Chapter 15
Daisy
Gage? Gage Matthews was here?
I couldn’t believe it. My jaw literally went slack with surprise.
“Daisy Brooks, that is you.”
He closed the gap between us and embraced me.
My heart jolted just a little as my wolf growled a warning in my mind.
It was echoed by Cruz’s very vocal growl.
Gage stepped back immediately.
“Sorry man. You said mate, right? How the hell did you two meet? Wow, it’s been a long time, Daise. How the hell are you?”
Gage Matthews knew who I was. He remembered me.
I was struggling to wrap my head around it while my nine-year-old-self did a happy dance.
At the time he’d been nearly double my age, but when I’d stood on that stage and sang for the first time in public, Chloe wasn’t the only one who’d come to my rescue when those boys had laughed.
Gage had stood up for me too. And that was the night I’d fallen in love with him.
Sure, he’d been a lot older than me and was my Alpha’s son, but he’d also starred as my first and only crush on a boy. Well, until I met Cruz. But that was very different.
“I can’t even believe it’s you. Wow. Little Daisy all grown up.”
“How exactly do you two know each other?” Cruz asked.
“We grew up together,” Gage said.
I snorted and then tried to hide it. It wasn’t exactly like that, but I’d certainly grown up watching him and tagging along when I could get away with it.
The other kids his age never wanted me around, but Gage had always been nice about it.
Hell, he’d even babysat me a few times, which was super weird to think about.
“Oh, you’re a Virginia wolf then?” Clara asked. Then she smacked Gage on the arm. “That’s Daisy Brooks. The Daisy Brooks. How the hell did I not know you knew her?”
He shrugged. “You know that feels like another lifetime to me, angel. Besides we were still kids the last time we saw each other. She wasn’t famous or anything.”
“Correction, I was still a kid the last time we saw each other. I was nine and you were, well, old,” I said, challenging him to argue it. I certainly hadn’t thought that back then, but he didn’t need to know that. No good would come from such a confession anyway.
A few days later, he was gone, just vanished. No one knew where he went or why. If they did, they weren’t talking about it.
I left for my first big audition in Nashville a few years later. There’d been so much chaos in the Pack around that time and then his parents had little Freya. Chloe had instantly been smitten by her. And despite a few years age gap, they’d grown up to be the best of friends.
I was sad thinking about it. Freya had to be in college by now too. Or maybe she’d chosen a different path in life. I wanted to ask him about her. Did he even know he had not one but two sisters back home? Had he ever gone back? Was I the first one of our Pack to find him?
There was so much I wanted to ask, but it didn’t feel like the right time. It felt, well, weird seeing him after all those years of wondering what had happened to him.
“Wait, you and Cruz?” he asked, as if it had just dawned on him.
I shrugged. “Small world I guess.”
I’d struggled to even string a few words together in his presence the last time I’d seen him, so I was proud of myself for speaking coherently right now.
There’d been that initial jolt of excitement when I first saw him. But otherwise, I felt nothing towards the boy I swore I’d someday mate. Probably a good thing, seeing as how he was already mated.
I was too. My true mate was Cruz, and my heart knew that.
There would always be a piece of my heart that adored Gage Matthews. Not that I’d ever admit that. To the best of my knowledge, he was clueless to the fact that I had crushed on him most of my life. And I’d really prefer if it stayed that way.
Still, Gage Matthews was here.
Crazy!
“Have you met Clara yet?” Gage asked. “This is my mate,” he said proudly.
The way they looked at each other was like something out of a romance novel.
Did Cruz look at me like that?
Did I look at him like that?
I didn’t think so, but I wasn’t sure. My feelings for him had been growing leaps and bounds in the short time we’d been together.
If I really thought about it, it was hard to even remember life without him, or see a future without him in it.
That was a little terrifying because eventually I would have to go back to my life.
Would Cruz fit in there?
Would he leave all of this behind to be with me?
My chest clenched and I reached up to rub the tightness settling in there.
Pushing all thoughts aside, I refused to think about it.
Just live in the moment, Daisy, I reminded myself.
We’d deal with the rest of it later.
“How’s Chloe?” he asked me. “I believe she’s off to the ARC now, right?”
“She is, or at least that’s what I hear. In truth, I’m not in touch with her. I missed her high school graduation a few years back and I don’t think she’s forgiven me for it.”
