Chapter 23 #4
It was everything she had imagined it would be, and more.
More intense, more hungry, more intoxicating.
He devoured her, leaving her helpless to stop it.
Her thighs parted to accommodate the knee he wedged between them.
She let out an involuntary whine when he broke the kiss until she realized he didn’t intend to stop.
He nipped her jaw, and she tilted her head, making room for him to suck on the sensitive spot between her neck and shoulder.
A moan escaped her, and he sucked harder, his hands finding her hips and grinding her center on his thigh.
She might have said, ‘fuck it’ and invited him in if the door behind her hadn’t swung open. Daisy stumbled backward, but Connor caught her. She turned to find a grinning Roxie.
“That’s enough for tonight, don’t you think, Daisy?”
Daisy was delighted to find Connor wrecked. His hair was messy from where she had run her fingers through it, his lips swollen and bruised.
She shot daggers at her best friend. “What the fuck, Roxie?”
Daisy closed the door in her friend’s face and gave her attention to Connor, hoping to resume their previous activity, but the mood had shifted. She wrapped her arms around his waist and nestled into his chest.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what the hell she’s doing here.”
Connor’s chuckle reverberated through her body. He stroked her back and in a low voice said, “It’s okay. I told myself I wouldn’t come in, anyway. Remember?”
“Still rude. We should have at least had the option.”
Connor planted a soft kiss on her lips.
“Maybe it’s better we don’t. I would have absolutely taken you up on it if you had offered.”
Daisy groaned. “I for sure would have offered.”
Connor stepped out of her embrace and winked at her.
“Something to look forward to.”
Daisy watched Connor enter the elevator and then breathed deeply, bracing herself for the questions she’d be bombarded with the second she opened the door again.
It was so much worse than she’d expected.
Roxie, Hazy, and Valentine stared at the door wearing manic grins.
A reality show played in the background, and snacks were strewn about the coffee table.
Daisy sighed and ignored them, getting comfortable like she would any other night before facing the music.
When she had changed, she grabbed a soda from the fridge and climbed onto the couch, standing in her spot and lowering herself into a seated position. She shot a text off to Connor telling him the other Connors were here too and grabbed a handful of popcorn before asking, “What are we watching?”
They all stared at her with open mouths and then talked over each other, trying to ask a dozen questions at once. She shouted, “Hey!” and they all shut up.
“You each get one question. If it’s inappropriate, invasive, or otherwise ridiculous, I will not answer. After I answer your questions, you can sit with me and watch whatever this godforsaken dating show is, or you can get out of my apartment. Understood?”
They nodded their heads, and she said, “Fantastic. Whose first?”
Suddenly they were all quiet. “Oh good, nobody has questions. We can watch the show,” Daisy prompted.
“Fine,” Valentine said. “Did you have fun?”
Daisy smiled at the sweet question. Some lucky person would have this boy wrapped around their finger someday, and Daisy couldn’t wait to see that happen.
“I had the best time. You planned a wonderful evening. The ice cream spot was amazing. I haven’t had a fresh waffle cone in ages. I’ll definitely go again.”
Valentine grinned at her. “It’s my favorite. They’re open late, and I sometimes go after a win.”
Roxie asked the next question. “Did it live up to your imagination?”
Daisy glared at her best friend and elbowed her in the ribs. “Oh!” Roxie said, trying to wave away Daisy’s irritation. “I told Hazy and Valentine the whole story.”
That earned Roxie a pinch. “What the fuck, Roxie? That’s totally overstepping.”
Roxie rubbed at the sore spot Daisy had left on the underside of her arm. “Jesus Christ, you didn’t need to do that!”
Hazy butted in. “It’s fine. We figured it was something weird with how you were acting at the shelter. So you’ve had a fangirl crush on him for years, no big deal.”
Daisy was tired of hearing that something she’d spent countless hours stressing about was ‘no big deal’.
“It was a good date; I don’t know what else to tell you.”
Hazy had to make it weird. “How disappointed are you that Roxie interrupted you?” he asked with a smug smile. Daisy rolled her eyes and flipped him off.
“Why are you in my home instead of his? Maybe he’d like to be bombarded with this inquisition.”
