Lacey arrived at the shitty coffee stand the next morning wearing ripped black jeans and a t-shirt she had designed. She had thrown her hair up into another ponytail and stood there clutching the new canvas she needed for today's painting class.
She spotted Danny in the same place as yesterday, only this time he didn't make a move to greet her. Lacey struggled through the crowds with her canvas and her coffee as she made her way slowly across campus.
Danny eventually appeared by her side and grabbed the oversized canvas, Lacey not protesting.
"I figured it out." He said proudly.
"Did you." Lacey was curious.
"You like the struggle. You like when things are undone, incomplete. You like when it's difficult. Is that it?"
Lacey stopped, "What are you talking about?"
"This!" Danny shook the canvas, "It doesn't occur to you that people are here to help. That you don't have to do it alone. That you can just have friends that fulfill needs, help make your life easier, feel better. The only conclusion is that you want it that way. Maybe it makes you feel like you're in control, but in reality, when things go bad or it's too much for you to do on your own, you just feel like a failure."
"I don't need anyone else's help." Lacey growled and ripped the canvas back from him.
"You needed my help the other day, didn't you?" Danny challenged her, not willing to take 'aquaintances' as Lacey's final answer.
"So, is that what you do then? Help us poor needy girls get the cock we so desperately need?" She pouted condescendingly.
Danny stepped in close, "Among other things, sure." He pulled the canvas back from her and continued walking.
Lacey was furious and marched after him, "Find someone else to help." She reached for her canvas, Danny pulled it back.
"Not until you talk to me about the other day."
"What, about you fucking that cheerleader last night? She need your help?"
"Regina? Indeed, but I am talking about you and I the day before."
"How many of us are there?" Lacey folded her arms across her chest.
Danny walked up into her personal space, "You needed it, right?" He asked softly.
Lacey's crotch tingled, she was so angry he had this affect on her.
He stepped even closer, "You still do."
"Fuck you!" She shoved him and walked away from him, leaving him there with her canvas.
"I'm not wrong!" He shouted after her.
After borrowing an extra canvas from a classmate and fuming through class, Lacey tore out of the studio to find Danny. This was over, and she intended to make it clear. She spotted his teammates horsing around and stalked over toward them.
"Incoming!" One of the guys razzed as they spotted Lacey's dismal expression.
"Where's Danny?" She asked as nicely as she could.
"He's home, sweetheart." They goaded her.
"Thanks." She muttered as she marched off toward Danny's place.
"Oh that must be fun in bed." One of the guys said sarcastically and a little too loud.
Lacey made it to the townhouses, Danny lucky enough to have a single to himself. She pounded on the door until she was sure she broke her hand.
Danny pulled the door open and calmly leaned against the doorframe.
"Unannounced, wow. This must be an emergency, do come in." Danny motioned for Lacey to enter.
"I'm here for my canvas."
"It's inside."
"Then get it."
"No."
Lacey blew out in frustration, "Danny, I need it—"
"I know." Danny stepped closer.
"Don't start, Danny. I'm talking about the canvas, it was fifty dollars. I—"
Danny brought his thumb up and closed her mouth with it.
"Need it, yes, I heard you the first time." Danny slid his hand down her neck and ran his thumb across her collarbone, "I said, it's inside."
Lacey closed her eyes, trying to quell her rage, her lust, all of it. She pushed past him and into the kitchen, moving further into the living room before looking back at him.
"Where is it?"
"The thing you need? It's in the bedroom."
"Danny, please. I can't do this."
Lacey slumped down defeated onto Danny's couch and put her head in her hands. Danny sat on the floor in front of her and slid her feet into his lap before removing her shoes and massaging them gently.
"You're so stubborn." He said almost to himself. "Smart, passionate….lonely."
Lacey looked at him, watching as he continued to rub her feet.
"I'm not lonely."
Danny just side-eyed her like she had just told him the earth was flat.
"I just want to talk. Your mind has created all kinds of theories about me, but none of them are the truth." Danny pushed his thumbs under the balls of her feet and rubbed deeply.
"Fine. Let's talk." She was not about to object to this amazing foot rub.
"I like you, Lacey. The other day was magic, truly. We were both there, it was beautiful."
Danny lifted her foot to his mouth and kissed it softly.
"So what am I supposed to say, Danny?"
"The truth. I asked you how you were feeling about it and I got back nothing. I want to know what you think, how you feel. I'm not a fuckboi."
"Psshhhyeah, okay." Lacey rolled her eyes.
"I'm not. I want to be close, to be friends."
"You're also, fishing for compliments I guess? The truth about the other day is, I was feeling vulnerable and you were there." Lacey shrugged.
"So you were just using me then, and you've convinced yourself it was the other way around. Is that it?"
"It certainly felt mutual."
"So you could feel how much I wanted to be with you?" Danny rubbed Lacey's ankles.
"Yes."
"What else?" He rubbed her calves slowly, her pants frustrating him.
"You made me feel good. I wanted to feel good."
"You're right, it was mutual. I wanted to feel good too."
Lacey pulled her legs back against the couch, this was getting too intimate. Maybe a little creepy.
"Okay, we talked. Can I please have my canvas now?"
"You'd never orgasmed before me, right? Like, aside from doing it for yourself."
Lacey stayed silent.
"I can change your life." Danny took her legs back.
"I like my life the way it is." She held her ground.
"That's not what it sounded like when I got you there. It sounded like you very much wanted your life to change then. Remember it?"
Lacey swallowed hard, remembering every single thing. Her whole body flushed with heat.
Danny moved to his knees, reaching for the button on her jeans. Lacey's eyes grew huge, was he serious?
"I know you're mad at me or whatever this is, but I'm not the one you should be mad at. Allowing however many years of bad sex clog up your well-being like that, you should be mad at yourself."
Danny unzipped her jeans and pulled them off her body, finally massaging her calves the way she deserved. She had zero willpower when it came to this beautiful man.
"It wasn't all bad sex—" Lacey tried to explain, "I loved them."
"Ah yes, love. The wet blanket that snuffs out many fires. Listen, I don't care how many partners, how deep in love, none of it matters."
"It matters."
"Why? You need that verbal validation? Does it give you super powers? No, it makes you accept being mistreated. It excuses bad behavior, gives the other person a free pass. Don't get me wrong, I believe in love, but it's the hard work and knowing you're not alone that fills the soul."
"My soul is empty then?"
"It's just time to clean house, to unlearn what you're used to, what you've settled for in the past. There's no judgement here, no critique. Look inside yourself, go after what you want, what you really want."
Danny reached for her panties and slid them off too.
"Tell me to stop and I will."
Danny pulled Lacey to her feet and laid on the floor before pulling her down with the intention of having her sit on his face.
"Have a seat."
Lacey hesitated, her long-suffering practical side cringing at her current situation, while her inner voice was screaming to just lower herself onto Danny's face and let go.
"Stop fighting with yourself, let me make you feel good."