Chapter 25
“Sam, are you listening to a word coming out of Daisy’s mouth?”
“Oh, I’m listening. I’m still trying to wrap my head around her agreeing to go on a road trip with a guy she apparently doesn’t like.”
I roll my eyes on our video chat. “You both might as well have this conversation without me here, I can just hang up—“
“Stop being so dramatic,” Sam grins as he paces through his apartment. “You know we love giving you shit.”
“Yeah, I noticed,” I mutter, rolling my eyes as I begin my nightly face routine. “It’s not that big of a deal, you guys. What’s the harm?”
“There’s no harm,” Gia pipes in, sipping her wine carefully. I’m surprised she’s drinking something so…refined on a Thursday night. She’s not the biggest drinker, but if she does drink, it’s usually not wine. In fact, I think I’ve only seen her ever drink wine one time, and that was the same night she decided she hated it. I narrow my eyes and try getting a better look into the background of where she’s at, suddenly noticing that it’s not the normal bright painted color of her apartment, but she pulls the phone closer to her face, smiling smugly. “Besides,” she continues. “I wanna know all about that dick.”
I groan at the same time Sam whoops, a slight heat warming my face suddenly. “There will be no dick-seeing tomorrow night,” I say as I turn on the faucet and run my hands under the water. “We’re going for the day and then might hang out tomorrow night depending on how we’re feeling, but that’s the extent of everything.”
“Right,” Sam smirks, unconvinced. “You keep telling yourself that, baby girl.”
I roll my eyes again. “You both are insufferable. Can somebody else update the class on their love life?”
Gia and Sam share a look through the screen, both shrugging nonchalantly.
“Dating scene’s tough,” Gia replies with a frown, twirling her wine glass loosely. “The guys are all the same with their awful pickup lines and too-small of dicks that barely last over two minutes.”
“And you know my situation,” Sam adds while putting together a sandwich. “Single as a pringle.”
“By choice,” I say. He nods, eyes flicking to the screen before bringing the food to his mouth. “Better this way,” he says in between bites. He points his sandwich at the screen. “But I agree with Gia. It’s tough out in the streets.”
“So dramatic,” I roll my eyes, smiling.
Sam chuckles in between bites but but nods in agreement. Gia sits up with a sparkle in her eyes, almost like she suddenly realizes she needs to share something with the world. “I want to be with somebody refined—somebody you don’t find on dating apps.” She pauses, a wistful look filling her face. “Somebody who knows how to take charge both in and out of the bedroom—“ Sam and I share a look before focusing on our friend again. “And somebody who knows how to love. I’m tired of these broken men.”
“Are we going through something?” Sam challenges, an amused twinkle in his eye. “I mean, hell yeah, girl power and all…but are we…okay?”
I chuckle now as I rinse the cleanser from my face. Grabbing my towel, I pat my face dry and apply nighttime lotion before grabbing my phone and taking it out of the bathroom. I understand what Gia means, and yeah, we’re all going to give one another shit during these conversations, but I think in some senses of things, we all want somebody who knows how to give us the love we deserve. My mind temporarily flicks back to the multiple conversations I’ve had with Tanner.
“ I want to get to know you, Daisy.”
“I think the wrong people have taken advantage of your heart, and I don’t want to be one of those people.”
“You’re not a lot. You’re enough.”
“Never too busy for you, Daisy Girl.”
“And queue Daisy lost in her mind about Tanner,” Sam pipes up, causing me to flick my gaze back to the screen.
I plop down on my bed and hold the phone above my head. “Neither of you are helping. Do you think this is…fast?”
Gia tilts her head, her gaze flicking past her phone screen momentarily. “Spending time with Tanner?”
“Do you think it’s a bad idea?” Sam asks right after Gia.
I shrug, sitting up, unable to sit still. “We’re friends.”
“So, what’s the problem?” Sam asks. Gia quickly mutes her speaker and covers her screen, causing Sam and I to share an intrigued look.