Valentine snorted. “He’d never let us in the front door.”
Daisy didn’t doubt it.
They watched two random strangers navigate their arranged marriage on TV. Daisy cuddled into Roxie’s side when she got sleepy. Her heart warmed at the sight of Valentine and Hazy in a similar position. Daisy loved how close they had gotten.
When the episode ended, Roxie clicked play on the next one and asked, “Is there going to be a second date?”
“We didn’t talk about it.”
Valentine asked a follow-up question. “Do you want a second date?”
Daisy didn’t have to think about it. She’d take as much of Connor as he would give her. “Yes.”
The next few days rushed by in a blur. The Connors weren’t around much, busy with two sets of back-to-back games in the same week.
Daisy and Roxie released a podcast episode after each game, proud to report that the Connor line, while not quite as productive as the fateful hat trick game, was producing solid numbers.
The work they had put in was finally coming across in their performance.
Hazy and Valentine were happy to give them exclusive comments after each game to set them apart from other media.
Their numbers were amazing, and a local bar had offered to sponsor a few episodes.
Daisy and Connor had been texting, but they hadn’t talked about a second date. She hoped she’d get some clarity after their last team-building event.
Daisy had prepared a scavenger hunt around their favorite spots in the city, hoping the familiarity would bring the boys closer. None of them were playing in the NHL All-Star Game, so she scheduled it for the first day of their week-long break.
She was putting together the clues when Annie invaded her office. The teenager plopped down in the armchair, grabbed a piece of candy, and propped her feet on Daisy’s desk.
“My dad needs to talk to you.”
Daisy straightened the stack of disheveled clues, shoved Annie’s feet off her workspace, and headed to Rob’s office. He looked up from his work with a grim expression when she knocked.
“Daisy, come on in. Close the door, please.”
Daisy frowned but closed the door and sat across from him. “Is there something I can help you with? The Freeze are coming in an hour, and I have to set up.”
“That’s what we need to chat about, anyway.”
Red flags flew through Daisy’s mind, her heart rate increasing. “About the Freeze?”
Rob pressed his lips into a thin line. “It’s come to our attention you’ve violated your NDA.”
Daisy replayed podcast episodes in her head, trying to recall the moment she had slipped up. Nothing came to mind.
“I don’t think so.”
Rob clicked away on his computer, and Daisy’s voice rang out, the first episode with Hazy ringing out through his office.
“This is you and the client discussing your relationship.”
“It is, but that wasn’t the point of the episode. I didn’t reveal any details about the nature of our relationship.”
“The fact remains that you can’t exploit Collaborative Craft’s clients for your own personal gain. Anyone smart enough to read between the lines could tell you are working with them on a professional level. This is enough to violate your agreement.”
“Rob, I’m not exploiting them for personal gain. I didn’t ask them to be on my podcast, Hazy offered.”
“See, right there. Grossly unprofessional. You should refer to clients by formal names. Mr. Hale could say you were disrespectful.”
“I really don’t think he would say that.”
“He doesn’t have to. It’s not his responsibility to keep you professional. We’re going to have to let you go.”
The air rushed out of Daisy’s lungs. After five years of dealing with bullshit, she was being fired. For no real reason.
Daisy gathered her belongings, frustrated to find the scavenger hunt cards she’d been putting together had disappeared off her desk. Fucking Annie.
She stormed out of her office in a daze.
Once home, it took Daisy two hours to file for unemployment and update her resume. She was furiously applying for jobs when a knock came at her door. She hadn’t told anyone she’d been fired yet, but Roxie was supposed to come by to record a podcast episode.
It was weird she didn’t come right in. Daisy opened the door and found the Connors staring at her.
The sight of them at her doorstep further ignited her fury. How dare her employer claim she was using them? She could never take advantage of these men. They had become some of her closest friends. She would ride into battle for them if they asked.
Daisy failed to hide her anger. The smiles they were wearing when she answered the door slipped from their faces.
“What’s wrong?” Connor asked.
“I got fired.” Daisy shrugged.
