Chapter 25
It’s amazing how much can change in a few months. It’s amazing how much can change in just a few weeks, but that’s exactly what’s happened.
“Thoughts?” Daze asks as I walk into the kitchen, wrapping my arms around her from behind. She’s holding a cupcake up to me, and I grin, taking a huge bite as I rest my chin on her shoulder.
“Holy shit, babe,” I say around a mouthful of cake, swallowing before I take another bite. “This is amazing.”
Daisy grins before taking a bite herself, nodding as she chews as though she agrees.
“You know,” I start, my hands moving to her hips, gripping them hard as I pull her ass against me. “If you keep making me taste all these delicious cakes, I’m gonna have to step up my workouts.”
“Oh yeah?” she asks, a smile on her face as she glances back at me. “Like hit the gym more often, you mean?”
“No,” I growl, shaking my head. “I was thinking I’d work it off with you.”
Daisy giggles as she rests her head back on my shoulder, an easy smile on her face as she looks up at me. We’re both exhausted after these past few weeks, but in the best possible way.
“You know I’ve got like thirty flavors worked out so far,” she says, her smile widening. “I’m gonna rotate through them to start, but they’re all going to need a taste test.”
I nuzzle against her neck, licking and sucking her skin, which smells of sugar. “Guess that means our new bed will be getting a hell of a workout.”
Daisy smiles, kissing me deeply as she turns in my arms, looping hers around my neck as she presses her body hard against mine, forcing me backward until I hit the kitchen island.
Grinning, I slide my hands down to her ass, grabbing it hard as I say, “You wanna get started, huh?”
She smiles against my mouth, grinding her hips against mine as she says, “Yes, but also no.”
“No?” I ask, surprised. Daisy never turns down sex. We never used to be able to get enough of each other before when we were kids, and nothing about that has changed since we got back together. If anything, our sex life has only gotten hotter, as though we’ve both been making up for lost time.
She pulls back, her cheeks flushed. “I mean, it is a food prep area,” she starts. “Is it kinda gross if we have sex here?”
“We’ve had sex in our kitchen before,” I reply with a shrug.
Daisy laughs. “Yeah, we have, but...”
Now it’s me laughing. “But what, babe? You going all professional and shit now that you’re opening your own business, so we can’t do things like have sex in our own kitchen?” I ask, teasing her.
Daisy’s mouth falls open as she pinches my ass hard. “Miles Olsen,” she starts, just as there’s a knock at our front door.
Smirking, I lean in and give her a quick, hard kiss as I murmur, “Hold that thought.”
I head down to the front door, opening it to reveal Sloane and Owen on the other side.
“Hey,” Sloane says, a smile on her face as she shifts her bag to the other shoulder. Owen grabs it from her, slinging it over his as Sloane rolls her eyes and smirks at him.
He grins, leaning in to press a kiss to her shoulder before he says, “My girl here has some designs she wants to show you. Hope it’s cool we dropped by?”
“Of course,” I reply, pulling Sloane in for a quick hug before clapping hands with Owen and doing the same with him. “Come in. You’re just in time for taste testing too.”
Sloane squeals, clapping her hands together as she runs down the short hall to the kitchen, Owen and I close behind.
“You good?” Owen asks.
I turn and grin. “Yep. You?”
Owen laughs, nodding as he says, “So good, dude.”
We both walk into the kitchen to find Sloane already trying one of Daisy’s cupcakes.
I know some of these recipes are ideas she had back when we were kids, and she first told me about her dreams of opening a bakery.
Daze has always liked baking, and she’s definitely good at it.
So good that I wasn’t kidding about needing the extra workouts if she keeps having me taste test everything.
“Cupcake me up, Daze,” Owen says, as he gives her a quick hug, his eyes wide as he takes in the selection on the counter.
“How about a beer to wash it down?” I ask, moving to the fridge.
The four of us spend the next hour or so tasting each of Daisy’s creations and drinking a couple of beers. Eventually, Owen convinces Sloane to show Daze her designs.
“Oh yes, show me, please!” Daisy says, clapping her hands together in excitement.
“It’s just a first draft,” Sloane says, a shy, almost nervous look on her face as she pulls out her sketches, describing each one to Daisy as she lays them across the dining table. “We can change anything you want, or if you prefer Nate to—”
“Babe,” Owen whispers, his hand gently squeezing her neck as he pulls her in for a kiss. “You’ve got this,” he whispers, and Sloane visibly relaxes as he smiles and kisses the end of her nose.
“Holy shit, Sloane,” Daze says, her eyes wide as she takes everything in.
I do the same, my mind spinning at just how good everything looks. It’s all done in pale pink and gold, lots of daisies, obviously, but it’s so classy and cool. And it’s not just signage, but also a menu, packaging for cupcakes, order forms, ideas for merchandise—everything.
“Sloane, shit, this is unbelievable,” I say as I throw an arm around Daisy’s shoulders.
“It’s so good,” Daze adds, giving her friend a huge smile before she skips over and pulls her in for a hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Sloane laughs, wrapping her arms around Daisy as the two of them jump up and down with excitement. “You’re very welcome. Thank you for trusting me with this.”
“You’ll have to let us know how much we owe you,” I say.
Sloane is shaking her head before I’ve even finished speaking. “Nope, this one’s for school, so no charge.”
