“Ha-ha.” She gives my hip a quick pinch while looking up at me with those silver-blue eyes. “You’re just gunning to get laid.”
“Not true.” I give her own hip a light pinch. My eyes lock over hers. The instant those baby blues link with mine I’m done. I can feel the power draining out of me. A part of me begs to look away, but I can’t. It’s too much. Something is happening, and it’s too damn strong for me to wrap my head around. “I mean it,” I whisper. “You’re pretty great. Friar’s Corner can’t be that bad.”
“I’m an embarrassment.” Daisy buries her face in my chest. “I’m the personification of everything that’s wrong with that place. No hope and desperation beyond repair equals dancing dreams dashed and thrashed at the foot of the U.S. Senate.” She looks up, her eyes stained red as blood. “There’s not a darn thing I can’t ruin, Jet.” She blinks back tears, her lips quiver with agony. “You’d better believe that if I don’t leave soon, I’ll take you down with me.” She shakes her head. “And that, my friend, is something I could never forgive myself for.”
Daisy relaxes against my chest as we stare blankly at the television as if we cared about the images flickering before us.
“There’s no way you can ruin anything with me.” I press a careful kiss over the top of her head.
Daisy can’t ruin a thing in my life.
I’ve done that myself.
That night, Daisy sleeps in my arms, safe and sound from her worries and fears from the nightmare her life has morphed into. I wish I could wipe away all of the grime, help her in some way escape the stronghold of negativity she’s locked in, but for the life of me I can’t figure out how to do it. Believe me, I stayed up half of the night trying.
Friday arrives with the crisp bite of a storm brewing on the horizon. As soon as the sun sets, I head over to the WB campus for the big game to watch Rex do his thing. I do a quick scan over by the bleachers looking for Cade and Owen, looking for Lucky—hell, I’m looking for Daisy.
A pair of cool hands covers my eyes from behind, and my heart thumps once with that schoolboy brand of hope I haven’t felt since I was a kid. I spin around to find Lucky’s smiling face staring back at me.
“Hey, stranger.” She jumps up and pecks my cheek with a kiss.
“Eww, that’s sick.” Ava pops up from behind her and gives her ponytail a tug. “I’ll meet you at the top.” She laughs before racing off with a group of girls.
“It’s not sick. It’s just practice for when I steal your boyfriend!” Lucky shouts back with the same jovial attitude.
“I think you’re both sick. And no stealing boyfriends. I’m glad to see you making friends, though.” Lucky, ironically, hasn’t always been soluckywhen it comes to holding on to friendships. I’m not sure why. I’ve done everything I can to give her the best life possible. It’s as if something has been missing. Deep down, I’m afraid I know what that might be. The one thing I can never give her back, our mess of a father—our beautiful mother.
“They’re all right.” She gives an indifferent shrug, whipping her ponytail in their direction. Lucky is naturally a decent looking girl, but tonight, with all of that war paint, I’m afraid she might attract the wrong kind of attention. She’s downright stunning, and that’s the last thing I want my baby sister to be.
I grimace at how high up into the bleachers Ava is charging with that coed girl gang of hers. “You better go up and pull them out of the nosebleeds, or you won’t see a thing.”
“That’s the point.” She gives a little wink before bolting in that direction.
“Lucky! Stay out of trouble!” I’ve always felt as if my parents were a bit presumptuous when they named her. Trouble would have been much more spot-on, although not nearly as flattering or charming.
Owen waves from the front, and I jog over. The girls are here—Piper, Scarlett, and Cassidy. My heart sinks as I scour the crowd around them. Cade waves with his middle finger and grins.
“What’s up?” I slap Owen and Cade five.
“The game’s up.” Cade pats me over, and I fall into the seat next to him. Cassidy flanks him on the other side, and Piper and Owen fall in line. Must be nice to have someone like that. The same plus one night after night. I’ve never really given it much thought. I have Lucky to get through school. She’s a handful. I’m pretty sure I don’t need any distractions.
The sweet smell of cotton candy hits me, and my dick perks to life.
She’s here.
My heart kicks against my chest as if it’s trying to break its way out and take a peek itself.
“Did I miss anything?” Daisy strides up, wrapped in a red wool coat that hugs her curves almost as good as I can. She high-fives the girls and jumps into the seat next to me.
“Hey.” I nod, trying to play it cool, watching as the boys run out onto the field, but my heart, my adrenaline, is pumping. I can’t seem to control the biological response I’m having to this girl—don’t want to control it.
“Are we winning?” She leans forward with such unabashed glee, the apples of her cheeks glow a brilliant shade of pink. I don’t have the heart to tell her the game hasn’t started yet.
“We are now that you’re here.” It comes out even-keeled, not too overly enthused the way it demanded to jump out of my throat. I keep my eyes glued to the game and shout the loudest, the longest when Rex brings it home for the team.
“He’s pretty good.” Daisy grabs ahold of my arm and gives an enthusiastic squeeze. Normally, I wouldn’t be all that thrilled to have a girl singing another guy’s praises, but that’s Rex, and this is Daisy.
“He’s the best.” I don’t mind talking him up a little myself.
