Chapter 34
Drinks are flowing, all of us unable to stop talking about varying topics ranging from jobs—which obviously, Daisy and I work together, so there isn’t much for discussion there, so she listens intently as everybody explains what they do for work.
“I’m an engineer,” Jase says, shifting to cross his ankle over his knee, outstretching an arm on the booth behind Naomi’s shoulders.
Daisy raises her eyebrows as she sets her glass down on the table. “Really? What field?”
“Aerospace,” he says. “I mainly work on airplanes, but the dream is to work astronautical.”
She blinks. “So…rocketships?” she guesses. Jase grins, nodding. “Yeah.”
Daisy is seemingly impressed, nodding thoughtfully. “How do you get there? Like, within the field, I mean, because I’m assuming there are many similarities between aerospace and astronautical engineering, but what’s the process?”
Declan, Naomi, and I all share a brief look of shock. Or maybe it’s impression because we don’t talk with Jase about his career aspirations. Maybe he and Naomi do, but she’s told Dec and me that a lot of his conversations go way over her head, even when she does try following along. Not because we don’t care about his career—it’s fucking cool—but we’re idiots.
He leans forward, his smile taking up his face entirely even as he tries to hide it. “I don’t want to bore you with all that. These guys,” he nods to all of us. “Can barely keep up.”
Daisy tilts her head, gaze flickering to everybody at the table before focusing back on Jase. “Try me.”
So he does. He tells her about needing to go into his doctorate program and what additional training would look like if he decided on a different route in astronautical engineering. He talks about his love for space, how it stemmed from bonding with his grandpa, and many other things even I didn’t know about the field itself. But as he talks, Daisy’s eyes don’t glaze over like the rest of ours usually do. She nods at the right times, asks more questions to continue the conversation, and doesn’t break his eye contact, even when my hand finds the top of her thigh. Her fingers mesh with mine and squeeze in reminder that she’s still with me, but she doesn’t look at me. She’s involved in this conversation with Jase, and for a guy who is the quietest out of all of us, his opening up about his passions makes me more interested, too.
“Wow,” Daisy says after the conversation dies down. “That’s cool, Jase, and I’m sure it means a lot to your grandpa that you built a career out of a hobby you two were able to start together. He must be so proud of you.”
Jase’s eyes widen slightly, and then soften, along with everybody else’s around the table. “Thanks,” he nods, rubbing the back of his neck shyly. “He ah—he passed away earlier this year. Stage 4 prostate cancer. We didn’t catch it in time.”
Daisy’s own face softens. “I’m sorry to hear that,” she says. “I bet he’s still so proud of you.”
Jase looks to Naomi, who smiles sadly and rests a hand on the top of his thigh. “He is, and so are we,” she adds. Declan and I both nod in agreement.
The heaviness of the conversation lingers until Jase excuses himself to order more drinks for the table. Naomi and Declan somehow loop us into a conversation about conspiracy theories, which Daisy happily partakes in, throwing some of her own out there.
“Epstein isn’t dead,” she says casually. Naomi’s eyes widen as she looks at Declan, who looks like he’s about to keel over from shock.
“Somebody finally agrees with me!” he exclaims, pointing at Daisy. “You and I,” he continues. “We’re gonna be best friends.”
Daisy snickers. “As long as you aren’t yelling in my face while I’m sleeping, I think I can get down with that.”
Naomi’s eyes spark with confusion, but I shake my head and chuckle, more interested in letting them all talk about the different theories they have. Personally, I think they’re all pointless and internet talk, but when Daisy brings up her crazy theories about JFK’s assassination, I tune in.
“It just doesn’t make sense,” she says, pausing mid-conversation to grab her drink when Jase comes back, muttering a quick thank you before focusing on Declan and Naomi. “You’re telling me homeboy shot the big man and then that police officer? And did you see that interview—“
“I’m just a patsy!” Declan exclaims, throwing his hands up in pure excitement. He’s leaning completely forward; him and Daisy pointing out different facts that prove their theories are right. Naomi leans back and rests her head against Jase, who has confusion written across his entire face.
“I must’ve missed something,” he mutters, and Naomi fills him in before kissing his cheek.
I’ve barely contributed to the conversation, and it’s not because I don’t want to. It’s because I’m stunned silent—completely and totally in awe of the girl next to me. Seeing her open up with my friends as if she’s known them forever makes my chest twinge in both appreciation and gratitude. I know she was initially nervous about the first impression, but I wasn’t lying when I said they were excited to meet her. They all, unsurprisingly, love her. Daisy’s an easy girl to love once she lets her walls down.
“Hi,” her raspy voice floats through my system, a jolt that has my heart pounding in my chest. I lean back in the booth, my arm outstretched behind her on the booth, and angle my head to her.
“Hey, Daisy baby. Are you having a good time?”
Her smile is dopey, and I chuckle at her glassy eyes. “I am. I like your friends.”
My heart pounds faster, the words coming out before I have time to stop them. “I like you.”
The pure happiness on her face makes me want to kiss her, bury myself in her until she’s completely and fully mine. I don’t let the thoughts go there right now and just continue rubbing my thumb against her wrist.
