Loving Daisy

by R. M. Lynn

  With official offers from four universities, my top two were still Stanford and Granite Coast. The fact that Colt and Dash had already committed to GCU only made the decision harder. Dash didn’t have the grades to get into Stanford, and Colt was always destined for GCU with his dad being an alumnus. I knew Daisy was just beginning to apply to places, but where and for what, I didn’t know. She told me she was keeping it under wraps so not to cloud my own decision making. When it came to her major, I think she simply wasn’t sure what she wanted to do just yet, so I tried not to push the subject.

  When I had told my dad that I got an offer from Stanford, only after we took home State, I felt almost as dumbfounded as he looked. He was overjoyed, to say the least, and kept telling me how great the opportunity would be for me. Although, not once did he tell me he was proud, which made my chest ache in a way I couldn’t stand. With each passing day, I wondered if I’d ever make him proud, and if I couldn’t, then what was the point in going to Stanford?

  I was standing at my locker that Monday before school started, mulling over every alternative I could think of to make my dad and myself happy, when Daisy and Dash approached with unsmiling faces.

  “What?” I asked as I looked them both over. “Why’re you both frowning?”

  “You haven’t heard?” Dash asked in return with a raised brow.

  I scowled. “What do you mean, have I heard? The bell hasn’t even rung. I just got here. How could there already be something needing to be heard?” I looked to Daisy and slid my hand along her back. “Nothing about you, I hope?”

  She shook her with a small smile. “Not about me. Colt.”

  I hadn’t seen Colt yet, so I wasn’t sure what they could’ve meant. “What about him?”

  “There’s a new girl,” Dash muttered next. “He hasn’t said shit to me, but I heard he drove her here. When I saw him at his locker, he looked fucking pissed and didn’t say a word to me.”

  “Okay, well, there are plenty of explanations for this,” I countered with a shrug. “Maybe she’s a new neighbor. And maybe he’s just in a shitty mood.”

  “I heard some stuff, too,” Daisy interjected and looked up to me. “Logan said she heard people saying the girl is living with him at his mom’s.”

  “Well, we can’t exactly make any assumptions until he tells us. We don’t want to piss him off any more than–”

  “Shut up, shut up. Look, there she is,” Dash interrupted me with and smacked me in the arm, making me rub the spot and scowl at him.

  I glanced to where he and Daisy were looking and watched the girl in question storm down the hallway with more false confidence than I’d ever seen. Or maybe she really was confident. Doubted it, though, and even if she was, the girls of Whitewater Academy would be sure to knock her down on her ass the first chance they got. Her hair was so blonde it was almost white and it fell down all the way to her waist, her eyes the sharpest color of grey, almost unreal looking, and she stood at about an average height for a girl. She definitely was shorter than Daisy, which meant she probably was several inches shorter than me and Dash, possibly hitting five-seven. She was slender and would have reminded me of a ballerina if her expression wasn’t screaming ‘don’t fuck with me’. Honestly, she was gorgeous. Her face flawless, her body tight with barely-there curves.

  “She’s hot as fuck,” Dash groaned out when she was out of earshot. “I don’t know why he’s so–”

  Dash startled when Colt appeared and grasped his shoulder, cutting off his words indefinitely. I gave our friend a small grin, hoping he wasn’t in the mood that they claimed he was. However, when he merely gave me a glance, not at all returning my smile, I knew it to be true. Colt was pissed.

  “So, you saw her?” Colt asked in a gravelly voice, sounding as if he didn’t sleep at all the night before.

  “Yeah,” I muttered and pulled Daisy to my side like she was a human barrier, shielding me from whatever was about to burst from Colt. “What’s the story?”

  “Fuck if I know,” Colt growled out, and Daisy bit her lip probably wondering what happened to arguably the happiest guy in our group. “My mom has officially lost her goddamn mind.”

  “Who is she?” Daisy asked softly, and thankfully, Colt’s entire expression softened the second he looked at her. “I’ve never seen her before. Is she from around here?”