“No way, Sloane,” I say, giving her a smile. “It might be for school, but we’re also your first customers, and you gotta start building a client list. We’re totally paying.”
Sloane turns to Daisy, who just shrugs and says, “It’s true, Sloane.”
Owen grins, reaching over to pull Sloane into his arms. “Accept it, babe. You know they’re right.”
“Whatever,” she murmurs as she reaches for another cupcake.
“So when’s opening day?” Owen asks, taking a bite of the cupcake Sloane offers him.
“Well,” Daze starts, looking at Sloane, a grin on her face.
“Everything’s pretty much done, so I guess once we sort all of this, we’re good to go.
” Sloane blinks a couple of times, making Daisy laugh.
“There’s no rush. But just so you know, I love everything you’ve done here.
I’d probably focus on the menu, packaging and order forms first, and then once we’re up and running, we can bring on the merch. What do you think?”
Owen lets out a loud laugh, shaking his head as he says, “Look at this business mogul go. Better watch out, dude.”
Daze hits him with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest as she says, “I’ve only been thinking about all of this for the last four or so years, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know you have. Just giving you shit, Daze,” he replies.
“She definitely likes to be the boss,” I tease, hauling her into my side.
“Hey!” Daisy shouts just as a loud thud comes from the front door.
We all stop, turning to look at it, waiting. But nothing else happens, and it’s obvious this isn’t someone knocking on our door. It’s more like something has been thrown at the door.
“Fuck’s sake,” I mutter as I let go of Daisy and head toward it.
Yanking the door open, I’m greeted with the stench of shit, a bag of it now lying broken on the front porch, another lot stuck to the front door.
“That fucking cunt,” I shout, slamming the door closed so it doesn’t drop to the floor inside before I storm into the laundry to grab a bucket and mop.
“What’s going on?” Daisy asks, a worried look on her face.
I glance behind her at Owen, and I know he already knows what this is. “As soon as I’m done, I’m going over there,” I say to him.
“You think that’s a good idea?”
“You think it’s a good idea for him to throw a bag of dog shit at our front door?” I snap.
“What?” Daisy shouts. “What is going on?”
I fill the bucket with water, my heart pounding in my chest as I try to calm down, knowing the last thing I want to do is lose my shit at her. This isn’t her fault. I know that, and I’m not blaming her for it, but I know that’s not how she’s going to see things.
“A bag of shit was thrown at the door, Daze. I’ll give you one guess as to who did it.”
“Are you serious?” she murmurs, one hand on her hip, the other on her forehead.
“Yep,” I reply, shutting off the water as I make my way back to the front door.
“You don’t know it was him,” Owen says, as though he’s trying to keep the peace.
I yank open the front door, stepping out onto the porch, careful to avoid the shit. Daisy, Sloane and Owen all follow me out there, Owen pulling the door closed behind him.
“Who the fuck else would it be, Owen?” I ask, my words harsher than they need to be.
“Dude,” he says, coming over and putting a hand on my shoulder.
I blow out a breath, knowing I need to calm the fuck down. I just need clean this shit up, and then go punch that fuckwit in the face.
“Sorry,” I say, offering him a wry smile.
“It’s okay,” he says, squeezing my shoulder before letting go. “How about we clean this...well, shit up, and then we both go and talk to him?”
I look at my best friend, knowing he’s only trying to help. “Talk, huh?”
Owen chuckles. “Well, yeah, as a starting point,” he suggests. “Daze, you got another mop or something?” he asks, turning to the girls.
“Yeah,” she nods, her eyes wide, a worried look on her face.
Owen smiles. “Wanna get it for me?” he asks, pressing a kiss to Sloane’s temple as he adds, “Why don’t you girls go finish talking shop plans and let me and Miles take care of this?”
“I think I need to go with you,” Daisy says.
“No,” Owen and I respond at the same time.
“Miles,” Daze says, my name a plea.
“Daze,” I say to her, walking over to cup her face in my hands. She blinks up at me, and I can see the fear and worry in her eyes. Not at what this asshole has done, but I think because she thinks my anger is directed at her.
“Yeah?”
I smile, leaning in to press a kiss to her lips. “We’ve got this. Go do shop stuff with Sloane. We won’t be long.”
She blinks, her eyes filling with tears. “I’m so—”
I cut off her apology with another kiss. “Nope,” I say, my mouth brushing against hers. “No more, babe. This isn’t your fault.”
“But, I mean, if I’d—”
I cut her off with another kiss. “Again, no,” I whisper.
“Miles,” she says, her hands gripping my t-shirt.
“Daisy,” I reply in the same tone.
She huffs out a laugh, slapping a hand against my stomach before she wraps her arms around my waist. “I love you, you stubborn ass.”
Chuckling, I drop a kiss to the top of her head. “Love you too, babe,” I tell her. “Go wait in the house. We won’t be long, promise.”
Daisy rolls her eyes, but she kisses me once more before she heads inside, grabs another mop for Owen. After she hands it to him, she and Sloane disappear inside, closing the door behind them.
Once they’re out of earshot, I glance sideways at Owen and say, “You realize I’m not gonna be talking, don’t you?”
Owen laughs, shaking his head as he says, “Why the hell do you think I wanna come with you, dude? That dick deserves an ass kicking.”