Chapter 19 Daisy
NINETEEN
DAISY
SIXTEEN YEARS OLD
Laughter rolled out of her, and Daisy bit down on the inside of her cheek to try to keep it quiet since they were in Cash’s room. The lights bright and the boy sitting with his legs crisscrossed in front of her, the same way as she was sitting.
His warm brown hair curled around his ears and his hazel eyes were alight.
Cash took a big snapping bite from his Red Vine, chewing with that smile on his face that made her belly flip.
They’d been this way for the entire school year. Together constantly. Her in his room as they hung out.
“Oh my gosh, you’re ridiculous,” she said.
“What?” He grinned as he took another giant bite.
“I thought those were for me?”
“They are.” He stuck the same Red Vine he’d just eaten out for her.
Her stomach toppled, and she peeked at his face.
It was full of mischief.
She surged forward and took a big bite too, her face flaming red when he mumbled as he chewed, “That’s my girl. Take what you want.”
She wanted to. She wanted to reach out and take him. Or at least tell him how she felt. She just wasn’t sure how to do that.
So instead, she reached out and nabbed the half-eaten piece from his hand and shoved it into her mouth.
“Hey!” It would have been a shout except it was hushed, his brows lifting, before he suddenly dove at her. She fell onto her back on the bed as his fingers burrowed into her sides.
She gasped a shocked breath as he began to tickle her. The tips of his fingers digging into her ribs.
She wheezed and flailed as she tried to fight him off, her insides lit up in a way they’d never been, while Cash hovered over her, his face stretched in amusement, brown locks of shiny hair flopping over one eye.
“Oh my gosh, Cash, stop.”
Except she didn’t want him to. She craved his touch in a way she’d never craved anything before.
“What? You stole my Red Vine. Did you think I wouldn’t retaliate for such a vile act?” he teased.
“I thought it was mine?” She giggled and struggled to push him off as he continued his attack.
He dug in deeper, leaning over her, his scent all around. “We were sharing.”
She opened her mouth to taunt him with the remnants of the sweet red candy that coated her tongue.
Cash froze, and his lips parted in surprise.
She snapped her mouth closed.
Mortified at what she had done.
Now, he stared down at her like she was disgusting. Those eyes on her mouth that she had pressed shut.
Except, the air shifted.
Deepening.
His movements slowed as he settled his hands on her waist.
His gaze made her heart batter at her chest, and her breaths turned shallow as his attention flicked between her mouth and her eyes.
He hesitated there. Wavering. Unsure.
Then he seemed to shake himself out of whatever he’d been thinking and flopped onto the bed at her side.
Facing her with a grin on his face.
“What do you think you’ll do once you graduate?”
She frowned at him, caught off guard by the sudden shift in the subject.
Her breaths were still ragged from his proximity.
She forced herself to tame it.
They were friends. Best friends. He’d reiterated that fact so many times she knew there was no chance for them to be something more.
“What do you mean?”
He kind of shrugged. “I don’t know. Once you leave this town. Where do you see yourself?”
“Watching you play football in college?” She tried to say it light, but it was the truth. She wanted to be wherever he was.
His laugh was low, and he reached out and brushed a piece of her hair from her face. “Obviously. But beyond that. What do you want to be?”
She hadn’t really allowed herself to contemplate that. Or maybe some of her little girl dreams had died when her mother did. The grief blotting out everything else.
But she’d started to feel…different.
Better.
Hopeful.
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll grow organic vegetables and fruit and sell them in a market.”
She once loved helping her mom tend to her garden. Both peaceful and nourishing. She wanted that again.
A smile tweaked the edge of his mouth. “And where would you have this market?”
She tried to picture it. Where she would be in ten years. “A small town maybe? In the mountains so I can live in a cabin.”
His grin grew. “It sounds like my Little Wallflower is still trying to hide.”
“I won’t be alone if you’re with me.”
Softness filled his features, those eyes flitting all over her face. “You want me to live in that cabin with you?”
“Who else is going to bring me Red Vines?” She rolled her eyes and tried to play it light while her pulse careened through her veins.
She wanted him to look at her that way again. The way he had just a moment before.
Not as a friend. But like…like he might kiss her.
“Guess I’ll have to build us one then.”
“You’re going to build it?”
He grinned and gestured at himself. “Built with love by Heartbreaker Cunningham LLC.”
She giggled. “You’re such a goober.”
His laugh was light before he asked, “What should it look like?”
Giddiness filled her spirit. “It’ll be simple. Out in the middle of nowhere. A pitched roof with a porch out front. Three bedrooms at least.”
“One for you, one for me. One for your sister?” he hedged.
Her stomach soured a bit. Hadley had been struggling. But not the way that Daisy had been.
Hadley was partying. Hanging out with the wrong crowd. Covering her grief with alcohol. She slept so much that Daisy was worried she might be getting into drugs.
“I hope so. I love her so much, but she doesn’t really want to hang out with me.”
Cash brushed his fingertips across her cheeks. “She’s just trying to find her way. I’m sure she’ll figure it out.”
“Where do you see yourself?” Tentativeness filled her voice.
A giant grin filled his face. “Playing pro, of course.” He rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling, threaded his fingers together over his hard-packed chest. “Or at least go as far as I can go. I want it so bad.”
She got brave enough to run her fingers over his shoulder. “I know you’ll make it. You’re amazing.”
He looked back at her. “Guess I will as long as I have my best friend rooting for me.”