“Did she mute us?” Sam asks in disbelief.
“She muted us,” I say with the same tone, eyes narrowing.
Gia pops back in before we can continue the conversation, her cheeks slightly flushed.
“Okay, so whatever that was about,” I wave a finger at my screen, “I want to know.”
Gia’s face heats, but she quickly masks it with coolness. “There’s nothing to say. I just…had to do something.”
It’s my turn to tilt my head. “Do you have company?”
“From the looks of it,” Sam murmurs, “she’s with company.”
I grin, dipping my head towards the screen. “You noticed that too?”
Gia sighs and shakes her head. “And you said Sam and I were insufferable? Try being friends with you lot.”
“You lot?” Sam scoffs, shaking his head in feigned offense. “Obviously, you’re with somebody right now because there isn’t any way in hell you’d ever mute us on purpose.””Whatever,” Gia mumbles, blush deepening her cheeks. “Not to cut this short, but I should probably get going. I’ll call you tomorrow before you leave, Daisy, and before you get too in your head about this—you are worth every good thing in your life, and if that good is Tanner, then I support it. But I’ll bury his body if he hurts you.”
“Noted,” I muse, wanting to interrogate her more about her sudden change in behavior. I wave instead as she says her goodbyes to us and hangs up. We will definitely be following up about that.
“That was weird, right?” I say after a moment. Sam nods.
“She’s fucking somebody,” he says. I chuckle, nodding. “I have to agree. I wonder who…?”
“Same,” Sam says. “That place was way too nice for some man on a dating app.”
The line falls silent as we contemplate, unable to come up with who it could be.
“Do you think it’s Beckett?” I say, and Sam perks up.
“He is fine…and hate sex is the best sex.”
I grin. “We’ll have to ask her when we get together next.”
“Agreed,” Sam says. “Although, I do have to agree with her,“ he continues, lying sideways on his couch. “You deserve to see where this goes with Tanner, even if he’s your friend…and boss.”
“Oh we’re back on this?” I say teasingly, to which Sam nods. “He doesn’t feel like my boss,” I admit. “It’s weird, but most of the time I forget I work for him because he treats me like—“
“Like he’s more than your boss?“ Sam wiggles his eyebrows. I shake my head at the same time I roll my eyes.
“I wasn’t going to say that,” I say.
“Well either way,” Sam says, “he definitely feels like my boss, so ride this out. Let me live vicariously through you.” I raise my eyebrows, but he waves the concern away.
“He’s a good guy, Daisy,” he decides. “If you want to explore that, you should.”
“Yeah,” I sigh. “Maybe.”
After a few more minutes of talking about Sam’s latest dramatics being single, we wrap up the phone call. I’m sifting through notifications and social media when my phone vibrates. The smile blooming across my face appears faster than I’d care to admit, and suddenly, I’m thankful I’m no longer on the video call.
Tanner: Coffee order?
Daisy:What for?
Tanner:Why did I know you’d answer a question with another one? Just answer it.
Tanner: Please.
Daisy:Probably a mint latte with oat milk.
Tanner: Probably?? What size?
Daisy: You pick.
My phone lighting up nearly causes me to nearly drop it on my face, but when I notice it’s a Facetime from Tanner, I do. Groaning, I shoot up and pat down my hair before hesitating on the answer button. Is it weird to answer a Facetime call from my boss? What could he possibly want to talk about this late at night, anyway? It’s already almost eleven o’clock, and if he’s like any normal person, he’d be in bed ready to sleep. I wish I was still talking to Sam and Gia because they’d give me the confidence I need to talk to him.
Fuck.
I swipe open the call and situate against my pillows, nearly dropping my phone again when he comes into the frame. His arm props his head up as an easy grin appears on his face, the emerald color of his eyes darkened against the dimness in his room. It doesn’t take much to notice that he’s shirtless from the sliver of collarbones peeking from the screen.
“She answers,” he feigns surprise, but the corners of his lips are upturned, which causes a massive knot to form in my stomach.
