Chapter 6 #2
Or maybe she found the sport through romance books. Unlikely though, those fans didn’t seem to understand the meaning of boundaries, and she seemed to have nothing but.
“I got the goods!” Lover held up his bag of snacks and sat in the chair next to Daisy’s.
He crowded her, but Connor couldn’t think of a valid reason to make him move. She was at ease with Lover and Hazy, but kept her guard up for Connor.
Daisy clapped her hands. “Awesome. Connor. You’re up. Meet us at the car when you’re done?”
His sense of pride when she called him Connor was entirely unearned. But he liked being Connor. With two other Connors around, nobody ever called him by his given name.
He nodded and trudged his way to the door. He had no clue what to buy.
Connor stared at the packed aisle of cookies and candies and chips and sugar-filled drinks, unable to recall which snacks Hazy and Lover liked.
He picked up a pack of peanut butter cups and set it down. Did they eat chocolate? Were they allergic to peanuts?
If he had to do this for Casey and Evan, he’d have bought the peanut butter cups and a bag of salt and vinegar chips without thinking. He would’ve been in and out in thirty seconds.
How could he possibly build the same level of understanding with Hazy and Lover? And in a few months? They were kids, and he might as well be a dinosaur. They had nothing in common.
It had taken years for Connor, Casey, and Evan to build their trust and love.
Connor sighed and tugged at his hair, trying to get into the heads of his linemates.
Before a deep sense of panic could set in, inspiration struck. He’d ask the cashier what the other guys had purchased. Then he’d at least have something similar to what the others got. They’d look like they were on the same page.
He approached the cashier, who was happy to help. He rattled off a list of items, and Connor went to reach for them when he ran into a body.
It took him longer than it should’ve to realize it was Daisy. He grabbed her flailing wrists to steady her as she wobbled.
“Shit, sorry!”
She snatched her hands away from him and gave him an outraged glare. “Really, Connor? Couldn’t you at least try? This is supposed to be fun. It didn’t have to be perfect. How am I supposed to help you if you won’t put a little effort in?”
His heart rate kicked up at the accusation. She wasn’t wrong. He took the easy way. But he’d tried. Hadn’t he? He’d stood there for a solid five minutes hoping the answers would come to him, and they didn’t. But he couldn’t explain without sounding like a total idiot.
“Fuck, I know. Sorry.”
She abandoned the bottle of water and energy drink she’d been holding and spun on her heel, exiting the store. He grabbed her misplaced items and a few things from the cashier’s list.
Music blasted from the car. Lover, Hazy, and Daisy were dancing in their seats, singing a song he didn’t recognize. When he opened the door to get in, though, the music cut off.
“Hey, got the stuff.”
No one answered him. Daisy waited for everyone to get buckled and then exited the parking lot, starting the journey to wherever their next stop would be. Connor didn’t dare ask.
Before long they stopped in a parking lot on a dead-end street.
The brick building they parked in front of must have been a hundred years old.
They entered the yard through a wrought-iron gate that transported them into a fairytale.
A haphazard mess of rose bushes and fruit trees blocked the entrance from the view of the parking lot.
A pride flag swung over the grand front porch.
The front yard seemed magical, but the lobby was modern and manned by a front desk person who greeted Daisy with a friendly wave. She waved back and led them to the elevator.
As they rode up to the fourth floor, Hazy asked, “What is this place?”
Daisy gave him a shy smile. It annoyed Connor that she hadn’t directed one at him yet. He hadn’t earned one. But still. She cleared her throat and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, avoiding meeting their eyes.
“We’re going to my apartment.”
The elevator doors dinged open. Daisy stepped out, leading them down a long hallway to the door at the end. She unlocked the door and stepped inside, gesturing for them to follow.
They stopped and toed off their shoes, unsure why they were in her home, but following her lead.
“Here, I’ll give you a quick tour and then we can get settled.” Her arm swept across the open space like Vanna White. “This is my living room, dining room, and kitchen. What you see is kinda what you get here.”
Connor and his teammates had their heads on a swivel, taking in the cozy space.
It was small, but clean and comfortable.
A large beige sectional occupied the majority of the living area.
