“I’m not on your shit list, am I?” she asks. “Honestly, I didn’t even think you had one.”
“I didn’t.”
She gasps. “So I’m theonlyperson on it?”
I can’t help but smile. We begin to walk back together, her friends farther ahead of us. “I guess.”
“What can I do?” she asks. Her eyes brighten. “I know! Cake. Cake fixes everything.” She shouts at the girls, “Cake time!”
They let out cheers and clap and spin around to record Daisy for the end of their videos. I’m sure those will be circulated around her prep school for quite some time. She’ll be a superstar. For all the wrong reasons.
Ryke turns his head at the announcement and still looks pissed. He rolls his eyes and shakes water from his hair with a firm hand.
“You know what he said to me?” Daisy says. “He told me that I was going to crack open my skull, bleed into the ocean, and be eaten by sharks. And then he goes and jumps in after me.” She lets out an irritated laugh. “I didn’t need him to be my hero, showing up, scaling the cliff and speaking Spanish to the locals?—”
“Wait, they didn’t speak English?”
Daisy realizes she let that little part slip. She winces as she flashes an apologetic smile. “They were telling me stuff, and I just replied back with, ‘Sí,’ over and over again. I got the gist of what they were saying when they moved their hands. You should be more surprised by the fact that Ryke isfluentin Spanish.”
“I’m not,” I snap, “because he grew up with a mom as neurotic as ours.”
“He did?” Her brows furrow.
“I don’t know her personally,” I clarify. “But she kept him busy.” I refrain from sayinglike youbecause she does not need to be attracted to him anymore than I think she already is. Their age difference is no-no territory. Ryke understands this, and I’m afraid that Daisy may not.
“Oh.”
I hesitate. “Daisy, you don’t…”have a crush on him.
She meets my eyes and reads them well. “Like you said before, Lily, he’s seven years older…well, about to be six.” She tries to give me a reassuring smile before she breaks from my side and catches up to Cleo, but I’m not satisfied. Because she glances back at Ryke as he peels off his wet shirt and wrings it out. Her eyes flit over his body, and I see a not-so good future.
I’m not sure how Lo would react to a Daisy and Ryke scenario.
All I know is that he wouldn’t be happy.
MARCH
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Back in the states,the March chill makes it near impossible not to layer up. I devise a plan to stay at the house until the very last second. Usually I arrive seven minutes late to class when I decide to go, but I think everyone should have a ten minute grace period. Seriously. It’s cold.
The only other time I brace the weather is for my therapy sessions with Dr. Banning. Today went decently well, I think. I feel like I’m on the road to uncoveringwhyI have this addiction, and she gives me some much needed perspective and guidance.
To preoccupy my thoughts and not obsess over sex, I watch a romantic comedy on Netflix in my bedroom. I closed my canopy so I feel a little like I’m in a jungle, my net keeping me safe from mosquitos. Which is kinda fun. I’d make some safari jokes, but I remember that I’m alone. And no one is around to appreciate them.
The laptop rests on my stomach while I munch on a Twizzler. After abstaining from self-love, I’ve turned to sugar and sweets and generally anything that will rot my teeth. It barely helps, but it’s better than succumbing to the urges.
My phone rings, and I wiggle from my Marvel throw blanket. When I grab my cell, I notice the unknown number on the screen. My chest lightens as I mute my computer and press the receiver to my ear.
“Hey, it’s Lo.”
That’s enough to make me grin from ear to ear.
“Lo who? My boyfriend’s name is Loren.”
“Your jokes have gotten progressively less funny without me.”
I mock gasp. “No way. You should have been here when I made thebestgiraffe joke. It was hilarious.”