  Colt shook his head on a sigh. “I didn’t get much detail, honestly. I was too busy being pissed off to actually listen to what my mom was saying. But her name’s Stella Ivanov. She’s apparently from Summit Bay, but I have no idea. She’s been dancing at Mom’s dance studio for a while, or so I've been told. She’s been… displaced, I guess, and Mom just up and took her in.”

  “So, what’s the big deal?” Daisy asked bravely.

  Colt glared at her now and snapped, “The big deal is I have some girl we know nothing about in my house. I caught her stealing cash from my mom’s fucking purse last night, and worse? When I told my mom, she completely let it go like it was the most normal thing in the world. I can’t move in with my dad because he travels too much, and he’d never allow me to stay there by myself. Even though I’m totally capable. I have to cart this chick around in my car, and get this, guys. My mom is making me take her to Colorado with us for winter break.”

  “Shit,” Dash mumbled and looked at me with a raised brow, likely hoping I’d say something reasonable to calm him down.

  Colt’s mom came from money, her dad coming from old money, so really her dance studio was more of a hobby than anything. The family owned a house in Aspen, Colorado, and every winter break for the week after Christmas, we headed down with some other guys on the team and partied for a few days in between hitting the slopes and chilling in a hot tub. If Stella was being forced upon us, I worried Colt wouldn’t be able to let loose and have fun.

  “I can go,” Daisy suddenly piped up, and we all looked at her with wide eyes.

  “You never go,” Dash supplied with a shake of his head. “And we ask you every year.”

  She shrugged. “I know, but maybe I can put a little barrier between Colt and Stella. Maybe she just needs a friend. I can bring Logan, if you guys are cool with it.”

  “Under no circumstances are you to befriend her.” The coldness of Colt’s voice startled all of us, I think. “Do you hear me? I’m making it my mission to get rid of her, and you being her friend will only make it harder. Know where your loyalty lies, yeah?”

  With that, he stormed off, and I glanced down at Daisy, who was crossing her arms and scowling at Colt’s retreating back. Dash let out a breath and looked between the two of us with a shrug.

  “Shit, man. What’re we going to do?” he wanted to know.

  “Well, I need to figure out what I need for Colorado and go shopping for anything I don’t have,” Daisy said with a smirk. “And then, I’ll be busy befriending Stella.”

  ◆◆◆

  Two weeks later, it didn’t seem as though Daisy made any headway on her declaration of becoming Stella’s friend. The girl was like a goddamn ice queen. At the airport, Daisy and Logan put on the charm, but they just looked desperate as the girl completely cut down every advance they made. She barely spoke a word, but Colt seemed to prefer it that way. In fact, I was certain I hadn’t heard her speak a word the entire way to Colorado. Colt’s mom rented a luxury bus and driver to get us to and from the airport as well as take us anywhere else we wanted. At the giant, modern log cabin home, the group immediately dispersed in search of the best room. Besides the usual, twelve other football players were also invited, which made the ten-bedroom house slightly low on space. Colt made sure, however, that Logan and Daisy were able to share a room while he, Dash, and I got our own separate rooms. Not that I’d mind sharing with someone else, especially if it was a pretty girl named Daisy.

  After putting my things away, I went in search for said pretty girl and found her whisper-yelling in the hallway with Colt. I grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him away, not li
king how close he was to her when he was angry, and glared at him with a shake of my head.

  “What the fuck are you yelling at her for?”

  “I’m not yelling,” Colt argued. “I’m whispering angrily.”

  Daisy let out a laugh but quickly schooled her features when we both looked to her. She shrugged and muttered, “He didn’t give Stella a room. She’s seriously just sitting on the couch with her backpack still on. It’s rude, Colt, and you know it. She probably doesn’t want to be here just the same as you don’t want her here, but you don’t have to make her feel like shit.”

  “You can’t let her sleep on the couch, man,” I added gently. “Not in the middle of the house where a bunch of drunk football players will be getting rowdy.”

  “She shouldn’t have come then,” he replies coolly.

