Chapter 13 #2
Daisy didn’t know how to answer. She didn’t know if she found women pretty and wanted to admire them or if she wanted to fuck them.
She wasn’t opposed to the idea, but she didn’t fantasize about it either.
Either way, heterosexual wasn’t right. “I think,” she hesitated.
“I’m open to love, regardless of gender, but I haven’t explored that part of myself. ”
The moment was fraught with tension, and she needed it to break, so she followed up her statement. “Amber’s hot though,” she shrugged.
Valentine, always the one to bring levity, agreed. “She is hot. I thought Hazy had that one.”
They laughed together. Daisy continued petting Connor’s arm, and he let her. “We need to have some fun, and I still have a bet to win.”
She pulled her feet up onto the booth to sit on her knees. Then she leaned around him, raising her hand above her head and trying to make eye contact with the bartender, who eventually saw her and held up a finger in acknowledgment.
She put her hand down and leaned in to whisper to Connor. “Do you see the table of people right by the door?”
He nodded, and her lips brushed his ear, leaving a streak of red lipstick. She wiped it away with her thumb, making him shiver. “I know them. I come to town pretty often to spend time at the lake. I don’t have their phone numbers, though.”
Connor grinned as Teddy strolled up to their table. “What can I do for you?” the bartender asked.
Daisy couldn’t contain her amusement as she said, “A round for that table on me, please.” She pointed to the group she knew.
As Teddy went to work delivering the drinks she had ordered, Connor shifted and pressed his thigh against hers. The heat radiating off him lured her in, and Daisy allowed herself to touch him. A little.
She kept an eye on the table she had ordered drinks for, and when they turned to look at her she waved and used one finger in a ‘come hither’ motion to beckon them over.
Connor cupped a hand around her ear and whispered, “I don’t see how this is fun.”
“It’s fun because I’m winning,” she laughed, trying to chase away the goosebumps caused by his hot breath on her neck.
It didn’t take long for her acquaintance, Shane, to make it to their table.
“Hey, Daisy!” he said. “Work trip again?”
“Yep! Shane, this is two out of three of my latest project. All three are named Connor, but you can call this one,” she squeezed Connor’s arm. “Beanie, and that one,” she pointed to Valentine. “Valentine.”
Valentine butted in, “Hey! I wouldn’t say we’re a project.”
“You guys are a giant project, and you know it. Connors, this is Shane. He runs a bait shop by the lake.” She turned her attention to Shane. “Shane, could I have your phone number? It’s for a work thing.”
Shane, plenty aware of the shenanigans she sometimes got herself into, didn’t question it, writing his name and number on a napkin for her.
“Thank you, thank you! Can you send someone else over here too?”
“No problem.”
It went that way for the next ten minutes.
A person from Shane’s group walked over, Daisy introduced them, and they handed over their phone number, no questions asked.
She found herself leaning more and more into Connor.
At some point his arm had slipped around her, and their sides sat flush together.
She should pull away, but it was too hard.
When there were five minutes remaining until karaoke started, the noise died down, and the last person from Daisy’s group of acquaintances approached the table.
A pretty young girl named Mandy. She brought her phone number already written on a napkin and gave it to Daisy.
But Daisy saw the second napkin she had stuffed in her fist. Instead of a quick greeting and introduction, Daisy invited the girl to sit with them.
Valentine may be a great wingman, but so was Daisy. Mandy sat awkwardly beside Valentine, her face already pink as she maintained eye contact with Daisy. Mandy was the shyest girl Daisy had ever met. It was a huge deal that she’d brought over a second copy of her phone number.
“So,” Daisy started, addressing Mandy. “The Connors play hockey for a living.”
“Oh, fun!” Mandy squeaked out. Valentine was turning red and avoiding the eyes of the girl next to him.
Daisy considered the two, confused by Valentine’s behavior. He’d flirted with girls all night, no problem, and here was a gorgeous girl, clearly interested, and he lost the ability to speak.
“My brother played hockey in high school,” Mandy offered.
“So did mine!” Daisy shouted, desperate to keep the awkward conversation going. “His teammates called him Gracie because his name is Grayson. He hated it, but hockey nicknames are wildly unimaginative.”
Mandy laughed in agreement. “My brother’s nickname was Mikey. Because his name is Michael. He doesn’t play anymore, though. What about you guys? If you’re all Connor, how do the fans keep you straight?”
Mirth danced in Connor’s eyes as he answered the girl’s question. “My nickname is Beanie.”
“I like it!” she exclaimed, then grilled Valentine. “What about you? What’s your nickname?”
