He wanted to stop her, but there was just no non-insane way of doing that. So, he leaned against the wall and watched as Danielle unlocked the door and stepped out onto the sidewalk. Just before she slipped into the car, she glanced back inside—meeting Zach’s eyes.
He focused his expression as he held her gaze. There was no way he was going to break it. She had to know what her coming back was doing to him. She had to.
But, instead of making any indication in her expression or gestures, she just blinked, dropped his gaze and disappeared into his car.
Defeated, Zach cleared his throat and pushed off the wall. He needed a shower and food, neither of which was going to happen anytime soon seeing as how he just sent his car off. Now he was stuck, covered in sweat and his stomach grumbling.
Jonathan’s snickering drew his attention. Man, how had he forgotten about Jonathan?
“What?” he asked as he flipped the lid of his water bottle open and took a drink.
“Nothing,” Jonathan said as he pinched his lips together. A lame way of trying to hide his glee.
“Hey, I beat you up on the field, don’t make me do it again.”
Jonathan raised his hands. “Easy, man. I’ve just never seen you so moony.”
Zach threw his now empty water bottle into his duffle bag and zipped it closed. “I’m not moony.”
Jonathan snorted. “Yeah. Okay.”
He growled as he swung his bag up onto his shoulder and turned. “I can’t have feelings for her.” Maybe if he said the wordsout loud, he would find it in himself to believe what he was saying.
“Cause she’s your brother’s ex?” Jonathan didn’t look like he was buying Zach’s reasoning.
But Jonathan didn’t realize their history. He didn’t understand everything that had happened. Zach’s parents weren’t going to be pleased. Not to mention the guilt that hung around Zach every time he thought about Isaac. No, in order to be a good brother and son, he needed to push Danielle from his mind and way, way out of his thoughts.
Chapter Six
The next day, Danielle let out a curse as she stood in her bathroom, staring at the now spraying faucet. She couldn’t believe that this was happening again. She thought it was fixed—apparently the spit and Duct tape routine that Roger had used to fix it last time had given out.
Now, she was Noah in her own apartment minus the Ark.
“Whoa,” Jesse said as he passed by the bathroom and surveyed the watery mess.
“Help?” she asked as she waved her wrench around in the air. If only she’d actually listened when her grandfather had attempted to teach her how to fix plumbing, she wouldn’t be in this pickle.
Jesse shook his head. “Nope. Last time I tried to help, you just got mad at me.” Then he made his way into his room. “Call Roger.”
Danielle let out a grumble as she grabbed her phone and located the number. Her phone slipped just as she pressed on it. She scrambled to right it and stuck it under her chin as she walked over to the half-soaked towel to dry her hands.
“Hello?”
“It’s Danielle from 3B. Hey, my faucet is spraying all over the place. Can you come fix it?”
There was a long pause and Danielle wondered if she’d accidentally hung up. “Hello?”
“Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled into the phone. “I’ll be there.”
Danielle let his voice wash over her. Since when had his voice changed? “Are you sick? You sound like you have a cold.” She picked up the wrench and banged it against the faucet. She’d brave whatever cold Roger had if it meant she wasn’t going to have to build a ship just to leave her apartment.
“Yes.”
She sighed as she pushed her hair from her face with the back of her hand. “Well, just get over here before we drown.”
He mumbled an affirmative response and hung up. Danielle flung her phone out into the hallway and then turned back to her bathroom. She was going to mitigate as much damage as she could until Roger got there.
Fifteen minutes later and after every towel she owned was soaked, there was a knock on the door. She peered into the hall. Crap. “Come in,” she yelled.
