But then I see her.
Coming out through the sliding door, wearing a graphic T-shirt and black leggings.
She’s also wearing the socks I left for her, and somehow the sight has the tension in my chest easing.
She dangles two beers in her hands as she makes her way toward me. “This seat taken?” She points at the empty Adirondack chair next to mine.
“It’s gonna cost ya.” I nod at one of the uncapped beers.
Knowing that she walked through my kitchen and made herself at home makes me feel like she’s not planning to make a run for it. At least tonight.
She hands me a beer before she takes a seat and makes herself comfortable. “So… I know I’ve been a complete basket case, and you’re probably questioning why you ever made conversation with the weird, quiet girl at work. So I’m going to make things easier and fly out of here early tomorrow morning. I thought itover in the shower and decided that as soon as I can get a signal on my phone, I’ll text Nick and let him know that he can ship me off to one of his houses. He’s probably got one or two I don’t even know about,” she finishes in a rush.
“You want to leave?” I manage to keep the panic out of my voice somehow.
Her eyebrows furrow. “Well, no—I mean—” She closes her eyes, sighing deeply as she sinks farther into her chair. “Luke, I’m a mess. You’re a good friend, but I don’t want to dump all of my mistakes on your doorstep. You deserve to enjoy your time off without having to worry about me begging you to rip my clothes off.” Her eyes snap open and look my way.
My eyebrows must hit my hairline and her mouth gapes open as she realizes what she said and how it sounded.
“I didn’t mean it like that. Of course you wouldn’t want to—and that’s not, err—” She releases a frustrated cry as she buries her head in her hands. “Ugh, I’m doing it again. I’m hazardous to be around right now. It’s as if I reset my personal factory settings and now my brain doesn’t know the proper way to compute. If you want, I can ask Nick to send someone for me tonight. I’ve already made a fool—”
“Daisy,” I interrupt, then wait until she lifts her head and rests her defeated eyes on me. “What do you want?”
Confusion mars her face. “What do you mean?”
I exhale slowly, trying my best to not influence her. “It’s simple: what do you want? Do you want to leave, or do you want to stay?”
She shakes her head. “I’m imposing. You should be—”
“Not what I asked, Daze. I’ll stay here all night until I get an answer. And before you start worrying about something I haven’t voiced, let me be very clear here. You are not imposing. You have not made a fool of yourself. And every negative thoughtyou’ve had about yourself tonight is flat-out wrong. So with that cleared up, I’ll ask again. What do you want?”
She stares at me, and I can see her trying to put together the puzzle pieces where there are none.
“It’s simple, Daisy. Stay here with me or go. What do you want?”
She stares off into the lake. “Making decisions has never been simple for me,” she whispers.
“If you stay, it should be because you feel safe and comfortable here. Not because you think you’ll be hurting my feelings if you leave. If you go, it’s because you know there is somewhere that can give you exactly what you need right now. Take your time. You have options. You always have options. So when you’re ready, tell me what you want.”
She looks up at the sky lit up with stars, the kind that would be impossible to see in the city. She takes a sip of her beer and lolls her head to the side, facing me. “I want to stay.”
I want to punch the air in excitement like I do when my team is on a winning streak. But I keep my body lax as I ask, “Are you sure? I promise you there is no wrong answer. This is about you and what you need. I only want to be the person who helps you get whatever it is you want.”
She takes a longer sip of her beer, this time nodding along as she considers something. “There is one thing I need from you.”
“Name it,” I say far too quickly.
She starts to peel the label off the beer bottle. “What are the chances of you having complete memory loss after seeing my ass? And does drinking this beer help move along that process?”
I groan as I tip my head back and run my free hand over my eyes. I didn’t expect her to bring it up tonight, much less erupt into giggles.
“I promise to keep myself fully clothed from here on out. I know I scarred you for life back there.” She smiles as she scoots her socked feet under her legs and looks into the fire.
I remain quiet until the silence stretches long enough for her eyes to find mine over the crackling fire pit.
“Scarring me? Daisy, trust me. I have many feelings about what I saw back inside my house, but scarred, sure as hell ain’t one of them.”
The easy-going smile slips off her face as her cheeks turn rosy. She turns her attention back to the fire. “So, um, what now? I saw a pizza in the freezer. We could throw it in the oven. Unless you’re not hungry. Although you’re always hungry. Not that it’s a bad thing. You are still training like an athlete, and you…”
