19. Daisy
***Daisy***
“What’s wrong?” Flynn sat in the Adirondack chair next to me and didn’t even bother pretending to look at the stunning sunset in front of us. He stretched his long legs out in front of him while watching me with an intensity that made me want to squirm. “You look…murderous.”
I felt it. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes while offering him my phone. “Brooke took her new boyfriend to meet our parents.”
Flynn’s energy changed when he saw the picture that had been shared by the Oopsie Daisy Bakery account.
Brooke and Tyler were visiting our parents in Belize.
Our parents, who knew Tyler and I had been a thing for four years and had listened to me talk about starting a family with him one day, were hugging Tyler tight with massive grins on their faces.
It was a warm and cozy photo that made their sordid affair feel like a romcom instead of horror.
“Didn’t you introduce Tyler to your parents-”
“As my boyfriend and future husband? Yeah, I did.” I gripped the chair arms hard enough to make the wood creak. “They know who he is and what he had to have done to me to be there with Brooke instead of me. They just don’t care.”
“That’s a whole new level of fucked up.” He hesitated for a moment and then took a deep breath. “Are you going to do something about it?”
I opened my eyes and met his probing gaze. “What do you mean?”
His smile was boyish as he shrugged one big shoulder.
“I mean… Are you going to do something about it? She’s posting about the boyfriend she stole from you on your business page after you told her to stop.
She’s with your parents, acting like one big happy family while knowing she hurt you.
You’ve been sad and you’ve been angry, but you haven’t been vengeful. ”
A dark feeling welled up inside of me. He was right.
I hadn’t even considered punishing the traitors for what they’d done.
I was so used to my toxic need to earn everyone’s love that I’d never considered doing exactly the opposite.
My whole life had been a giant effort to do everything right and to be the kindest and most gracious person ever because people didn’t walk away from people who gave them everything they wanted.
But they did. They did walk out after taking everything you had to give and they did it while smiling about it.
Hell, my parents had taught me to be useful and I’d become useful as a personality trait and they’d walked away as soon as they could.
Then they welcomed the man who’d cheated on me into their screwed up little family with open arms.
“I don’t know what’s happening in your head but I think I like it.” Flynn seemed to reach his limit with how far apart we were because he stood up and picked me up just to sit down in my chair and pull me back down, on his lap. “That’s better.”
I froze and shot him a reproachful look. “This isn’t what we talked about, Flynn.”
He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me against his chest as he leaned back in the chair. “You talked. I didn’t. I never signed anything agreeing with your idea of space and boundaries and whatever else you said.”
I stiffened and twisted around so I could see his face. He kept his arms around me and had the audacity to look smug about it. “Flynn. You know this is too messy. We can’t. I’m-”
“Do me a favor, sweetheart.” He waited until I gave him my full attention to continue. “Let me hold you as you plan their destruction.”
No matter how hard I searched his face for the punchline, I found nothing but open sincerity.
There was hunger but the fire was banked as he offered nothing more than comfort.
It didn’t fit the idea of him that I’d built over three years of seeing his shameless flirting with anyone and everyone.
The playboy persona was nowhere to be seen and that scared me just as much as everything else about the three Calloway brothers I was living with.
He was serious. Flynn Calloway wanted to hold me and he was serious about it.
“B-but…” My voice trailed off. After a cursory look around to make sure no one was watching us, I blew out a rough breath and then sank back into his chest. “Okay. But just for now.”
“Afraid I’m going to get attached to you?
” He was clearly set on breaking me because his voice was rough enough against my ear that I gave an involuntary shiver.
“I hate to tell you, Daisy, but everyone and everything that comes into contact with you gets attached. I’m just another one of your victims. The only reason it didn’t happen three years ago is because Tyler got in my way. ”
I swallowed hard. “Shut up, Flynn. You’re just talking to hear yourself talk now.”
He let out a low laugh and rested his hands on my soft stomach, holding me in a way that Tyler never had.
Flynn wasn’t tolerating my soft parts to get access to the rest of me; Flynn was appreciating the soft parts on his way to the rest. He wasn’t afraid to touch my stomach.
The way he flexed his thick fingers on it made me tremble from the appreciation I could feel pouring out of him.
I was simply existing in my body and his touch was revered, like he was touching something priceless.
“I’m going to enjoy my time with you on my lap and you’re going to start acting like a scorned woman. Fuck their shit up, sweetheart.” Flynn closed his eyes and let his head drop back on the chair. He was the picture of relaxed, despite the erection I could feel growing under my thighs.
I looked down at the photo of my parents hugging Tyler again and let the rage come on full force. Flynn was giving me the green light to be the worst version of myself and I couldn’t let the opportunity pass me by.
“No one knows this but I pay Brooke’s rent.
When the bakery took off Brooke came rushing back to the sister she’d once called her naggy second mom.
She moved in and it was torture because she didn’t hold an ounce of respect for me, or my space.
I put her in an apartment with the understanding that she’d take over the payments.
She never did. Each time I asked she made me feel like I was being harsh and unreasonable.
She played me each time and I kept paying her rent so my sister would keep pretending to love me. Pathetic, right?”
Flynn smoothed one hand higher, stopping just under my boobs, and the touch was oddly soothing.
“It’s not pathetic. You were just being better than she deserved because someone taught you that you didn’t deserve to get angry when you were hurt.
You were playing their game. You’re not playing anymore, though, are you? ”
His words made me feel seen in a way that I wasn’t sure I liked. I stiffened and would’ve sat up if he hadn’t tightened his arms around me. It took mere seconds for me to melt into him again. Damn his muscles and body heat.
“Stop fighting me holding you, Daisy, and start fighting them.”
“What if I regret it?” I’d done plenty that I regretted so far that summer and I wasn’t sure how much space I had left for things I wished I’d done differently or not at all.
“What if you don’t?”
Something about that question loosened the muscles in my shoulders.
If I blew up Brooke and Tyler’s lives and didn’t regret it…
Had I spent my entire life fighting to earn the love and approval of people I wouldn’t miss if they walked out of my life?
The freedom that came from putting down the responsibility I felt over their emotions was greater than anything I could’ve expected.
“I have to show you. I need someone to see the evidence of how hard I worked for her love before I stop it all.”