She bites her lip, a habit I might need to break if I want to survive the next few days around her. “While I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the show, I came out here because your phone was ringing nonstop. Apparently, the poop emoji is calling you?”
She lifts both our phones in her hands and the emoji of the single most annoying person in my life tries to call me again.
But I don’t pay it any mind, because even after coming twice, my cock is still pointing right at Daisy, and she’s doing a shit job at not staring right back.
If one of us doesn’t find some semblance of control, I fear I might be pulling those soft leggings off Daisy and bending her over the nearest tree stump.
The phone goes off again. I’m about to say something to break my naked standoff when Daisy’s face goes ghostly white.
Because the phone currently ringing isn’t mine, but hers.
And the name clearly legible from where I stand belongs to the man she was supposed to marry.
eighteen
I don’t answer.
Not the first time he calls or even the second.
I sit on the kitchen island, staring at my phone, not knowing what to do.
This morning, after I unraveled on top of Luke, I felt like a part of myself that had been hidden for so long had finally been freed.
I was able to embrace my sexual side without feeling shy or awkward about it. In control while also being guided by Luke.
The moment I came, my brain chemistry altered in real time. And after my shower, instead of coming up with a million reasons why I should apologize and never do that again, I was tracking down Luke to make sure he was okay… and to feel out the situation and see if we could have a lot more mornings like those, but with a little less clothing.
And when my literal wet dream came to life right before my eyes, I realized I was still a bit in over my head, but I didn’t run like I usually would have.
That is, until the one person I’d been hoping yet dreading to hear from finally decided to call me.
And I get it. I don’t have much of a leg to stand on here. I left him at the altar. I should have come to my conclusions about our relationship much sooner and expressed those feelings in a far more appropriate manner. But we’re here now, and in true Daisy Stonehaven fashion, right when I get a taste of something good, something I think I might deserve, here comes the person who had way too much control over my daily life, all for the sake of his image.
Control I should have never given up in the first place.
I bounce back and forth between the guilt of my own wrongdoings and wanting to make everything right again for everyone else. Attempting to figure out if there is a way to allow myself a moment to seek my own happiness without being a selfish and terrible person.
“What do you want to do, Daisy?” Luke asks as he places a glass of water next to me, fully clothed now.
My circular thinking halts at his nearness. He’s not within reach, and a part of me wishes he were.
But if I know Luke like I think I do, then I know he’s giving me the space to figure my shit out. Because as much as he likes to pretend that he’s a growly grump, the man is a total teddy bear under it all and is putting my needs and feelings before his own.
My phone rings again, and this time, I reach for it.
“I’ll give you some privacy. I’ll be outside.” He lightly squeezes my knee as he walks past, and I almost call out for him to stay.
Then I realize there’s nothing stopping me from doing just that.
“Luke?”
He turns, eyes raking over my face intently.
I ignore the constant ringing from my phone. Damien can call me a fourth time for all I care.
“Would you—”
He’s already making his way back to me, pulling out a stool and sitting between my swinging legs. After the morning we had, one would think there would be a sexual undertone to our closeness, but Luke’s unwavering silent support is all I can focus on.
