I can't seem to get enough of you."

"I don't want you to." Pushing her hips forward, she grinds against me.

Lost in our kiss, I slide my hand around her back and over her ass. Following the trail, I trace over the barrier of her bikini bottoms and slip my finger beyond the material. I lightly graze over her center, the incredible feeling of how slick my finger glides ever so slowly.

"I want you to move in," her eyes fly open, and she pulls back, sitting upright on my lap. "I know what it's like to have you here now, and I don't want to go back. I love having you here, and it feels better coming home to you."

"We just," she pauses, her eyes roaming over my face as she bites her lip.

"I know," we've just gotten back together is what she is thinking. "But that doesn't change the fact I love you, and I'm happier when I'm with you. Why wait? What will change? I know what I want, and that's us; it's not going to change if I wait another three months, six months, or even a year."

She worries her lips. "Tell me what's going on in your head, Dani. Why the hesitation?"

"While we were apart, you tried to find someone to help you get over me." I don't hold back, gripping her hips harder to ensure she remains where she is. Because I'm not letting her move away, if she wants to talk about this, I'm going to make her look at me when we do. "The two of you seemed like you had fun together."

This topic makes me more pissed off at Tony for even bringing up Heather in the first place. He planted a seed of doubt.

"When I saw you two together at the restaurant, you looked cute together."

"Cute?" Was she serious?

"Yeah," she averts her gaze, and I wait for her to settle so she can look back at me. "I think Tony would prefer you'd stayed with her."

"And it's not up to Tony or anyone else for that matter." One step forward, three steps back, that's what it feels like with Dani and I. "I did date her, and yes, we kissed, but you already know because I told you." When she tries to look away, I lift my hand and hold her face, so she has no other choice but to see me. "Do you know who I thought about every single time I was with her?" Her nostrils flare. "You," she closes her eyes. "Look at me," when she does, I continue. "You want to talk about this, then we will. I kissed her, I could have slept with her many times, but I chose not to. I couldn't do it, because all I could see was you. You were there, Dani, in my fucking head every minute of every day. I spent our time apart trying to forget you and hating you because you'd made me love you, and then you left me."

A tear falls from her eye and runs over her cheek.

"I'm so in love with you that half the time I can't think straight, I was then, and I still am now. I can't get over you, and I don't want to. I want this," I let go of her face and pull her closer. "I want us, I want the late nights on the couch, making out like teenagers and then taking you to our bed so I can spend the night making love to you. I want to wake up with your naked body pressed to mine. I want morning pancakes and sex on the kitchen counter." She smiles when I recap what we did only a few days ago. "I don't care what happened while we took our break. It didn't for a second change how I feel about you. I love you, I want you, only you."

Cupping her face, I pull her closer, skimming her lips with my own. "You are the only woman who drives me so unbelievably crazy with lust that I feel like I'm going to ignite. Dani, you were made for me, and all the hell we went through to get to one another is worth it because now I have everything I can ever want with you. You are my dream, Dani girl, now will you please just let me love my girl."

When she nods, I take her mouth once more and carefully begin to untie the side of her suit. With her bottoms gone and her top hanging loose, she wiggles closer, and with one hard thrust, I‘m buried deep inside the only woman my heart beats for.

Dani is my heaven, and she always will be.

She is my home.