Daisy went to laugh but covered her mouth with a fake cough.
“Something to say?” Spencer crossed her arms.
Her eyes slanted into a glare at Spencer. “It’s just funny that Tori is saying that since she’s seeingthreedifferent men. That’s worse!”
“It’s the end of the world, Daisy!” Tori exploded from beside me, her hands balled into shaking fists. “There’s no need for your constant judgmental attitude anymore! You have done yourfair share of actualshitty things,but you don’t see me throwing it in your face!”
“Me? You’re the one who dated Jay even when youknew I liked him!”
“Oh, shut up! You were screwing his cousinandhis best friend!”
Daisy flinched back, and Jay’s mouth dropped as he stared at her.
“Why did you say that?” she asked.
“Because it’s true, and because you act like you’ve never done anything wrong. I’m sick and tired of you constantly putting me down whenI’m the onewho got fucked over.”
“But—”
“That’s enough,” Micah barked. “We leave at sunrise. It’ll be a two day trip there and back. See you all in the morning.”
“But what about the shower?” Daisy piped again, and Benjamin interrupted before Micah could reply.
“It’s too late. We need the generator for the hot water heater, and I need to refill the tank for the shower head. We haven’t had enough rain lately. If you come back, it’ll be ready then.”
“I’ll just take one at home then.”
Tori’s nostrils flared as Daisy rolled her eyes, but she stayed silent, simmering in her obvious anger as Micah pulled her to his side and started walking us back to the treehouse.
Spencer rushed over and hugged Tori, whispering something in her ear before shooting us a mischievous grin and bouncing away.
“Can you stay with us tonight?” Tori’s tired eyes pleaded as she looked up at me, but a shiver racked my body.
“Not yet, honey. I’m closer, but…”
“I understand.” The way she said it didn’t sound like she was upset, but I was disappointed in myself for my inability to give her what she needed.
“We’ll make sure she’s okay,” Micah promised, and Nathan nodded.
“It’s okay not to be ready. You’ve lived the majority of your life alone. Needing time to adjust is normal.”
I knew he was right, and I knew Tori understood. But it didn’t lessen my desire to just be normal.
Ignorance was truly bliss. If I hadn’t known about the complexity of germs and what could happen being exposed to certain things, I wouldn’t live in fear like Mom had.
16
TORI
Dread settled in my gut like a lead ball that morning.
It was a feeling where Iknewsomething bad would happen. I had it the morning I went to a golf game with Jay, and I got whacked in the head because I stood too close behind him when he was about to hit the ball. I even had it the morning that I failed a big agriculture test because of lack of sleep the two nights before. I also had it the day I caught Jay cheating on me with Daisy.
So when I woke up between Micah and Nathan, the warmth that spread through me quickly took a nosedive, and I hated that.
I didn’t want the ranch to be destroyed, but the thought didn’t destroy me either because it meant going back to the Oasis with my men.
We’d equipped our bags and weapons before locking up the treehouse and heading down at the sign of first light.
