5 months and 10 days– Mom
I slip my cell in my purse, about to head to the Calloway Couture offices. Savannah stays close by my side with the camera hovering. As soon as I head towards the door, it whips open and Daisy walks in with her white motorcycle helmet beneath her arm.
“Hey, Rose.” She sets the helmet on the leather couch and twists her long blonde hair in a loose bun atop her head.
But she’s not alone. Brett enters with his steadicam, and Ryke shuts the door behind them, his black helmet dangling in his hand. Ryke slumps down on the couch and runs his fingers through his thick tousled hair.
“Good, I caught you,” I tell Daisy, deserting my plans for a second. “I want to give you something before I forget.” I should really get Lily in the living room too. But she’s much harder to wrangle. “Stay here.” I head to the hall closet and return with a shopping bag.
Before I pass her the bag, I notice the way Ryke and Daisy share furtive glances. She shakes her head at him, and he grits his teeth, his jaw locking into hard-cut lines.
“Is everything okay?” I ask with a little edge. I don’t like being out of the loop. If it involves my sisters, I want to be in the center fucking circle.
“Perfect,” Daisy says with a bright smile. I don’t believe her, and I have a suspicion Ryke wants to come clean since he shakes his head now. She grabs the bag out of my hand to distract me.
I let the issue go, only because I can’t prod today. I need to get work done at my office, and if I dwell on my little sister, I’ll worry until someone spills the truth. It’s probably not that bad anyway. I’m sure she just sped down the highway on her Ducati and almost got herself killed. In Daisy Calloway’s adrenaline-fueled world, that situation is like the sun rising and setting.
“Ooh,” she says. “Which one is mine, the tie-dye or the leopard-print?”
Ryke frowns. “What the fuck did you get her?”
I shoot him a glare. “Not whatever you’re thinking.”
“Panties,” Daisy tells him.
“That’s exactly what I was fucking thinking.”
She smiles. “I know.” And she pulls out a plastic package that doesnotcontain panties. “Pepper spray.” She glances at me. “I think I’ll take this one.” She holds the tie-dye package.
“Since you and Lily have given up your bodyguards for the show, I thought it would be a good idea to have some sort of protection.” In order to film, Scott had a proviso that Daisy and Lily ditch their bodyguards, who had been keeping them safe from paparazzi after we went from anonymity to celebrity. “I also signed us up for a self-defense class.”
“Didn’t you used to take those classes all the time in Princeton? Why would you want to go to another one?”
“Because you girls should learn.”
“I don’t know if I have the time,” Daisy says honestly. “I’m booked for shoots a lot this week.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” Ryke chimes in from the couch.
My brows jump. “Really?”
“Sure,” he says, his eyes not softening like mine. “And if Daisy doesn’t have the fucking time, then Lo, Connor and I can help out here. We can push the furniture to the walls for space.” I would love to beat the shit out of Loren. But what’s more appealing is trying to pin Connor to the floor. I’d revel in that win for months.
“You want to help?” I ask Ryke.
“Why does everyone find that so fucking hard to believe?”
“I don’t,” I say. “I’m just wondering why you’re so concerned all of a sudden.”
“I’m always concerned. I just don’t voice my opinion every five seconds like you.”
“You’re a jackass,” I tell him casually.
“You’re a bitch.”
“Thank you.” I grab my phone out of my purse. “And I accept your help by the way. Lily really needs to learn how to protect herself without running behind Lo’s back.”
“Yeah,” Ryke says, “but you girls need to fucking admit that you can’t protect yourself against a hoard of angry guys with a mini-bottle of pepper spray and a kick to the nuts. It’s better if we’re there too.”
