Loving Daisy

by R. M. Lynn

  “Daisy, it’s alright,” I assured her with a small smile. “I appreciate what you were trying to do, but GCU is where you’ve always wanted to go. I would never ask you to do that.”

  “I know, but I figured it’d make you feel better about Stanford. I’m sorry I didn’t get in. But just because I didn’t… I don’t want you to think we can’t make it work. Because we can. I’m willing to do whatever we have to.”

  “I don’t want to go to Stanford,” I blurted out and ran a hand through my hair. “That’s why I’ve been avoiding my dad. He knows they offered me a scholarship, and all he does is talk about it. I can’t stand it, and any time I try to bring up GCU, he freaks out.” She squeezed my hand, and I let out a breath. “I want to go to GCU. That’s what I’ve wanted forever, and even though it’ll piss my dad off, it’ll make me happy. I want to play for them, and I want to be with you guys. I don’t want to go into law. I want to play football, and I want to major in business as a backup plan.”

  “I think that’s a great idea, Mac,” she murmured and gave me a small smile. “I just want you to be happy.”

  “And I know Dad will be pissed. If he had it his way, I’d go to Stanford, go into law, and then run the law firm branch out in California. He’d want me to leave and forget all about this place and the people in it.” I pressed a kiss to her knuckles. “I don’t want to do that.”

  “I’d miss you too much if you did.”

  I kissed her knuckles again. “This is what I want, Daze, and I’m not going to let him ruin it. He’ll never be proud of me for anything, and it’s time I get over that. It’s my life, and I want to go to school where I want to go, and I want you in my future. That’s all I care about.”

  “I love you,” she whispered and slid her hand into the hair at the back of my head.

  “I love you, too,” I told her before kissing her. “I’m not going to let him make me feel like you or the guys or football are distractions in my life. Because you’re not. You, the guys, and football are my future. It’s what I want.”

  She bit her lip and let out a breath before murmuring, “Maybe you should talk to him. Get it off your chest, so you can at least accept the offer from GCU. I think once you put it all out there, you’ll feel a lot better. And at least then you can go home. You can’t stay with your friends forever.”

  “Not forever,” I countered with a smirk. “Just until I move away for school.” She narrowed her eyes, and I let out a chuckle as I kissed her lips quickly. “I’m kidding, babe. Alright? I’ll talk to him. I’ll do it today, actually. He’ll be home today, and then he’s got a trip to the branch out in Arizona. So, at least we’ll get some space after I drop the bomb on him.”

  “Good idea,” she replied with a nod. “You want to drop me off first?”

  “No, come with. Moral support and all. Plus, he might not act like such an asshole with a witness around.” I shrugged. “Plus, he won’t be home for a few hours. We can hang out. Or do other stuff.”

  She raised a brow with a sly smirk. “Other stuff? Like what?”

  “You’ll have to come home with me to find out.”

  She laughed, and I started up the car before heading toward my house. Once we got to the empty mansion on the beach, I took her hand and led her inside. Bringing her up to my room, I was fully ready to strip her naked and have my way with her. My boner died when she dug through her backpack and pulled out her Calc book.

  “Babe, c’mon,” I groaned as she sat up on my bed to do her homework. “This isn’t what I meant about other stuff.”

  “Well, you weren’t specific,” she teased. “But I really do need to do this, and I need your help because my grade is suffering after the past few weeks without you.”

  “Alright, beautiful, when you put it like that, I can’t exactly say no,” I murmured and got my stuff to work on Calc with her before quickly changing out of my school uniform and into a pair of joggers and a t-shirt. “Let’s do some math.”

  Once we finished up Calc, I didn’t have any other homework to do, having finished the rest during study hall. However, Daisy had to read a chapter of some book for her English class, so I had to just lounge next to her on the bed as she did. She probably read a page and a half before I couldn’t take being so close to her and not being able to touch her. The skirt of her school uniform had ridden up slightly when she had sat on my bed, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off her creamy thighs. Sliding my hand up her skirt, my fingers slid over her soft skin, and I internally groaned.

  “Maddox,” she breathed out, trying to sound as if she were warning me but failing miserably.

  “Yeah, baby?” I murmured and trailed my lips along her neck.

  “I have to do this. I have a quiz tomorrow.”

  My lips found her pulse. “Tell me to stop then.”

  She couldn’t and wouldn’t. Instead, she grabbed my face in her hands and brought my lips to hers. I groaned at the contact, and the book fell to the floor as my hand slid higher up her skirt until my fingers brushed over her panties. My tongue swept into her mouth just as I dipped a finger, then a second, into her. Her hips pushed up into my hand as my thumb circled her clit. I caught her moan in my throat, and my dick hardened in my sweats.

  Daisy suddenly pulled her lips from mine and breathed out, “Did you hear that?”

  “No?” I muttered just as I heard the front door close downstairs. “Ah, fuck. My dad.” I pulled my hand from her and let out a curse as she stood up from the bed to adjust her clothes. “We can still finish,” I tried but only got a glare in return.

  “We don’t want to piss him off even more, Mac,” Daisy said. “We should just get it out of the way now. You need to talk to him.”

  “Fuck,” I grumbled and got out of bed, adjusting myself in my pants, and went to my bathroom to wash my hands. Speaking loudly over the running water, I snapped, “It’s not going to go well. I don’t know why I agreed to this. I could’ve avoided him until I left. It’s not that hard.”

  “Maddox, you know this is the right thing to do,” she pressed and came up behind me at the sink, wrapping her arms around my waist. “I promise it’ll make you feel better afterward. It might suck at first, but it’ll be a weight lifted off you.”