Connor slipped his arms around her and dragged her closer, kissing the crown of her head. She returned the embrace, arms snaking around his neck and cheek pressing against his chest. His touch calmed her nerves, and her anger ebbed.
Hazy’s anger remained. “For what?” he demanded.
“They said I violated my NDA and acted unprofessionally toward you, using you for my own gain by having you on the podcast.”
“Well, that’s fucking bullshit,” Hazy said while Connor stroked her hair.
“What are you guys doing here?” Daisy asked. “Collaborative Craft should have your last activity ready for you.”
Valentine laughed humorlessly. “We aren’t going anywhere with them. The new guy wouldn’t tell us where you were and kept trying to manhandle us into a van. I was pretty sure we were being human trafficked.”
Daisy snorted. The idea of someone trying to force these three into anything was both infuriating and hilarious. “You would have had fun. It was a scavenger hunt.”
Connor released her, and she tried to move to the couch, but Connor’s arms got replaced by Hazy’s. “We wouldn’t have gotten anything out of it without you. Can we hang out here? We can help you do your resume or something.”
Hazy let go and passed her to Valentine, who squeezed her tight and whispered, “I don’t actually know how to do a resume. But I can be your hype man.”
“That’s very sweet. But I already updated my resume. I’ve been applying to a zillion jobs.”
“Damn, girl,” Hazy said. “You got fired and you’re automatically doing all that work? You didn’t let yourself wallow for five minutes?”
Daisy studied her face in the mirror at her entryway. She wiped away the makeup smudges from her eyes and redid her messy bun, feeling a little better with those two fixes.
“I can multitask,” she said. “I wallowed while fixing my life.”
Connor led the group to the living room and sat, pulling Daisy into his lap. She snuggled into him. Valentine and Hazy played the next episode of the show they’d been watching together.
They focused on the screen in silence for a few minutes before Connor asked, “What the fuck are we watching?”
Valentine, Hazy, and Daisy broke out into laughter, and Valentine explained the premise of the show.
“So, they get married before they ever talk? With their whole family there while they meet and everything? Sounds like a fucking nightmare.”
“Hey,” Valentine said. “Whatever works, man. It’s probably way easier that way. You let the experts decide who’s right for you. There are quite a few couples who have made it work.”
They watched the show for a few more minutes before Connor interrupted again. “Wait, I thought that lady married the mustache-guy.”
Daisy giggled, feeling a million times better with her friends around. “She did.”
“Then why is she flirting with the plaid-shirt-guy?”
Hazy shrugged and said, “Builds drama, I guess. She didn’t think mustache-guy was hot when she married him, but she does think plaid-shirt-guy is hot.”
“Okay, but if she wasn’t attracted to him, why did she marry him? And where is plaid-shirt-guy’s wife?”
Valentine laughed. “I don’t think you understand the point of the show. It doesn’t have to make sense; it’s supposed to be entertaining. Are you entertained?”
Connor squeezed Daisy closer to him and placed a kiss on her forehead. “Yeah, I guess I’m entertained.”
“That’s all you’ve gotta know.”
They watched a couple of episodes before Roxie arrived. She stopped in her tracks when she entered the living room. “What the hell! You weren’t supposed to watch without me!”
Hazy shushed her and motioned for her to sit, eyes still glued to the TV screen where two people who were not married were making out. “Daisy had a bad day.”
Roxie joined them in the living room, slapping Valentine’s feet off the coffee table so she could squeeze onto the remaining seat on the couch. “Why is Daisy having a bad day?”
Hazy sighed and pressed pause on the TV, giving Daisy a pointed look.
Daisy said, “I got fired.”
“What!?” Roxie screeched. “Why?”
“The podcast. Rob called me unprofessional and said I used our clients for my own personal gain.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“Yep,” agreed Valentine.
“That’s what I said!” said Hazy.
Connor ran his hands along Daisy’s arms. “It is bullshit,” he said, “but we’ll figure it out.”
Roxie frowned at Daisy. “You got fired, and you called these idiots and watched reality TV without me?”
“Nope, they came over when I stood them up. I applied for unemployment, updated my resume, and applied for new jobs while I waited for you to get off work.”
Roxie accepted the explanation. “Yeah, that sounds more like you.”