Drunk In Love (Love #1)

by Kitty Parker

  With a hand on the small of her back, Jack gently pushes her towards the bar. Daisy sees a large man with grey hair standing behind the bar and he grins once he sees Jack coming. His eyes then settle on her and Daisy can't help but feel a little unsettled. His smile is wide but it's not exactly warm. She doesn't know if she can trust a man with a smile like that.

  She and Jack sit on two stools at the end of the bar and the man appears in front of them, he already handing Jack a bottle of beer that is probably what he usually gets.

  "You got some i.d. with you, lil' lady?" He asks.

  Daisy nods and reaches for her wallet in his purse. She shows the man her driver's license and he looks it over, letting out a whistle.

  "Never would have put you at twenty-four," he says, handing her the license back. "Maybe fourteen," he jokes, his smile somehow turning even more lecherous. "I'm Joe and this is my bar. You are more than welcome anytime you want, with or without Belton here."

  "You know what you want?" Jack asks. Daisy's mind goes blank. She has absolutely no idea what a girl orders in a bar. Jack looks back to Joe. "You got the stuff to make her a Shirley Temple?" He asks.

  "No," Daisy quickly interrupts. "I'll have a beer," she tells the man. "Corona," she then orders because it's the only beer she can think of at the moment.

  "First one's on the house," Joe grins at them both and turns, taking a Corona bottle of the fridge behind him and popping the top, he slides it towards her. "You two need anything else?" He then asks. "You talk to Cletus lately?" He looks to Jack.

  Daisy knows his brother is in prison but for what, she doesn't know and she doesn't know how long he's got. Jack told her just enough to let her know that he goes every Sunday to visit him and sometimes, he needs her to go to his place and makes sure that Morris has food. Daisy of course has no problem doing that and she hopes Jack know that if he ever wants to talk, she will be right here for him.

  She takes a small sip of the beer and listens as Jack tells Joe that he's heading to see Cletus on Sunday and Joe tells him to tell Cletus that they're all thinking of him there. She tries not to make a face as the bitter beer trails down her throat. She decides right then and there that she's definitely not a beer girl.

  And she thinks that she's being so discreet but Jack takes one look at her and seems to know. He takes a guzzle of his beer and then reaching over, he takes the bottle from her fingers and sets it down beside him.

  "Ain't no big deal to come into a bar and order a Shirley Temple," he says.

  "I know but we're in a bar and I should order something with alcohol," Daisy says. "I don't want someone to see you with me and have you be embarrassed by me," she says and she says it in a joking manner but Jack is staring at her and he almost looks angry over that.

  "Why the hell would I ever be embarrassed by that?" He asks with an intense frown.

  She shakes her head and she tries to think of something to say but really, she just wants to tell him that she knows how Carolina looks and she knows she's nothing like her.

  "I ain't Spencer," he then says, catching her off guard. "I ain't never gonna be embarrassed by you. If anythin', you should be embarrassed by me."

  "Why on earth would I be embarrassed by you?" She wonders.

  He shrugs and takes a sip of beer. "People look at you and prob'ly think we don't make much sense together. Don't make much sense to even me."

  Now it's Daisy's turn to frown. "If any person thinks that, that's a person I don't want to know," she says in a firm tone.

  She can't imagine ever being embarrassed with being with Jack or being ashamed at being seen with him. She just wishes Jack knew how great he really was and it's not just her opinion. It's the downright truth on the matter.

  When she orders a Shirley Temple from Joe, she can see Jack's lips twitch in a smile.

  …

  Jack's walked her to the bathroom and she's just finishing up, washing her hands, when the stall door behind her opens and Carolina steps out. The two women both freeze, looking at one another in the mirror's reflection and Daisy has absolutely no idea what to expect.

  Carolina then takes a step forward to the sink beside Daisy and they stand there next to one another, washing their hands. The silence between them us heavy and Daisy has no idea what to say. She wants to tell Carolina that she's sorry about her and Jack but she's not really that sorry because Jack's with her now and Carolina will be able to see through that. She doesn't want to insult Carolina or her feelings or intelligence like that.

