Coming Home(82)

“What do you mean?” Leah asked, dipping a pot sticker in soy sauce.

“After what that piece of shit did to you. Has he been tough on all your boyfriends since then?”

“Oh,” Leah said, averting her eyes.

“You don’t have to tell me. I was just wondering. I’d grill the shit out of my sister’s boyfriends if it were me, and we’re not half as close as you guys seem to be.”

“No, it’s not that I don’t want to,” she said, twisting the fork between her fingers. “It’s just that...I don’t have an answer.”

Danny furrowed his brow, and Leah took a small breath before she said, “I haven’t had a boyfriend since Scott.”

“None?” he asked, unable to hide his surprise.

Leah felt warmth in her cheeks, and the knowledge that she was blushing only caused her to blush more deeply.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” he said gently. “I’m just surprised. No one’s approached you in two years?”

“No, I was approached. I just…” She trailed off with a shrug.

“Didn’t trust anyone?”

“I didn’t trust myself. I spent years thinking Scott was this amazing person. I would have sworn to it. I turned my back on people because of it. And it just messed with my head that I had been so wrong. After that I just didn’t trust my own judgment anymore.” She shrugged. “Besides, my dad needed to be taken care of for a while after that, and I just threw myself into that because…”

“Because it was like your penance.”

It wasn’t a question, and she didn’t answer. She didn’t need to.

“So you haven’t dated anyone in two years?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“What about…” He trailed off, running his hand through his hair. “Have you been with anyone since Scott?”

She shook her head again, and she saw him fall back against his chair with his brow raised. “Whoa,” he said so softly, she couldn’t even be sure he’d said it.

She needed to change the subject.

“So what did you want to show me?”

He smiled softly, seeing right through what she was doing, but he played along.

“Do you want to see it now?”

“Sure,” she said, and he nodded, pushing his chair back from the table before he stood. He motioned with his head for her to follow him as he made his way toward the door.

“Are we leaving?” she asked.

“No, it’s in the building, it’s just not up here,” he said, grabbing his keys off the small table in the entryway. He held the door open and allowed her to step outside before he closed the door behind them and locked it.

They walked to the elevator in silence, and every few seconds he would glance over at her. He seemed nervous, although Leah was aware that she might just be projecting her own anxiety on to him.

As they stepped inside the elevator, Danny pushed the button for the basement.

“The basement?” she asked.

“It’s in storage,” he said simply as he looked up to watch the lighted numbers go out one by one as they descended the floors.

With one final ding, the doors opened, and Danny stepped off the elevator, turning back when Leah didn’t follow.

She stood there, wide-eyed and completely immobilized.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, and she shook her head slightly. He stared at her until understanding washed over his face, followed by a slow smile, and then he reached down and clasped her hand, intertwining their fingers.