Chapter 13
chapter thirteen
Beau
I wake to the sound of my phone chiming. Then again. And again.
“Somebody wants your attention this morning,” Daisy says from next to me.
I love that she’s still naked, her voice sleepy, but amused.
I grab my phone and see it’s the group chat.
FLYNN: MOTHERFUCKER!
FLYNN: I think I was pretty fucking clear that my sister was off limits!
EVAN: Oh, shit.
ROMEO: Saw this coming from several miles away.
My heart is pounding as the messages roll in.
FLYNN: You made the town gossip rag. Hope you’re happy about that.
FLYNN: img of me kissing Daisy against my truck
“Oh fuck,” I murmur.
“What’s the matter?” Daisy asks.
“Your brother. He knows.”
She sits up, the sheet pooling at her waist, baring her breasts to me.
“What’s he saying?”
I angle the phone so she can see.
DANE: Remember our conversation, B. Offer still stands.
LIAM: I do not have time for y’all’s drama.
ROMEO: Grumpy fuck. You know I’m the actual old one in our group.
FLYNN: I am going to rip your head off when I get home.
EVAN: When is that going to be? Asking for a friend. Who wants to video tape such an event.
“It’s none of his business. I am an adult,” Daisy says.
“I know, beautiful. But there is a code among men, and I broke it.” I hug her to me so her head lays on my chest. “If he has to beat on me, I’ll let him.”
JACK: Oh damn, you walk away from your phone for five minutes.
DANE: This town’s gossip mill is more sophisticated than any spy network.
DANE: Secrets never stay secrets.
FLYNN: Beau!
FLYNN: I’m changing your name in my phone to MOTHERFUCKER.
FLYNN: You have anything to say for yourself, MOTHERFUCKER?
ME: We’ll talk when you get home.
FLYNN: Nothing to talk about. Unless you want an opinion about which way I am going to kick your ass.
“He is ridiculous,” Daisy says. “I’ve lived in London for the better part of the last two years, and in that time he married my best friend and then fell in love with her! He doesn’t get to have an opinion about my love life.”
“I tried to stay away from you,” I admit.
That makes her smile. “But you just couldn’t?”
“Nope.”
“I like that about you,” she says. She crawls out of the bed, and I enjoy the sight of her naked body as she goes into the bathroom.
I grab my phone, and send off a single text.
ME: I don’t really know where she stands. But from my perspective, I’d like to ask for that help now.
DANE: You’ve got it.