  "Do you mind if I talk to Jack for a second without you around?" Carolina asks suddenly.

  "Oh!" Daisy is surprised the silence has been broken. "No, of course not," she shakes her head.

  Why would she mind? She has no idea what Carolina has to talk with Jack about but they were together for a while and maybe she left something at his apartment a while ago. Whatever it is, it's not Daisy's business unless Jack makes it her business.

  "Thanks," Carolina says and shaking her hands out without drying them, she leaves the bathroom, leaving Daisy with her hands still under the running water that is turning cold.

  Daisy wonders how long she should stay in here.

  …

  "Bullshit."

  That's all he says because there's nothing more to say than that.

  "It's the truth," Carolina shrugs from where she's standing beside him.

  He's still standing in the hallway outside the bathrooms, leaning against the wall and he stares at the women's door rather than at Carolina, willing Daisy to come out.

  "You sure you didn' jus' see him with some blonde that looks like Daisy?" Jack asks. "And how the hell you even know who Spencer is?"

  Carolina shrugs again. "It's a small town, Jack, and Spencer is one of the cutest guys in it. Every girl knows who Spencer is."

  Jack doubts that but whatever. He gets that Carolina is still pissed at him. She has every right to be and he isn't going to tell her anything otherwise. But he doubts that Carolina walked into the diner and saw Spencer and Daisy sitting in some corner booth, Daisy in his lap. Carolina's just trying to piss him off and it's working – just not in the way she probably wants it to.

  Daisy doesn't talk to Spencer anymore. She has nothing to do with him. Not since the car accident in the spring and she told him in the hospital that she thought they shouldn't see one another anymore. And the last time Jack's seen the guy is when he was sitting outside their building, holding flowers and trying to build up his courage to go up and see her.

  Jack's hardly even thought of the guy since then. There's no reason for him, too – at least he tries to remind himself that because sometimes, he does think of the guy. Spencer hadn't been a good guy – making Daisy feel like she wasn't the best thing in the damn world – but Jack supposes that he had been good enough. He had liked Daisy well enough and he seemed to have treated her well enough and for the longest time, Jack had convinced himself that Spencer was the kind of guy Daisy needed to be with.

  Jack looks from the bathroom door back to Carolina. "How can you be sure it was Daisy? You see her face?" He asks and Carolina smiles because she thinks he's entertaining this idea.

  "No, but she was blonde and petite like Daisy is," Carolina answers. "And the last girl Spencer was seen around with was Daisy."

  Jack nearly snorts. Yeah, 'cause Daisy's the only small blonde in the world.

  He just looks to Carolina and shakes his head. "You're full of shit," he informs her.

  Carolina just smiles and shrugs. "Probably," she agrees. "But there's a little seed now, isn't there?" She asks and pokes him in the chest with her index finger.

  He just looks at her with a frown. He wonders if he ever knew what the hell she was talking back when they were hooking up.

  "A seed," she repeats with a smile. "That little seed of doubt you have now because you're not sure if there ever will be a time when it is Daisy with some other guy." She pushes herself off the wall, still with that smile as if she's pre
tty damn happy with herself. "Have a good night, Jack. And tell Daisy I said bye. She really is too sweet for someone like you."

  With that, Carolina turns and flounces back down the hall into the bar. Jack remains standing there, frowning. Carolina has no idea what she's talking about. And he can't even call Carolina a bitch because he knows she has every right in the world to be pissed at him. And she knows him well enough to know exactly how to do that. Jack never opened up to her in the time they were hanging out but Carolina's more observant that he would ever give her credit for and while he hadn't cared that much about getting to know her, Carolina has certainly seemed to find out some things about him just by watching.

  Carolina knows the thing that will probably always linger in the back of Jack's mind no matter how close he and Daisy get, ignoring the fact that she's told him she's falling in love with him. Daisy Greene is way too good for him and even though the blonde with Spencer in the diner hadn't been Daisy, Carolina's right. It will be her eventually.

