Danny Gray was a god; a gorgeous and generous hunk of a man that could charm any female who saw him. And just when you’d think he couldn’t be anymore perfect, he showed a side of himself that just slayed my heart — his bravery.

It was a snowy day in the middle of Fall. Danny was driving us to Meadows Fields, ND as we often carpooled to our place of employment.

We were stopped at a traffic light in a rough patch of downtown when a man in a ski mask yanked open Danny’s driver side door. The man said, “Raise up, fool! This is a carjacking.” And he pointed a gun at Danny’s face.

I was screaming. Danny nonchalantly said, “Everyone, calm down.” with his hands up, leveled with his face.

Maybe it was the way he said it, but I did stop screaming even though I was still terrified.

The man with the gun wasn’t calm. I saw his hands trembling so much that he barely held his gun straight. And that gun was still inches away from Danny’s face.

The man said, “Get — get out of the car.”

To this, Danny said, “No.”

I saw the man’s finger adjust tighter around the trigger. Danny would have to had seen that, but he didn’t move.

“Get out!” the man said more forcefully.

“No,” Danny said indignantly. “Choose someone else, man, because me and Clara here, we’re not moving. This is my car and it took me five years to pay it off. I don’t own much but I do own this car.”

With Danny’s hands still raised and me looking stupefied and the man looking amazed, Danny yelled up into the air with eyes pressed closed, “THIS CAR IS MINE!”

After what seemed like a lifetime, the man with the gun backed away and said, “Forget this.” He slammed the door and ran away.

“I’m sorry about that, Clara,” said Danny softly, putting down his hands. People must have been watching what was happening because they started to surround the car asking if we were alright. “I could tell that that punk wasn’t into it. He was just making a mistake... I knew—“

I kissed Danny. I wrapped my arms around him and refused to let him go. It was the hottest thing I’d ever seen.