“I like you, too,” she says softly, quietly, like admitting it is both scary and real for her. Her voice isn’t timid, but it’s almost as if the words are reserved only for me. My pulse races in my neck, and whether it’s from the adrenaline from her statement or just her, I don’t care to find out. I’m too lost in the pretty girl sitting next to me.
“Are you ready to get out of here?” I say instead, eyes locking with hers. My fingers itch to trace the side of her face, to breathe her in and not let go. “I can drive you home.”
She hums. “You’ve been drinking, too.”
“Nah,” I shake my head. “I stopped an hour ago.”
Her eyebrows rise, and somehow, her walls are slowly coming back up. “You did? You should’ve told me—I would’ve stopped, too.”
Her anxiety has always made sense to me in some way or the other. I know it can sometimes come off as dismissive or passive, but I think it’s her body not feeling safe in the situation it’s currently in, and she’s trying to deem what or who is a threat. Daisy is the kind of girl who wouldn’t drink if somebody else wasn’t, so they felt comfortable talking to a sober person. Even though it isn’t her responsibility to take care of others in those situations, I still know she would. Her heart, her entire being, radiates that natural empathy for others, so her making this comment makes sense to me. Some may not understand it, or her, but I do.
“Nah, baby,” I say again, this time leaning over to press a gentle kiss to her lips. “This has been fun, watching you relax and spend time with my friends. I wanted you to enjoy yourself.”
Her gaze flicks between mine, the apprehension still on her face. “But what about you? Are you having a fun time?”
I grin. “My girl and my best friends are getting along. This is everything I could’ve asked for.”
This time, she kisses me. A hint of whiskey on her lips I’m tempted to lick off, but we are still in public.
“Get a room, you two!” Declan jokes as he glances to Naomi and Jase, cuddled into the other. “All four of you get a room!”
Daisy pulls away, a smirk on her face as she looks at Declan. I pull her closer to me and press another kiss on her cheek. “Sorry, Dec,” she says. “Don’t you have a girl?”
A brief flicker or irritation fills Declan’s face, before he replaces it with something along the lines of feigned horror. “Daise,” he says, claiming the nickname. “We don’t know each other all that well yet, but dating makes me want to break out in hives.”
She laughs, tilting her head to the ceiling. I kiss her neck, too, not giving a single fuck if I’m around my friends. Shit, at this point, all of us are friends.
“I can’t wait for the day a girl comes and knocks you off your feet,” she says to Declan.
“That’ll be the day I officially keel over and die,” he mumbles, but that flicker of emotion is back, proving that my earlier thoughts of somebody being in his life are right.
“We should get out of here,” I murmur, a kiss to Daisy’s ear. “I want to spend some time with you before I head home.”
Whether it’s the alcohol or not, she pulls back slightly, question in her eyes. “You’re not going to stay the night?”
My mouth gapes, but when those walls of hers come back up, she waves the idea away, shaking her head. “Sorry, that was dumb. I—“
“Not dumb, Daisy baby,” I say, gripping her hand and bringing it to my mouth, kissing each of her fingers as I dip my head to look at her. “I’d love to stay the night, but when we’re both fully sober.”
She gives me a questioning look, and I press her palm against the side of my face. “The last thing I’d want you to feel with me is unsafe, sweetheart.” The nickname causes heat to pool behind her eyes. “And I know you aren’t drunk,” I continue, “but I don’t want you waking up tomorrow morning regretting all of this.”
Her face softens. “I’d never regret you, Tanner.”
There goes my heart.
“But thank you for thinking of me,” she says with a bristle of her lips against mine. She pulls away before I have a chance to deepen it, standing and holding out her hand for me to take.
“I think we’re going to head out,” she announces. “This guy,” she nods in my direction with a lazy wave of her hand. “Wants to make sure I’m getting home safe.”
Naomi chuckles and joins her in standing, pulling Daisy into her arms as Declan and I go to smack each other on the back. “We’re going to have to go shopping or get food or something sometime.”
Daisy pulls away. “I’d like that. I’ll get your number from Tan?”
Naomi’s eyes find mine, something like approval flickering through them. “Yeah, please do,” she looks at Daisy. “It’s so nice having another girl to do things with. As much as I love these goons, I’m in desperate need of girl time.”
Jase pulls Daisy in next, saying something to her under his breath that softens her face. Her hand squeezes his arm appreciatively before she turns to Declan. He smirks, and she feigns annoyance, rolling her eyes.
“I guess I’ll hug you,” she mutters, although a playful smile is on her lips. Declan only grins, wrapping her instantly in his arms again. Something swells massively in my chest at this interaction. Declan is my best friend, and of course, Nay and Jase are, too, but her and Declan’s bonding moment means everything to me.
“We’re gonna have to talk more conspiracies, just so you know,” he says. “I want to hear your thoughts on the ocean.”
Her eyes sparkle. “But what does NASA know?”
They both look at Jase, who chuckles and raises his hands. “I know nothing.”
Declan lightly smacks her shoulder and nods at me. “Get her home safe.”
I laugh, rolling my eyes at the sudden protectiveness of my girl. “I will.”
With final waves and Daisy’s promise that she will hang out with everybody soon, we head home.