Page 20 of Isolation

Mateo grabbed his bag and stared at me for a long moment. “That voice could have been anyone’s, and that footage is edited. Stop letting people get in your head.”

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“I’m going back to practice.”

After he left, I stood in the kitchen with coffee puddling around my bare feet.

Had I been so caught up in supporting Mateo’s dreams that I missed the darkness growing inside him?

When I steppedinside the bedroom, it was dimly lit from Danica’s bedside lamp. She was propped against the headboard, scrolling through her phone. She looked good with her face moisturized, hair wrapped in a silk scarf, and her long legs exposed beneath her boy-cut shorts. I paused in the doorway. The anger from earlier felt distant now. It had been replaced by something urgent. I needed Danica on my side tonight. I wanted to remind her why we were in this together.

“Hey,” I said, keeping my voice light and apologetic. My hand was wrapped in gauze—a reminder of what happened when I lost control earlier.

Danica looked up. “Hey, yourself.”

I approached the bed slowly like a free throw in a tied game with three seconds on the clock. Everything rides on what happened next. Move forward… get it right. Move forward… get it wrong. Game over.

I settled on the edge of the bed without invading her space but close enough that Danica could feel my presence.

“I’m sorry about earlier.”

Danica put her phone down, giving me her attention. “I know.”

“No, really. I’ve been under so much pressure. Still, that’s not an excuse. I shouldn’t have shouted at you like that.”

“It’s been a lot for us,” she said.

It was an opening I could work with. I slid closer and traced patterns across her wrist with my thumb. “You’ve carried so much, taking care of Mason, and everything. I don’t tell you how much I appreciate you.”

Danica looked at me. “Is that what you thought that was about? Me needing appreciation?”

I needed to tread carefully. Danica was too smart for simple flattery. “No, I just think sometimes I forget we’re a team. We built this together. You gave up so much for me, and I know that.”

Dani shifted, and I felt tension in her body, but she hadn’t pulled away either. “I believe in you.”

“That means everything to me. When you questioned me, it felt like you didn’t believe in me. Like you think I did something wrong.”

“Did you?”

Her question was direct; her eyes steadied on me. My chest tightened, but I was ready for this. I’d prepared.

“The only thing I did was whatever it took for us to have the life we deserve, to ensure your sacrifices weren’t for nothing.”

It wasn’t the answer she sought, but it wasn’t a lie either. I watched her process my words. There was a shift in her expression, softening around her eyes and a parting of her lips.

“Mateo—”

I didn’t allow her to finish. I didn’t want any more questions. Instead, I brought my mouth to the curve where her shoulder met her neck and placed a soft kiss on her skin.

“I miss you. We haven’t connected in weeks with this new starting position, the pressure, and the media.”

“It has been crazy,” Danica confirmed.

“Too crazy. I need you, Dani.” I continued a trail of kisses up her neck to the sensitive spot behind her ear that made her shiver. Right on cue, I felt a tremor run through her body.

Her hand came up and rested on my shoulder. “When you hit the wall earlier, you scared me.”

I pulled back to look into her eyes. “I scared myself. You know that’s not me.”

---