  “I’m letting her stay with us. The couch in here is a pullout, so there’s plenty of room for the three of us,” Daisy countered and put her hands on her hips in defiance. “Stop being an asshole, Colt. Nobody can deal with it anymore.”

  “Daisy,” I muttered and gave her a quick shake of my head in hopes she’d just stop talking.

  “What the fuck ever, then,” Colt retorted and stormed off to his own room at the end of the hall.

  Daisy shot me a glare before heading for the stairs, and I let out a breath and followed after her. Stella barely spared her a glance when we stood over her while she sat wordlessly on the massive couch. But Daisy put a smile on her face anyway.

  “Hey, Stella, I know you might think you have to sleep on this couch tonight, but I have a pullout couch in my room. If you want to come?”

  When Stella just blinked her with a bored expression on her face, I spoke up with, “The guys like to party pretty hard, and you’re kind of right in the center of the chaos. It’d be safer and quieter for you if you went upstairs.”

  Daisy flashed a too big smile when Stella flicked her gaze from me to her. When Stella finally gave a curt nod and stood, you’d think Daisy was about to explode with excitement. I smirked when she did a little dance behind Stella’s back as she strode for the stairs. I understood her wanting to befriend Stella. Daisy wasn’t exactly popular, especially with other females, and I knew she didn’t want Stella having to go through the same shit she did at school even if it were just for another semester. It only made me appreciate Daisy more.

  Later that night, with everyone drinking and having fun, Colt seemed to finally ease up and relax. I watched him and Logan play against Luke and Dash at a game of beer pong while others did shots at the countertop in the kitchen, played pool, or sat out in the hot tub surrounded by snow. When Daisy eased up next to me, I slid my arm around her shoulders like it was natural and smiled down at her.

  When she didn’t smile back, though, and I gave her a squeeze and murmured, “What’s wrong?”

  “Stella won’t come down. I just feel bad for her, I guess.”

  “Yeah, but Colt’s our friend. And she stole from his mom. That’s pretty weird, don’t you think? I mean, if she’s giving her a place to stay and everything she needs, why does she need to steal?” I gave a shrug when she frowned. “I’m just saying, Daze, he’s our friend. We’ve known him since we were six. We know nothing about her, and, I’m sorry, but it doesn’t seem like she’s interested in letting us know more.”

  She let out a breath and said, “Yes, but we shouldn’t judge her simply because she’s closed off.”

  “I get that. Just try to have fun, alright?” I tipped her face up with my thumb and gave a small smile when she blushed. “I’m glad you came. Not sure why you never came before, but I’m glad you’re here now.”

  “The idea of staying in a house with a bunch of drunk football players wasn’t exactly thrilling to me,” she told me with a smirk.

  “Yeah? And now? Did you really only come for Stella?”

  I hadn’t meant for my voice to drop in a husky way or for my arms to pull her closer until our fronts were touching lightly. But it happened anyway, and I suddenly wished we were alone so that I could touch her the way I wanted to. And by touch her, I meant by running my tongue along her in an actual bed and not in some guy’s bathroom.

  “Hmm, maybe I came for another reason,” she murmured back as her hand laid over my abs lightly. “I hear the slopes around here are amazing, so.”

  I scowled when she smirked up at me. “You don’t ski or snowboard.”

  “Maybe I was hoping I could learn from a hot instructor.”

  “Take that back before I spank you in front of everybody.”

  She let out a laugh and scurried away from me. I didn’t follow because my brain was too busy trying to process what just happened. Had I just admitted out loud to her that I was jealous? Or that I would be if there was any other guy in her life that wasn’t me? Startled, I took a drink of my beer. This thing we had going on, it was exciting and new, and I ached to touch her all the time. However, I wondered what would happen once it was all over. We were friends, that’s all, and I’d say it forever. Even if I wanted more, I couldn’t risk it. I didn’t know where I’d be in the next year, and I couldn’t drag her along on my roller coaster. I had to focus on my future. Dad made sure to remind me every chance he got. I also couldn’t bear to think about what would happen if I lost her. She’d been a part of my life forever. Literally. Every birthday, every tear fall, every happy memory – she was there. I couldn’t risk losing it all if we were to ever end badly in a relationship. I didn’t do relationships, so I couldn’t be any good at them anyway. Daisy deserved the world, and with my unknown future, I couldn’t be that guy for her. I also needed to consider if having a relationship with her was worth it all. The potential heartbreak, the inevitable fallout, and then what? What would I do without Daisy in my life?