  “Yeah, yeah, I know,” I mumbled and turned to pull her against me before pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

  “I’ll be up here when you’re done, okay?”

  “No, come with. Moral support, remember?”

  She didn’t seem to like the idea of it, probably because it was going to be awkward and uncomfortable for everyone involved. Maybe she felt weird about being present for such a personal conversation, but I needed her. My dad was a prick at his best, and I wanted to feel like I had someone on my side. I needed her there to remember what I was fighting for.

  When she nodded, I took her hand, and we walked down the stairs together. Heading for the kitchen, I found my father at the kitchen island in his expensive, Italian suit, his briefcase on the granite countertop as he read through a file. He didn’t look up even though I knew he heard us enter the room.

  “Hey, dad,” I muttered as I cleared my throat.

  He didn’t look up at me. Simply replied, “Hello, son. Have a good day?”

  “Um, yeah.” I glanced down at Daisy, and she nudged my side with her elbow, silently ordering me to keep going. “Dad, do you think we can talk?”

  “About what, son?” My dad looked up, his eyes narrowing slightly at the sight of Daisy’s hand in mine. “Hello there, Daisy. It’s been awhile.”

  “Yes, sir, hi,” she got out, sounding nervous.

  Dad looked back to me as he asked, “What would you like to discuss?”

  “Stanford,” I replied and made sure to keep eye contact with him. “Can we sit?”

  “I’m good here, boy. What about Stanford? I hope you finally came to your senses and decided to accept their offer.” Dad placed the file down on the counter. “You’ve waited long enough, and y
ou don’t want them to change their mind about you. I’ve agreed to let you continue to play football while you’re there, even though it will likely turn into quite the distraction.”

  “I’ve decided to accept an offer elsewhere. GCU offered me a scholarship, and I’m going to take it.” I told him, deciding it best to just rip off the Band-Aid and get it out in the open. Daisy squeezed my hand as my words settled into the uncomfortable silence around us. “I know it’s not what you want for me, and while I respect that… I have to do what’s best for me in the way that I see fit.”

  “Stanford is what’s best for you, Maddox,” Dad countered with a sharp shake of his head. “You’ll get a topnotch education, and you’ll make a great lawyer someday.”

  “I don’t want to be a lawyer, Dad,” I sighed out and ran a hand through my hair. “I’ve tried to tell you this before. You might like law, but I… I like math, and I like the idea of going into business. But more than that, I want to play football. Dad, I’m good at it. Like, really fucking good at it.”

  “And I was good at baseball, son, but I was rational and didn’t go about making a career out of it.” My father shook his head at me, his eyes sharpening in anger. “Going to GCU will be a big mistake, Maddox. You belong out in California.”

  “Dad, c’mon. I don’t want to go out to California. I want to go to GCU, I want to major in business, and I want to play football,” I explained, feeling irritation grow inside me. “I know you want Stanford for me. I appreciate you looking out for me and my future, but I know what I want, and I know what’s best for me.”

  “You’re allowing yourself to be distracted by football. Among other things,” he snapped and looked cuttingly at Daisy. “You’re really going to throw away a pristine opportunity for a girl in a short skirt and a game that can lead to you becoming a vegetable?”

  “Please, don’t talk about her like she’s not here,” I retorted lowly and took a breath to rid myself of the urge to knock my own dad out with my fist. “Football isn’t a distraction to me, Dad. It’s my future, and you can’t say anything about it. Daisy isn’t just some girl to me either. And you’re just going to have to get over it. This is what I’m doing. I’ve wanted nothing more than to make you proud of me, Dad, but I’m over it. I don’t think I’ll ever hear you say the words, and that’s okay. But I got to do what I feel is right for me. I hope you understand.”

  My dad didn't say anything in return. I wasn’t sure what I thought would happen. Maybe he’d finally hear me, and he’d give me what I needed most. He’d tell me he was proud of me all along, that he loved me. But that’s not what happened, and I wasn’t sure if it ever would. Daisy’s hand squeezed mine, and I squeezed hers back. My dad gathered up his things and marched toward his office.

  On his way there, he looked over his shoulder at me and said coolly, “You’re making a big mistake, Maddox. And I won’t be there to pick up the pieces when it all falls apart.”

  I stared ahead, trying not to let his words affect me. But they did, and they probably would for a long time. Eventually, though, I’d get over it, and I’d move on. I’d let myself be happy without needing his approval, and I would be. I’d be happy because I already was on my way there. Daisy made me happy. More than anything, and I knew once I was at GCU playing a sport I loved with the guys that had had my back since day one, I’d know I had made the right decision.

  “Hey,” Daisy whispered and turned me to face her as her hands went up my chest. “You okay?”

  “I will be,” I told her and gave her a small smile. “It stung. His words. But I’m going to be okay. I am okay.”

  “Well, I’m proud of you,” she told me. “If you went to Stanford for law or GCU for football and business or even if you decided to stick around here and find a job right out of the gate, I’d be proud of you. If you’re happy, then I’m happy.”

  “Hey, Daze?” I murmured and encircled my arms around her.

  “Yeah?”

  I pressed my lips to hers. “You’re my best friend.” I felt her smile against my lips as I kissed her again. “And I love you.”

  “You’re my best friend,” she giggled back between kisses. “And I love you, too.”

  I glanced down at her white Chucks. The ones that had gotten dirty over the years. Grabbing her hand to bring her back up to my room, I teased, “I’m also buying you new Chucks. Those are horribly dirty. They don’t even look white anymore.”

  She laughed as we raced up the stairs. “Chucks look better dirty, Mac.”

  I supposed she was right, but I’d buy her a pair anyway. In every damn color of the rainbow.

  ◆◆◆

  THE END

  More By R.M. Lynn

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