Valentine appeared as if he wanted the universe to swallow him up so he didn’t have to answer. “You can call me Valentine,” he said. “That’s what Daisy calls me.”
But Daisy’s objections to using his nickname didn’t apply to Mandy, and he couldn’t get off the hook that easily. If he wanted to use the stupid nickname, he had to own it. Even when pretty girls were involved. “Nope!” Daisy shook her head.
Connor agreed with her. “Yeah, not a chance, bro. That’s not what she asked.”
Valentine’s started to slide down in his seat, but had nowhere to hide. Mandy raised an eyebrow. “What am I missing?”
Daisy and Connor dissolved into giggles. She’d witnessed Hazy and Valentine giggle, but this was new. She could live in this moment forever, glued to this beautiful man’s side, scheming to encourage young love, and laughing. So much laughing.
“Now this is fun,” Connor said.
Mandy turned her full attention to Valentine, one hand gripping his arm. “Okay, now I have to know. What’s so funny about your nickname? I promise I won’t use it unless you want me to.”
The comment set Daisy and Connor off again, and Connor managed to get out, “Oh, he wants you to.”
Valentine glared at them but answered Mandy’s question with a mumble. “They call me Lover.”
Mandy’s eyes widened, the hand she had on Valentine’s arm moving to cover her mouth, but within a few seconds she joined the table in laughter. Valentine relaxed, since she hadn’t made it weird, and his face returned to a normal color. He chuckled at the absurdity of it all.
“Yeah, I’m not calling you that.” Mandy announced.
A tap on the microphone quieted the room, and a bartender announced karaoke sign-ups were starting.
Hazy joined them, and Mandy stood, giving him his seat back.
She tried to leave, but Daisy called her back and held her hand out in the universal signal for ‘gimme.’ Mandy looked confused for a second, but then her face lit up, and she handed over the crumpled phone number without a word.
When she left, Daisy told Valentine to hold out his hand, and she slapped the phone number into his palm. “That was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life. She was a sure thing.”
Valentine slipped the number into his pocket.
Hazy dropped a pile of napkins on the table with a smug expression. “I got four more phone numbers. And I needed two. That brings my total to nine.”
“Amateur,” Daisy said and laid out her stack of napkins. She counted them out loud, one by one. “Eleven, twelve, aaand thirteen. You lose.”
Hazy snatched the napkins, thumbing through them in outrage. “What the fuck? You said you weren’t going to keep playing.”
Daisy stole back the numbers with a grin. “Nope. I said I wouldn’t leave the booth. Big difference. I stayed right where I am. Looks like you’re singing karaoke.”
“Fuck. Making a fool of myself twice in one night. Lovely.” He accepted defeat and slouched into his seat.
She flipped through her pile of phone numbers and peered at Connor under her lashes, not above flirting to get what she wanted. “That’s two out of three. Name your price, Beanie. You have a bet in mind?”
“No price. I’m not doing it.” He glared at where she fiddled with her napkins.
Valentine, quiet after his brief humiliation, rejoined the conversation. “Pfft, you guys might think I’m clueless, but his price is obvious.”
“The fuck it is. I gotta piss.”
He pulled away from Daisy, and she had to fight not to cling to him. The bar seemed chilly without his warmth.
“What’s his price then, if you’re so smart?”
“The phone numbers. Toss them. Guy’s been bitchy all night about those damn phone numbers. He won’t ask for it, though. You’ll have to offer.”
Daisy rolled her eyes. “You’re crazy. There’s no way he’ll sing in front of a bar full of people just to get me to throw away some dirty napkins.”
Hazy perked up. “Oh, he will. He’s a broody sonuvabitch but tonight it’s been over the top. You have him wrapped around your fingers so tight, you’ll never get him off.”
Valentine snickered. “Well, you might get him off. Probably will, in fact.”
Hazy laughed at the joke, and Daisy said, “God dammit Valentine. What did I tell you about innuendo? You are a child.”
“Um, I’m twenty-one. And you deserved it. What the hell was that with Mandy?”
Daisy shrugged. He had a point. She pulled Amber’s phone number out of her stack, programmed it into her phone, then gave it to Hazy. “This one is for both of us. You can’t use it tonight, though. We’re all going to the cabin. No funny business.”
The first singer started butchering “Take On Me” by A-ha, and Valentine groaned.
“Ew,” he said. “That’s what we’re going to sound like.”
“How sure are you about the phone number thing?” Daisy asked. “Give me a ballpark percentage.”
“One hundred percent,” they said together.