Chapter 21 Miles
It’s late by the time I get back home. After spending all morning giving lessons, I then swung by the shop to help Dad with another custom board for Flynn. Dude is crazy for Olsen boards. It’s like the fourth one he’s ordered from us. Although this one is a present for Alana, apparently.
Fucking cool, though, especially with him and Alana doing so well on the tour.
“Babe, you home?” I call out as I walk inside, dropping my keys on the counter. There’s no reply, and when I wander back to the bedroom, I see the house is empty.
Knowing Daze, she’s probably over at the bakery, trying to do as much stuff herself to save money on the contractor. I don’t really care what it costs because to me, it’s worth it. Besides, I’ve got the money, and there’s nothing I need, so I’d much rather spend it on my girl.
“Daze?” I call as I walk in through the back door of the shop.
I can hear noises coming from the front—a loud banging noise. When I walk through, I see her smashing at the old wooden counter with a huge mallet, a huge pile of broken wood already on the floor at her feet.
“You working something off?” I ask, coming to stand in front of her, a grin on my face. “Because I can help with that if you need me to.”
She doesn’t say anything, doesn’t even look up or acknowledge that I’m standing here.
“Daze,” I try again.
She finally stops, the hammer hanging at her side as she looks at me. “Yeah?”
I step toward her, my hand cupping her jaw as I close the distance and press a kiss to her lips. “Hey,” I whisper.
“Hey,” she replies, her eyes flicking away from mine.
“You okay?” I ask, even though I can already tell something is bothering her.
“Yeah,” she says with a nod.
“Daze,” I start, tilting her face up to mine. “What’s going on?”
She sucks in a breath, letting it out slowly before she says, “What did Isaac do?”
“What?” I ask, my hand falling to my side.
“What did Isaac do?” she repeats, blinking up at me. “He said he left me a note. What did it say?”
“Fuck,” I mutter, scrubbing a hand over my face and around to the back of my head. “Did he come see you at the bar?” I ask, not answering her question.
“Yes, what did the note say?” she asks again, clearly frustrated.
“Daze,” I say, reaching for her.
She holds up her hands, shaking her head as she repeats her question again. “Miles, what did he say?”
I exhale a hard breath, my hands on my head. “He spray-painted the word ‘whore’ on our bedroom wall.”
She blinks again, surprise washing over her face as she stares up at me. “He did what?” she eventually asks, her words a whisper.
I close the distance, hooking my arm around her shoulders and pulling her into my chest. “Daisy,” I whisper into her hair, wishing she’d never found out.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks, her arms sliding around my waist as she rests her cheek on my chest.
“How could I?” I breathe out.
She lifts her head so she’s looking up at me. Sadness fills her eyes when she says, “So I didn’t have to find out from him.”
“Fuck,” I blow out, realizing how much worse that must have been.
I’m sure the smug fuck loved that he was able to catch her off guard.
“Daze, I’m sorry. It’s not like I wanted that to happen either, but shit, how was I supposed to tell you what he did?
” I lean close, pressing a kiss to her lips.
“I fucking hate that he was in our home, that he did that. I fucking hate that he’s doing this. ”
“I do too,” she says, her voice rising. “But you don’t need to protect me from him, Miles.”
“Don’t I?” I ask, frustrated.
Daisy loosens her arms, stepping back as she snaps, “No, you don’t. I’m a big girl, Miles. I can handle whatever shit Isaac wants to dish out.”
“I know,” I groan, gripping the back of my neck. “But I know what he’s like. Look at what he’s done already, Daze. I don’t trust the guy and I don’t—”
“Trust me?”
“That’s not what I was going to say,” I tell her.
Daisy crosses her arms over her chest. “No?”
“No, Daze, it wasn’t,” I tell her, my voice hard, anger curling in my gut. “Why would you even think that?”
“Why are you letting him come between us?” she throws back.
“Why did you?” I snap.
The second the words are out of my mouth, I regret them. I don’t even know why I said it, even if it is something that has always lingered at the back of my mind ever since I found out about Daisy and Isaac hooking up.
Daisy lets out a laugh, shaking her head at me as she says, “And there it is.”
“Daze, I’m—”
“No, don’t,” she says. “It’s clearly what you think, so it’s good you’ve finally said it.”
“Daisy, babe,” I say, closing the distance again as I pull her to me. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that, I shouldn’t—”
“You said what you’ve been thinking,” she says, cutting me off as she pushes a hand through her hair. “I need some air.”
I watch as she pulls herself from my arms, pushing past me and heading out the front door of the shop and across the road to the beach, not looking back once.
“Fucking hell,” I moan, shoving open the door as I follow after her.
I walk down to where she stands on the sand, her body rigid as she faces the ocean, her hair blowing in the breeze. I step in behind her, wrapping my arms around her as I rest my chin on her shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, pressing a kiss to her neck. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
Daisy blows out a breath, her head falling back as she covers my hands with hers. “I get why you did,” she whispers. “I mean, it’s true.”
“Babe,” I murmur, tightening my arms. “It’s not, it’s...it’s more...”
“Complicated?” she suggests, turning her head to look up at me.
“Yeah, something like that,” I breathe out, dropping a kiss to her temple. “I know I can never change this, but Daze, I am so sorry I left. I should’ve known what that would mean to you, what it would do to you.”
She turns back to the ocean, letting out a breath as she says, “It wasn’t just that.”
I rest my lips against the side of her head as I ask, “No?”