The remainder of the space was taken by a coffee table and a couple of bookshelves overflowing with novels and knickknacks. A massive TV sat mounted on the wall.
A small kitchen island separated the kitchen from the living area. Dark wood cabinets framed a dated white stove and fridge. A small round table sat in one corner of the room, with a vase of flowers sitting at its center. He wondered who had sent the bouquet.
There were two doors off the living room. Daisy pointed to the one on the left. “That one is my bedroom; no need to go in there. The other one is the bathroom. There. Now we’re all oriented. Make yourselves at home.”
Lover sat in the corner of the sectional. Hazy followed suit, setting his bag of snacks on the coffee table before plopping down next to Lover.
Daisy rounded the kitchen island and grabbed some glasses out of a cupboard.
“You guys want anything to drink?” she asked.
“I’ll have some water,” Lover answered, and Hazy seconded his request.
Connor nodded in agreement, following his teammates’ leads and claiming a spot on the couch. They seemed at ease in her space. He didn’t understand how they could be chill about this.
Connor was pretty sure he wouldn’t be welcome without Lover and Hazy. He tried to relax, but his discomfort was probably plain as day.
Daisy brought their waters and sat on the floor in front of the coffee table.
Should he stand and offer her the seat? The couch had plenty of open spots.
Maybe she didn’t want to be near them? Did she think they wouldn’t want to be near her?
Why did she bring them here instead of somewhere more public?
She met his eyes and must have seen his inner turmoil because she held his gaze and her expression softened. “Relax, Connor. We’re here to have fun. We have two hours before I have to get you back to the office, so let’s get to it. Yeah?”
Connor hadn’t realized how badly he needed the reassurance. He nodded and let out a choked, “Okay.”
Lover rubbed his hands together. “Is it time for show and tell? I wanna go first.”
Daisy nodded and Lover rifled through his bag. “Don’t show what you got yourself, but show us what you picked for Hazy and Connor.”
Lover tossed a bag of peanut M&M’s at Hazy, who snatched them out of the air. “Nice! I love these!”
“Why’d you choose those?” Daisy asked Lover, delighted. Connor should have played the fucking game instead of agonizing over it.
Lover shrugged. “I saw him eating M&M’s once. Didn’t know the kind he liked, so I chose my favorite.” He reached into his bag again and pulled out a bag of seasoned pretzels and handed them to Connor. “You never snack, so I went classic and hoped for the best.”
Relief washed over Connor, and his jaw unclenched. They had also struggled with the challenge.
Daisy looked between Connor and Hazy, but the longer they both sat and waited for the other, the more uncomfortable the room grew.
Connor hoped that whatever Daisy had planned for the rest of their two hours was less painful.
Before he could pick up his grocery bag, a flying object smacked him in the face.
He glared at Hazy, the obvious perpetrator, but Hazy succumbed to a fit of laughter. “Sorry,” he said through his snickering, “I thought you would catch it.”
His irritation flared, but Hazy snorted, and set off Lover.
Daisy and Connor shared a look of exasperation.
The boys were wheezing, their hands flailing in front of their faces.
Lover slapped his knee as he gasped for breath, and it pushed Daisy over the edge.
Her face lit up as she joined in their giggles.
Connor seized the opportunity to prolong her joy by searching through his bag and tossing the Sour Patch Kids he’d bought for Hazy at him.
The bright yellow package bounced off his head and onto the floor, stoking the dying laughter.
Connor chuckled along with them, the tension in the room broken.
Hazy handed another item from his bag to Lover.
His teammate’s eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas.
It was a Charleston Chew, and Connor did a mental head smack.
Seeing the treat, he could remember a dozen times he’d witnessed Lover scour hotel gift shops and convenience stores for the candy. He rarely found it.
“Lover likes those chew things and can never find them, and I’m convinced Beanie doesn’t enjoy snacks. So he got mixed nuts. Team dietitian approved.” Hazy explained his choices to the group.
Although the mixed nuts Hazy had chosen were, in fact, what he chose for himself, Connor didn’t understand where they got the idea that he didn’t snack.
He loved snacks. But over the last few months, he couldn’t think of a single time he’d reached for something other than provided meals.
Had he become so uptight that he didn’t eat snacks?
Did he let Casey and Evan take all the joy from his life with them?