  And who the hell can blame her?

  …

  As soon as Daisy steps from the bathroom, Jack pushes himself off the wall.

  "Wanna get out of here?" He asks and she doesn't ask why.

  She just nods and Jack reaches for her hand, encasing it in his own and walking her towards the door. He doesn't think about where they're going or where he's going to take her. He just knows he wants to get her – get them both – out of there. He should have never brought her here in the first place when he really just wants to be alone with her.

  Once they get on the bike and he feels her arms squeeze around his waist, he takes off, speeding from the parking lot and down the dark road. He feels her arms tight around his middle and he swears he can hear the smile on her face. And it makes him smile a little to himself. He's pretty sure that Daisy's laugh, her moan, and her smile are three of the greatest things in the world.

  He stops them eventually, down a quiet dirt country road next to the woods, and she climbs off as soon as he's kicked down the stand. He gets off, too, but then leans against the side of the bike, pulling out a pack of cigarettes and lighting one. He looks at her as she walks out to the middle of the road and tilting her head up, she looks at the stars with a smile.

  "'m sorry for takin' you there tonight," Jack says, watching her. "I wasn' thinkin'."

  Daisy turns and looks at him. She shakes her head. "It's okay, Jack. I wanted to go there. I wanted a drink, remember?"

  "It ain't okay," he mumbles more to himself than to her. "I got to be smarter with you."

  Daisy is quiet and he lifts his eyes to look at her. The moon is almost full that night and it's hanging over their heads, acting like a beacon as it shines down on her like a spotlight as she stands in the middle of the road. And all he can do is just take a second and stare at her because he's pretty sure that if he blinks even once, she'll disappear completely. A girl as pretty as Daisy Greene isn't supposed to be out here with a guy like him.

  "I like seeing where you like to spend your time," she says.

  He shakes his head. "Don' think I'm gonna be spendin' as much of my time there anymore."

  It's quiet for a few passing minutes. He hears the crickets and some animal rustling at the leaves just a few feet behind him amongst the trees. Daisy begins humming a soft song to herself as she keeps looking up at the stars.

  "See that?" She asks as she comes back towards him. He drops the cigarette, stomping it out with his boot, and she comes to stand between his legs, putting her back against his chest. Jack hesitates for just a moment before he slips one of his arms around her waist and she points up to the stars. He follows her finger. "That's Andromeda, a princess of Ethiopia. In Greek mythology, her mother offended the gods by saying that the girl was more beautiful than the Nereids. Sea nymphs" she clarifies. "Poseidon, the god of the sea, was angry and in his wrath, he sent a sea monster to devour the girl. So when Andromeda was chained to the rocks, the hero Perseus came, slew the beast and then carried Andromeda off to be his wife." She then sighs with a faint smile. "Andromeda's always been my favorite."

  Jack looks at Daisy instead of the stars.

  He's pretty sure Daisy Greene will be a constellation someday.

  …

  "Do you want to come in?" Daisy asks as they stand outside her door and she's giving him a shy smile as if he's never been into her apartment before.

  And Jack knows they are nowhere near that point – yet – and he can't help but think that being in there without Matty might be a little weird. He's been inside without the kid there a few times but those times were all before anything like this had ever happened between him and Daisy. Now, he's her boyfriend and she's inviting him inside and he doesn't know if he'll be able to control himself. Just standing out in the hall, it's damn hard to not just lean in and kiss her and not stop until they both pass out. Who knows what will happen if he goes into her apartment where her bedroom is just a few steps away?

  "I prob'ly shouldn'," he finally shakes his head. He leans down then before she can say anything and he kisses her. He's trying to get used to the fact that he can kind of kiss her whenever he feels like it.

  And once he pulls his lips back from hers, Daisy nods her head as if she understands his reasons and completely agrees with them.

  She looks up at him, still with that same smile across her face but not as shy anymore.

  It's insane to him just how pretty this girl is.

  "Good night," she offers in a soft voice.

  "G'night," he says back.