“No,” she repeats. “I know we had that weird fight before you left, but I didn’t think we’d actually broken up.”
“Neither did I,” I tell her. “I thought we were good.”
She shrugs but doesn’t say anything as she stares out at the ocean, the sun low in the sky and the water calm.
“We weren’t good?” I ask, wondering what I missed.
“I saw the pictures,” she eventually says, her words barely audible.
“Pictures? What pictures?”
She rests her head back on my shoulder again, her eyes closing as she says, “You, the other guys, a bunch of girls.”
“Babe, it was just for show,” I quickly say, not even knowing what photo she’s referring to. I know there were a lot. The parties were fucking endless. But it didn’t matter because I never so much as looked at another girl, let alone touched one.
Not when I had Daisy waiting at home for me.
“I know,” she breathes out. “I did at first. It’s just that...” She trails off, not finishing her thought as her eyes close again.
“Because of what happened with your dad?” I eventually prompt, knowing that when he left for the mainland, it was only ever supposed to be temporary. Somehow, though, it turned into something permanent, something that included a whole new family.
“Yeah, that,” she admits, before adding, “But also...” She trails off again, and it takes me a few seconds to connect the dots.
“That fucking asshole said something, didn’t he?”
She nods, opening her eyes as she looks up at me. They are filled with tears now, which fucking kill me. “Yeah, he did.”
I drop my forehead to hers, closing my eyes as I whisper, “Tell me what he said.”
She turns her face into my neck, mumbling something I don’t understand. Pulling back, I turn her around so she’s facing me, cupping her face in my hands as I drop a kiss to the tip of her nose.
“Tell me what he said, Daze.”
She sucks in a breath, blowing it out as she drops her gaze, looking at our feet. “He told me the pictures were true,” she eventually admits. “That you were hooking up with girls. You all were, and you didn’t even give me a second thought.”
My head falls back, my eyes closing as I grit my teeth together in frustration. How the fuck I was ever friends with this guy, I will never understand. And if he thinks he’s getting away with any of this, he’s got another thing coming.
“Babe,” I whisper, tilting her face up to mine. “It wasn’t true, you know that, right?”
Daisy shrugs, her bottom lip between her teeth as she mumbles, “I don’t know.”
“Why would you believe him?” I ask, confused. “Why the fuck would you believe him over me? You were it for me, Daisy. You are still it for me. You’re my everything. My everything!”
“I don’t know, okay,” she cries as she throws up her arms. “I don’t know why I believed him. But you were gone, and everything felt like it did with my dad, and I guess he caught me in a moment of weakness or something.”
“A moment of weakness?” I ask, incredulous. “Really, Daze?”
“I don’t know,” she groans, burying her face in her hands.
I curl my hands around her arms, holding her as I wait for her to look at me. She doesn’t, though, and from the way her shoulders shake, I can tell she’s crying now.
“Babe,” I whisper, sliding my hands up to her jaw.
“Look at me. Please.” My words are a plea, but she does what I ask, lifting her tear-streaked face to mine.
“I wasn’t cheating on you. I never cheated on you.
I don’t know what photos you saw, but I know what was taken, and I can promise you, promise you, they were all just for show.
It was just bullshit parties and random fans and nothing more. Nothing.”
She nods, her mumbled, “I know,” barely audible.
Ducking down, I level my eyes with hers. “Yeah?” I prompt.
“Yes,” she replies with a sniff.
“I would never do that to you,” I whisper, kissing away her tears. “Will never do that to you.”
“I know,” she says again. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I believed him...it was...it was a shit time, and I just missed you so much and—”
“I know,” I say, crushing her against me as I wrap my arms around her in a tight embrace. “I know.”
She sniffs again, swiping at the tears on her cheeks as she rests her face against my chest. We stand together, neither of us saying anything now as the weight of everything we’ve said to each other sinks in.
I’ve always known that I wanted Daisy back, that no matter what happened between us, she was it for me. But even I can admit there is still shit we need to talk about, shit we probably should have talked about a lot sooner.
“Maybe we jumped back into this too fast,” Daisy eventually says, apparently reading my mind.
“Yeah, maybe,” I reply with a soft chuckle.
She lifts her head. “Do you think we should, I don’t know, take a step back?”
“No,” I immediately say, shaking my head.
“No?”
“No,” I confirm. “It might have happened fast, Daze, but this, right here, is exactly where I want to be.” I pause, kissing the top of her head.
“I don’t care how hard it gets, babe, because I love you.
I want to be with you, build this life with you.
No matter how hard it gets,” I add, my words a whisper.
She blinks, another tear falling down her cheek. “Even after everything I did?”
I’m nodding, even as I ask, “You still want me after everything I did?”
“Yes,” she replies, offering me a tearful smile.
I close the distance, my lips brushing against hers in the softest of kisses. “Then this is exactly where we both should be,” I murmur.
Daisy wraps her arms around my neck as she deepens the kiss, pulling me close. And for the first time since I walked into the shop and saw her unleashing with the hammer, I feel myself start to relax, as a weight lifts from my shoulders.
But even as my hand presses between her shoulder blades, pulling her closer, I know it’s not that simple.
Because even though I know moving forward, Daze and I have to be more open with each other, more willing to talk about all the shit that happened no matter how hard it gets, that isn’t the only thing that has to change.
And Isaac better pack his bags and get the hell off this island, because if he doesn’t, that dick is going to pay for what he’s done to Daisy.