“Do me a favor and don’t shout it from the rooftops just yet. I guess I should let him know how I feel. I’ve never done this before. If you tell me it’s easy, I’ll deck you.” I’m only half-kidding.
“It’s not easy, but once that boy falls to your feet, it will be well worth it. I’ve seen the way he looks at you.”
“What about Jet? Has Jet seen it? What kind of business does he have with him anyway?”
Daisy presses her fingers to her lips. “You know—um, I’m not quite sure.” Her face burns bright as a bonfire. Daisy has more than a clue. She’s just not willing to cough up the answer.
“That’s okay. You don’t have to tell me,” I assure her. “Because it works both ways, right? You don’t tell me his secret, and you don’t tell him mine.”
“I will never tell.” She shakes her head, emphatic.
“Pinkie swear?” I hold out my most delicate digit, and we shake on it.
“Pinkie swear.”
“I’d better go.” I scoot to the edge of my seat. “One more thing.” I clasp her hand, and Daisy bites down over her lip as if overcome with emotion. “I’m happy that Jet found someone to share his life with. And I’m very happy it’s you.”
I pull her into a hard embrace. I bury my face in her sugary hair and take in the fullness of her affection. For so long I’ve been a closed door, walled off from the rest of the world. I’m ready to climb down from my ivory tower. I’m ready to bring the memory of my sister with me and to tell Jet what little I know about her.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night at the shop.” I wipe the tears from my eyes.
“Yes!” Her eyes spin like pinwheels. “Tomorrow night for the grand finale of Jet’s show. Dress your best. It’s going to be a blast!” We head out and go our separate ways with a wave.
It feels as if another chain has been broken now that Daisy and I are where we’re supposed to be—where I know that Jet has wanted us to be all along.
I head back to Cutler Tower, lighter, freer, happier—and in love.
After the all-out orgy Iwitnessed after the game, I chose to forgo any parties on The Row or otherwise. Instead, after my pep talk with Daisy, I head back to Cutler Tower and think deeply about what I told her—and ironically what I told myself for the very first time.
Come Saturday, the night of Jet’s big finale shindig, I primp in front of the mirror, switching outfits a dozen times until I settle on a little black dress and five-inch heels. Who knows? Maybe next week during my very first collegiate spring break I’ll actually have a boy toy of my own to contend with.
“When all else fails, go classic,” Ava muses. “Lawson won’t know what hit him.”
“Here’s hoping.” I do a little twirl in the mirror. Late last night when Ava stumbled in from her private after party with Grant, I may have told her everything—oh, hell, I spilled. Ava gifts me a kiss on the cheek as I speed out the door. “I’ll see you down at Think Ink!”
There’sa mixer at the Black Bear tonight, and Ava and I are headed straight there after my brother’s event. A part of me just wants to fast-forward to the part where I corner Lawson Kent and spill every last one of my feelings. My adrenaline soars just thinking about it, and passing out feels like a very real option.
“Don’t be late,” I sing as I make my way out the door. “I know Jet will love having both you and Grant there tonight. Daisy has invited half the planet.” I practically skip all the way to my truck at the litany of awesome this night has laid out in front of me.
Think Ink is lit up like a jewel on this early springtime eve. The moon is a sliver in the sky, and even the stars seem to be spraying out their glory over my brother’s entrepreneurial start-up. I’m so proud of him. I’m just brimming.
Inside is lined with bodies, lit up like a football stadium, and instead of the usual stray electronic eye following us around for the documentary, I count three cameras in the front of the shop alone. It seems as if every human coloring book that Jet has worked on has shown up to pay homage to my brother. And just as I’m about to do a sweep of the vicinity for the man of the house, I spot Daisy chatting it up with Piper and Scarlett—and just like that, my feet plant themselves into the floorboards. It never occurred to me that if Daisy told Scarlett, Lawson would be the next one up in that little game of telephone gone wrong.
“Lucky!” Daisy waves me over, and I hesitate.
A pair of arms wraps themselves around me from behind, strongmalearms and a momentary panic sets in—God, is Lawson here? He can’t be here. I can’t tell anyone of the male persuasion I love them within twenty feet of my brother.
I glance up to see Jet with his ear-to-ear grin. “Oh, hey.” I deflate for a moment, and yet I’m flooded with relief. “Great party. It looks like the entire town showed up. You sure you need me here?” I bite down over my lip as I cast a nervous glance to Scarlett. What in God’s name possessed me to spill my soul to Daisy last night? Couldn’t I have waited just one more day until after I told Lawson himself how I felt? Although, speaking to Daisy was most definitely the catalyst for me to realize my own feelings—but still—I can’t help but feel I’m about to be outted in the very worst way.
Jet leans in. He looks twice as huge, his muscles bulging with fury as if they were drawn in like cartoons. The artwork all over his arms is on display tonight with that wife beater he’s donned just for the occasion.
“I know your secret.” The grin slides right off his face. “Daisy told me everything when she got back last night.”
“Holy hell.” I start to take off in the blonde ditz’s direction, and Jet reels me back.
“Don’t freak out. It’s not a big deal.” Jet gives a nervous glance around as a camera stalks us from a distance.
“It’s not a big deal?” I blink in disbelief. All of my life anything that remotely concerned me has been averybig deal. Maybe having Daisy in his life has really mellowed him out. “So you’re not going to freak out if—” I grapple, looking for just the right words a moment.