  I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t lose her. I’d give her what she wanted, complete and fulfill the deal we made, and afterward? I’d go right back to being her friend because it was better that way. Safer.

  ◆◆◆

  Four days later, we only had a day left before we headed back to South Carolina, and we spent the day on the slopes and at night, we ordered a shit ton of pizza and had Aaron Mathieson and Dash go get booze with their fake IDs. By eleven, I was feeling a good buzz, so when Logan and Daisy asked to go into the hot tub, I didn’t object. I hurried across the deck in just my swim trunks as Daisy and Logan squealed behind me as the cold air hit us. When I lowered myself into the water, I let out breath with the sensation of my body heating. Logan hissed as she plopped in, and Daisy moved in next to me with a short cry.

  “Holy shit, it’s hot,” Logan laughed out. “Feels fucking good, though.”

  I laid my head back and stared up at the stars, my arms out along the edge of the tub. Daisy slid up next to me and rested her head back against my bicep. She pointed out Sirius and told me it’s the brightest star in the sky.

  “It’s how I find other constellations,” she whispered and turned her head as I did. We smiled, and she looked back up at the sky, pointing and connecting stars with her finger. “There’s Aries. Aries was apparently a golden ram that rescued Phrixus, the son of a king, and took him to Colchis to be with his mother, where he sacrificed the ram to the gods. Now, he’s in the stars.”

  I didn’t know about anything she was saying, but I nodded anyway, loving the way her voice was all soft and full of wonder. She was so fucking pretty as she looked up at the stars and whispered about every constellation she could find. She whispered something to me, but I didn’t register the words, too caught up in looking at her face.

  When she turned her face toward mine expectantly, I raised a brow. “Hmm?”

  “Nothing, weirdo,” she breathed out with a laugh.

  We both lifted our heads when Colt did a goddamn cannonball into the hot tub. The girls squealed as waves smacked them in the face, and I ran my hand down mine, wiping the water from my eyes.

  “What we got going on here, huh?” Dash asked as he passed
around drinks before lowering himself into the hot tub at a much more acceptable pace.

  I didn’t like that Daisy suddenly had moved a good inch or so away from me so our skin wasn’t toughing anymore. Colt, however, pulled her under his arm, and much to my dismay, she didn’t seem to mind it. I also hated how the sudden urge to punch one of my best friends crept into me.

  “Where’s Stella?” Colt shocked us all by asking.

  “In the bedroom like she has been the entire trip,” Logan answered with a frown. “I hate to ask, but does she even speak? I don’t think she’s said a word to us the entire time we’ve been here.”

  Colt shrugged. “I’ve only heard her talk to my mom.”

  “Did something happen to her?” Daisy asked next. “I mean… Are people that standoffish just because?”

  “Look, I don’t know,” Colt snapped and shook his head. “And I don’t want to know. I’m sorry I brought her up. Let’s just forget it.”

  So, we didn’t bring up the strange girl that was hiding in a bedroom upstairs for the next half hour while we bullshit in the hot tub. At some point, Logan called it a night and headed inside. Dash headed out with Aaron again for another booze run, and Cole got out to play a game of pool with Luke, Jimmy, and Jackson Kavanagh, one of the team’s safeties. This left me and Daisy alone, and I couldn’t be happier about it. I pulled her closer, lifting her legs over my lap under the water and sliding my hands up her thighs.

  “Mac?”

  “Yeah, Daze?” She nibbled her bottom lip, and I could see her blush even in the dark. I slid my hand around her waist and pulled her as close to me as I could. My other hand went up to the side of her neck as I asked quietly, “What’s wrong? You’re not supposed to be weird, remember?”

  “I know, but I just… I think I want to…”