Page 17 of Three's a Crowd
Daisy locked herself in her room and had a good cry, her treacherous body still craving the feel of him inside her. She could still smell his scent on her too and took another longshower to try to wash him away, gently smoothing soap over her bruised thighs, which to her annoyance only served to heighten the feeling of longing that just wouldn’tbloody go away.
She was so humiliated at his rejection of her, but also totally confused about how much she still wanted him.
Right there and then, she made a promise to herself to never lose control of a situation like that ever again.
4
Daisy and Zach spent the rest of the long weekend assiduously avoiding each other.
The night after ‘it’ happened, Daisy had a disturbing dream in which he appeared and held her to him, like she was the most precious thing in the world, and she woke up in the morning feeling, sad, aroused and even more confused. Frustratingly, after that, whenever he came within any kind of distance of her, she felt her deceitful body ache for him, and had to remove herself before she gave in to the feeling and dragged him away to ask him whether he’d really meant what he’d said.
She couldn’t even look him in the face any more though, so there was no way that was going to happen.
To make matters worse, Adam had taken to following her around doggedly. She managed to avoid letting him kiss her again, making sure there was always someone else around when she was with him, but she was keenly aware he could sense that she wasn’t as happy about their agreement as she had been a few nights before.
Daisy felt dreadful about being so hot and cold with him and tried to make an extra effort to be friendly – though not toofriendly – even though she mostly craved solitude in order to lick her wounds.
Adam eventually broached the subject of her change in attitude to him on their last night there. They were sitting in the pub again, watching Zach and Sam playing pool, Daisy trying hard not to think about what had happened with Zach, when Adam leant in to her and whispered that he wanted to talk to her on her own.
‘What about?’ Daisy asked anxiously. She was really afraid Zach had let something slip about their encounter and she was frantic that no-one else should know anything about it.
‘Just come for a walk with me, will you?’ Adam pleaded, his expression grave.
Heart thumping, Daisy agreed, knowing she needed to deal with this sometime and now was probably as good a time as any. She got up and followed him out towards the pub’s beer garden.
She imagined she could feel Zach’s eyes boring into her back as she left and, turning just before the door, she saw she was right. He was giving her a look so intense, she thought it would pierce her.
Shaken by the ferocity of it and feeling another confusing swell of arousal, she gave him a cool stare back, intent on appearing outwardly aloof. She wasn’t about to let him get to her now. Keeping her head high, she followed Adam out of the pub door and into the mild night air.
‘Have I done something to upset you?’ Adam asked her, when they’d reached one of the picnic tables in the garden and sat down.
Daisy was so relieved this wasn’t about Zach, she laughed at the frown on his face.
‘Of course not, I’m just a bit tired, that’s all,’ she half lied.
Adam’s frown disappeared. ‘You poor thing. It must be awful getting up at lunchtime and spending most of the day eitheron the beach or in the pub. Exhausting!’ he teased, then leant forwards and kissed her gently.
Confused about what the hell to do for the best in that moment, she kissed him back with as much fervour as she could muster, which turned out to be quite a bit once she let herself sink into it. He really was a good kisser and right then, she craved comfort so much, it made her ache.
He drew back and smiled at her and she felt a bit less awful for a second, but only a second, because the feeling of relief was swiftly followed by a sting of guilt. As much as she loved being around Adam, she really couldn’t take advantage of his misplaced kindness, not after the way she’d behaved. She really shouldn’t let him think everything was okay with them when she was so mixed up about what had happened with Zach.
‘Listen, Adam, I’ve been thinking. Perhaps it’s not such a good idea for me to come and see you in Bristol.’ She looked at him tentatively, waiting for the fallout.
As predicted, his face fell at her announcement, suddenly a picture of confused shock.
‘It’s not that I don’t like you or find you attractive, I really do, but I don’t think I could handle a long-distance relationship. Not when I’m just starting at uni.’
She felt dreadful, but she knew it wouldn’t work out with him right now, not when she felt the way she did about his best friend. She wanted to be able to escape fromtheangst of Zachonce at university and she didn’t need Adam reminding her of him all the time.
‘What did I do wrong?’ he asked glumly.
‘Nothing, I swear. I’m so sorry.’ Daisy went to take his hand, but he pulled it away.
‘Yeah, whatever, Daisy.’ He got up and walked away from her, his head dipped and his arms folded protectively across his chest.
‘Wait, Adam, I really am sorry…’ she said to his retreating back.
But he didn’t respond, just kept walking until he vanished into the dark.
