Her tan complexion turns to the colour of a sheet of paper, like she’s seen a ghost. “Is it something I’ve done?”
“No.” I shake my head. “I just want to be honest with you and myself, and I realise that this isn’t going anywhere. I don’t want to upset you, but I can’t keep stringing you along, and you know that wouldn’t be fair.”
She swallows thickly and glances away for a moment. “Right,” she whispers. “Silly me.”
“I’m sorry,” I say sincerely. “But you will realise this when you find the one, it’s just not me, Daisy.”
Daisy turns her back and grabs Rufus. “No worries, J,” she says, dark hair falling over her shoulders. “Thanks for being honest. I’ll see you around.”
She walks away so quickly that she almost stumbles down the steps towards the beachfront. I huff out a sigh and head back to the house, ready for a shower and a gallon of water.
When I get home, I know Finn is already at work; he’s been called in to pick up a lot of shifts this week. I don’t know if Ivy is home or out—probably with Isaac. That thought sends tsunamis of frustration through my body.
After I shower and get changed into fresh clothes, my phone buzzes with a message from Cal, asking if I want to grab a beer with him and Joel over lunch.
I head into town to meet them at a pub with a beer garden. It’s fairly quiet for the week, but at least the weather is pulling through despite the clouds that are rolling in. I greet them both and find out they’ve already ordered me a beer for my arrival.
“How’s it going, man?” Cal asks, swiping a hand through his mousey-brown hair.
I take a sip of my drink. “All good, just went for a run this morning. Nothing crazy.”
“Can’t believe Thompson got himself a job,” Joel chuckles. “I cannot imagine that guy serving tables.”
The corners of my lips twist. “Me neither, but money is money at the end of the day.”
Cal raises his glass as a salute and nods. “True. What’s he need all that money for anyway? His parents are well-off.”
My eyes flick between the pair of them, and I realise they don’t know what he’s like at university. Spending almost every last penny on alcohol, going out, takeaways. I have no idea what’s changed in that guy recently, but getting a job is the most responsible thing he could possibly do right now.
“He’s an animal,” Joel comments. “He told us some crazy stories about your time at uni.”
I almost snort into my drink. “Most about him then?”
They both laugh. “Of course.”
“Did something happen a few years ago to make Finn…” I pause for a moment. “I don’t know, a bit off the rails?”
Joel and Cal share a glance, narrowing their eyebrows. “You mean when Ben became a total asshole and changed fucking everything? Then yeah.”
I lean forward on the bench. “Who’s Ben?”
“He was a friend of ours,” Cal comments, resting his lips on his glass. “Dated Ivy for a bit.”
My heart skips a beat. One of Finn’s friends dated Ivy? I didn’t know that.
My gaze switches between the two of them frantically, desperate to know more. “What happened?”
“I can’t believe Finn didn’t tell you.” Joel scratches his head, clearly feeling awkward about the conversation. “Maybe he just wanted to forget.”
“Forget what?”
My skin crawls with the desperation to know. With the way Finn’s been acting, it’s clearly bad.
Something has happened between them—Finn, Ben, and Ivy. Did he do something to her… is that what this is about?
“Finn should probably be the one to tell you. I know he hated how people gossiped and spoke about it behind his back; that’swhy he’s so protective of Ivy. He’s got to be. Ben was a really close friend,” Cal explains, and now I’m left feeling even more confused.
What the fuck did this Ben guy do?
