Page 10 of The Summer I First Saw You
“You clearly need me,” I reply, filling my water bottle. “There was nothing in here but orange juice and some Chinese food. You’re going to get sick if you keep ordering in for every meal.”
“I’ve been eating like this for a decade without issue, and given that I used to have to tell you not to eatsand, it’s hard to take any nutritional advice you offer me seriously.”
I ignore the way he’s throwing my childhood in my face so I can focus on the more interesting issue. Because even though he and Audrey had been unhappy for a while, I did picture them as the type of lame couple who’d stay in making boring but complicated meals, which they’d then eat by candlelight while discussing their stock portfolio.
“You and Audrey didn’t cook?” I ask.
He glances up, and his dark eyes empty as he closes himselfoff to me. He grabs the bourbon and his plate. “Thanks for dinner.” He walks upstairs without another word.
Which is a pretty severe reaction when their split was theoretically mutual.
Harrison lied about the girlfriend in LA.
Maybe he lied about other things too.
7
HARRISON
Iwake, hoping to escape running into Daisy if at all possible.
And then I arrive downstairs to discover her naked on my balcony. “I do not need this shit,” I mutter to myself, and even after she stands up and I realize she’s not nude—she simply appears to be, thanks to taupe leggings and a matching bra—I remain pissed off.
I bet every goddamn surfer outside is doing a double take and then a third. I’m surprised car crashes haven’t occurred, bikers haven’t collided, small aircraft haven’t fallen from the sky. Seriously…it’s just a matter of time.
She walks in before I can demand it of her, thank God. “Good morning, sunshine,” she sings, taking a seat at the counter. Apparently, she’s cold quite often. I can once again see her nipples clear as day.
I grunt something unintelligible in response, trying not to look at her as I make my coffee. “Start wearing more clothes when you’re doing yoga. I don’t need people asking questions about the naked woman on my balcony.”
She rolls her eyes. “First of all, I’m not naked. Secondly, I’mnot doing yoga. Third, if the neighborsdidnotice they’d obviously think this was some kind of monetary situation, and I sort of like being thought of as a sugar baby.”
I set my mug down on the counter slightly too hard. I’m irritated and also…something else I don’t want to put words to. There shouldn’t be this stirring in my gut when she suggests whatever’s going on here is sexual. “This might come as a surprise, Daisy, but I don’t want to be thought of as a man who has topayfor female companionship, especially from someone who’s barely legal.”
She laughs. “I was kidding, obviously. No one is going to thinkyou’dneed to pay for it. You could get laid ten ways from Sunday anytime you wanted with anyone you wanted.” She starts walking toward the stairs. “But I’m not interested in wearing more clothes, so learn to live with it.”
I can’t even come up with a response.
Mostly because I’m still stuck on her saying I could get laid byanyoneI want.
Jesus fucking Christ. I absolutely have to get her out of my home.
Work has beenawkward since I returned. Daisy’s presence in my life makes it the closest thing I’ve got to a comfort zone, but it’s still uncomfortable as fuck.
Six months ago, I was the golden boy—the youngest partner and the top-earning one—and then I put half of our stuff in storage and shipped the rest overseas, sold our house, and quit my job, all to save a failing marriage. The office threw me a London-themed goodbye party, complete with tea cakes and tiny flags, and off I flew, halfway across the world.
Daisy’s carping about a few drinks when she has no clue how hard it was to get where I am now. To return to my old firmwith my tail between my legs admitting I’d failed, after I’d already handed off every client to someone else. It doesn’t matter what excuse I gave about why I’m back: all anyone can see is that I fucked up. It’s all I can see too.
I know she means well—even as a little kid, Daisy had a big heart. She’d weep over the three-legged dog that came to the beach. She’d hand her lunch to the first homeless guy she saw at the wharf. But the one thing she can do to improve my situation is to leave me alone, and I can’t keep waiting for her to realize it.
I’ve been giving it some thought, and while I appreciate what you’re trying to do, I also really value my privacy. You need to go back to your mom’s house. Things with Scott will work out.
Daisy
Hmmm…let me think.
Okay, I’ve thought. And I’m staying.
If you need a place to stay, I’ll help you find something. I’ll even pay for it.