“I find that hard to believe. Before I left the Pack you were all she talked about. She was so proud of you and wanted the world to know you were her big sister.”
“Um, did you ever go back?”
“I’ve made amends with my parents, and we have gone for short visits when we’re on that side of the country.”
“That’s good. So, you met your sisters?” I asked, praying he knew about them then.
His smile made me relax. “Yeah. They’re the best. Athena came out and spent part of last summer with us, and Freya’s been out for a visit here and there.
She worked extra hard and got her nursing degree shortly after high school and is already working, which makes it harder for her to get away.
But we enjoy them when they can come for a visit. ”
“And spoil them rotten,” Clara added.
“I bet you do.”
“Never thought I’d have little sisters. It’s still wild to think about.”
I smiled, but it faded quickly as I thought of Chloe.
Cruz had to have sensed my sudden change because he wrapped his arm around my waist and gave me a squeeze.
“When was the last time you were back home?” Gage asked me.
I blew out a long breath as I counted back. “It’s been five or more years.” I recounted. “Maybe seven.”
“Your parents are okay with that?”
“Were yours when you skipped town?” I shot back.
“Touché.”
I sighed. “It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just complicated. Ronnie doesn’t like me going home. He says it makes me lose focus and messes up the schedule.”
“Ronnie? From back home, Ronnie?”
“Yes. He’s my manager. Always has been.”
“Is he still an asshole?”
“Yes. Yes, he is,” Cruz confirmed.
“Like I said. It’s complicated.”
“I never trusted that guy. There’s something off about him. I’m really surprised to hear your mom let you go to Nashville with him.”
“She came the first time or two, but he convinced her that Nashville didn’t appreciate hovering mothers and that she was holding me back or something like that. He can be very persistent while smiling to your face and stabbing you in the back.”
“He’s been drugging her to control her wolf,” Cruz blurted out.
I glared at him. I’d told him that in confidence.
“Honestly, I’m not surprised. And as big as you are in the music industry, you don’t need him, Daise,” Gage insisted, but I wasn’t convinced he was right.
“Again, it’s complicated.”
An awkward silence fell over us. I stared at the ground, drawing circles with the toe of my shoe, not wanting to meet his eyes.
“I hear you’re going to be putting on a concert for the Pack?” Clara asked.
That perked me up again.
“I am. My band is coming in. Lily and Sydney are working out the details.”
“There was something on the news about you cancelling your concert in Cheyenne?” Gage asked.
“No, that changed today,” Clara insisted. “It’s all over social media confirming the concert is back on.”
“I’ve never missed a concert. I don’t know why they thought I’d start now.”
“Are you going to it?” Gage asked Cruz.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never been to the city before.”
I turned to see his face and realized he was serious, but I didn’t say anything until after we said our goodbyes and were back in his truck heading home.
“Are you really not planning to be at my concert in Cheyenne?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had a reason to go into the city, and I don’t have a ticket.”
I scowled at him. “You know I’ll have a ticket for you.”
“Actually, I don’t. Honey, you’ve never asked me to go with you, or if I’d even want to.”
His words felt like a fist punched through my chest, grabbed my heart, and twisted it right out. It felt like rejection, and the physical pain it created made it hard to breathe in the small space of the cab.
“Of course I want you there,” I insisted.
But did I?
Had I even considered it once?
No, I hadn’t. I’d been bracing the moment I had to leave him, never truly considering the option of him coming with me.
Cruz had a life here. He was happy and loved his work out on the ranch. It was so obvious that I guess I didn’t think it was even possible to remove him from this place.
Then again, I was struggling to think about leaving it too.
I was starting to stress about what to do.
I’d been so close to giving myself to him, not that he’d tried or anything.
It had just been a kiss. But in that moment, if he had tried to claim me, I would not have stopped him.
I supposed I had Luke and Sydney to thank for that.
Clearly Cruz and I had a lot to work out before we even considered something like that.
It felt like this was something we should probably sort out sooner rather than later. But when Cruz pulled up to the house, there were cars everywhere.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
He winked at me and grinned.
It made my heart flip. He was irresistible.
That combo was lethal to me. It was an unfair advantage he had because I knew that with that one look, I would quit the music industry and stay with him forever. My only fear was the possibility that I would grow to resent him for it someday.