Chapter 33
THIRTY-THREE
CASH
SEVENTEEN YEARS OLD
“You’re mean,” Daisy whispered, gazing up at him from under her lashes where they stood at the base of their tree.
Rays of morning light speared through the leaves and lit up her face.
Cash’s arm was looped around her waist and the two of them were swaying.
Softly and perfectly in sync.
Though he was barely making contact with her. That fact alone was excruciatingly painful.
“The wait’s gonna be worth it.” He had to believe it.
It’d been exactly one week since she touched herself in his room. One week since the dynamic between them had completely shifted.
The next morning, he’d shown up at her house and asked her on a proper date.
One they would be taking after the game tonight.
He hadn’t touched her more than wrapping his arms around her in all that time.
Wanting to do this thing right.
Show her how important she was.
“Are you sure about that?” Playfulness clashed with the desire written in her expression. “You seem awfully confident.”
“Completely confident.” His voice was low and rough. Filled with his need for her that had become a living thing in him over the last week. He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “Can’t wait to kiss you.”
Redness flashed to her cheeks, and a bit of that shyness peeked through. “I’m kind of excited for that, too.”
“When I start, I’m not ever going to stop. You know that, right?” he told her.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
Cash jerked back when an engine suddenly roared, and he turned to watch as Matthew peeled out on the gravel and tore out onto the street.
His stomach soured with dread, but it left him like anger. “God, he’s so fucked up right now. I don’t know what his problem is.”
Daisy brushed her fingers down his arm. “I know what it’s like to worry about the ones we love most. About the decisions they’re making.”
Daisy knew it firsthand. It broke his heart that she’d been so worried about her sister. Hadley had completely spiraled. Was clearly strung out, even though she rarely came around.
He looked back at Daisy as she kept pouring out her encouragement. “But we all deal with tragedy in our own way. We have to believe they’ll figure it out. Find themselves in the middle of their grief.”
“I hope so,” he murmured as he curled his arms around her. Knowing he’d never be so foolish to let go. No matter what happened in his life.