  And he wants to kiss her once more before he heads into his own apartment but he doesn't because who the hell knows if it can just stay with being one kiss? So instead, he leans in and kisses her forehead and he hears Daisy exhale softly as if she's never had anything better. He then steps back and with one more parting look to him, he watches as she goes into her apartment and closes the door behind her with a quiet click.

  He tries to go to sleep that night in his own bed but can't help but wonder what it would be like if he had gone into her apartment with her.

  …

  Michonne had told Daisy the day before that she would get Tavon and Matty to the field for the game since the Bulldogs and Gators have their game in the morning and when he and Daisy get there, he spots the kid by the tree where T has the team always meet before a game. He can spot the blonde curls and one of the coaches is helping him tug on his jersey over his pads.

  Fall is here – the mornings a little cool – and Daisy is wearing a grey sweatshirt with a football on it and Jack is wearing one of the few green things he has in his closet – a black and green flannel shirt and he can't believe how into football he suddenly finds himself because just a few months ago, he couldn't have cared less about this whole damn thing.

  But he admits it's a little addicting – especially when T-Dog tells Daisy that Matty has got to be one of the fastest running backs in the state. And Matty's not even his but Jack feels a sense of pride over that and he gets excited at being able to watch the kid play each week.

  Two sets of bleaches are set up next to each other and in one set, there's parents wearing green and white and waving Gator signs and in the next, there's parents wearing red and white and there's even a fat Bulldog, panting with his pink tongue hanging out, wearing a red sweater as he sits on the sidelines next to the Bulldog coaches.

  Jack's pretty sure he hates the Bulldogs fans on sight and he just keeps hearing what Michonne had told them. They think they're better than them because the Gators kids don't necessarily live on the right side of town. And that's bullshit Jack's been hearing his entire life. He knows the Beltons are usually bad news but he's never been like anything like them. He doesn't have a record, never been arrested, never done time, but people hear his last name and immediately clump him in with the rest of his family. Redneck trash.

  And now, the same thing's being done to Matty just because of his address.

  Daisy sits down beside Michonn
e and her husband, Mike, and Annette, Johnathan, Nathaniel and Maybelle arrive soon after, all sitting around them. Shawn takes a spot next to T-Dog on the sidelines and they exchange a few words before Shawn crouches down in front of Matty and makes sure his laces are tied tight enough. Jack never would have thought there would be a rivalry this big in pee-wee football between a bunch of six-year-olds but even Casey and Adam show up halfway through the first.

  "What the hell you doin' here?" Jack can't help but ask as Casey sits down next to him.

  "Heard something about an incredible six-year-old running back I just had to come and see for myself," Casey says and Jack snorts a little.

  "Glad to see the county's bein' kept safe today," Jack ribs him a little and Casey just grins.

  Just like the Gators have been studying Bulldogs footage, it's obvious the Bulldogs have been studying footage of Gators games because they seem to know all about Tavon and Matty and the Bulldogs defense are all over them both. Tavon seems to be getting sacked with every play and Matty's getting tackled, too, before he can even run a yard. T-Dog is yelling on the field, waving his hands wildly, but whatever play he's shouting, it doesn't help. The Gators offense just aren't prepared for the Bulldogs defense.

  Daisy's hands are balled into fists so tight, her knuckles are white and her nails dig into her palms. Jack slowly reaches over and rests a hand on her thigh but she doesn't even seem to notice, her entire body still tense and her eyes glued to the field as Matty is brought down again amongst a crash of helmets and pads.

  As the players begin breaking away from the heap, going to take their line-ups for the next play and hike of the ball, Matty is still lying on the ground, not getting up. Daisy's immediately on her feet and Jack finds himself standing right next to her.

  "Shawn!" Daisy yells at her brother. "What's wrong?"

  The others are starting to stand up, too, looking at Matty, who still isn't getting up. Shawn and T-Dog rush onto the field as well as the offense coach, Tyreese, and Johnathan hurries down the stands because he's a doctor and he'll be able to take a better look at him.