Breathe. This is your friend.
“Yeah, well, you were bothering me,” I lie, which he can clearly tell because his grin widens, and he adjusts to sit up further on his pillows.
“Yeah?” his voice drops suggestively. “What was I bothering?”
My face heats, but I roll my eyes. “You’re annoying. What do you want?”
“Is that any way to treat a friend?”
“I’m pretty sure we’re more than friends at this point,” I say, unable to stop it from coming out before I have a chance to take it back. Shock registers across his face and mine, but he masks it again with a cool demeanor that makes me want to shove a pillow over my face. “I didn’t mean that.”
His eyebrow lifts. “What did you mean, then?”
“What did you call me for?” I deflect, ignoring the heat now warming against my neck. Somehow, through this damn screen, his eyes flick to the warming skin but focus back on my eyes.
“I asked for your coffee order,” he says. “And I’m still waiting for an answer.”
“All this to know my coffee order? Seems unnecessary.”
“Yeah, maybe,” he shrugs. “But you’re nice to look at, too.”
The air dissipates in my bedroom, and a weight drops in my stomach. My eyes nearly bulge out of my head. He waits for my answer rather than focusing on the compliment that nearly caused all words for rebuttal to fly out of my head. I don’t remember what he asked.
“Um, mint latte with oat milk?”
“What size, Daisy Girl?”
Oh. That’s what he asked. My face is so hot I’m tempted to douse myself in cold water to get a grip. I’m unsure where the sudden nerves came from, but I push all thoughts aside.
“Medium is fine.”
He makes a face. “Is a medium what you want?”
“Yes,” I say somewhat unconvincingly.
I don’t particularly enjoy when people try taking care of me—even if it’s as little as buying coffee. I don’t want to burden people or have them spend money on me that they may not have, or worry about the obligation of needing to pay them back or—
Tanner’s face softens. “You don’t need to pay me back for anything, ever. I want to do this.”
I stare at him on the screen, nearly dropping my phone again. “Did I…say that out loud?”
“No, but I know that’s what you’re thinking about.”
“How?”
He shrugs, adjusting his arm behind his head. “Because I do.”
There’s a finality to his statement that causes unease to flicker through me—not necessarily in a way that makes me uncomfortable, but more so in an unfamiliar way. I’m starting to gather that Tanner is more observant than I realize, and maybe somewhere deep down, he has the same insecurities I do.
“So, I’m thinking about picking you up around six,” he changes the subject casually. “Figured it gives us enough time to travel up there, grab my shit, and then fuck around for a while.”
“Six?” I ask incredulously. “Like…in the morning?”
His lips twitch. “Yeah.”
I blink. “You do realize I’m not a morning person…at all…right?”
The dimple appears on his left cheek, which is infuriatingly attractive right now for some odd reason. “Why do you think I asked for your coffee order?”
I sigh dramatically. “Fine. You win that round. I’ll take a large in that case,” I say. Tanner smiles smugly, causing me to roll my eyes despite my own smile appearing. I frown when I remind myself why we’re going. “But aren’t you and your ex going to like…talk?”
He makes a face. “Why the hell would we talk?”
I snort. “Because…you’re picking up your stuff?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, Daisy Girl. There’s nothing to talk about with her. I would much rather grab my stuff and spend the rest of my day with you.”
“Are you sure you want to deal with me on less than,” I glance to the clock resting on my bedside table that reads eleven o’clock, “seven hours of sleep?” I challenge with a small smile.
“Well yeah,” he says, adjusting the arm behind his head as he stifles a yawn. “Why wouldn’t I?”
“I’m pretty crabby in the morning, remember? Might make the drive a bit…rough.”
“Somehow, I doubt that,” he says, mirroring the same smile that’s on my face. “Either way, expect me and coffee at your doorstep at nine tomorrow.”
“It’s a date,” I say without thinking much about it. Something in Tanner’s eyes sparkles, but he keeps a calm demeanor.
“It’s a date, Daisy Girl.”