Page 51 of In the Danger Zone
We stood in front of the table and it felt like all eyes were on us. My hand was tight on Daisy’s as Murph gave me a sharp nod. He was probably ready to let loose about me being late but kept that to himself. Colton gave me a not-so-subtle thumbs up, nodding at me after he very clearly checked out Daisy. I’d get him for that later.
“Wentworth, you’re here.” Murph gave me what I knew was a forced grin. “Finally. And you brought a guest.”
“This is Daisy.” I wrapped an arm around my girl, pulling her to me. “My girlfriend. She studies at UWO too. She’s an art history major. Fancy, right?”
Murph sent Daisy a friendly smile – something I appreciated. “Very fancy. Nice to meet you, Daisy.”
“You t-too,” Daisy said softly.
“You gotta be an angel to put up with that one.” Murph nodded at me before patting the table. “You come take a seat with us.”
Still grabbing Daisy’s hand firmly, I introduced her to the sponsors before I moved her over to the two free chairs that had been reserved for us. Tanner was sitting right across from us – absolutely dateless.
Next to Tanner was Hudson and his girlfriend, Sasha. They had been together for what felt like a decade. Sasha had always been easy to get along with, so I was hoping she’d help ease Daisy into the whole WAG thing.
“So, we finally get to meet Daisy,” Tanner said with a big smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
I eyed him closely.Don’t say anything stupid.
“H-Hi,” Daisy answered softly. “It’s n-nice to m-meet all of you.”
“Murph was right. You really are a saint for putting up with this one,” Hudson spoke up, giving me a little nod. “There’s no way anyone else could do it.”
“I’m not that bad,” I said quickly. “She likes me. You like me, right?”
“I do,” Daisy whispered.
“There? See. And I even taught her how to skate the other day.”
“Well, Daisy, you might wanna try teaching him how to read, because the invitation said this dinner started at seven, not seven-thirty,” Tanner spoke up.
“No, it didn’t.” I pulled out my phone, quickly going through my emails to find the one Murph had sent me. I was certain it had said seven-thirty. But my eyes narrowed when I saw the word seven clear as day. “Huh. How ‘bout that…”
Daisy patted my shoulder. “Whoops.”
I heard some snorts of laughter from the guys. “I shouldn’t have brought you here. These ones are gonna corrupt you.”
“Don’t hide her from us,” Sasha said with a smile. “How’d you two meet, anyway?”
“Wait, yeah, you never actually told us how you met her, Evan,” Tanner murmured, gulping down his glass of water.
My eyes darted over to Daisy. We hadn’t ever really talked about how we met in such a weird way: how she bumped into a guy she hated and took off like her life depended on it. And how I chased right after her. That was probably the best decision I could have ever made.
“I saw her at a party and couldn’t stay away from her,” was my answer. That was the truth. Technically. “There was just something about her.”
Daisy looked over at me, giving me the sweetest smile I had ever seen. I hoped she understood that I meant every word I was saying.
“Cute.” Sasha gave us a pout. “So, Daisy, you’re studying art history?
“I… I am, yeah,” Daisy said, sounding a little unsure.
I reached a hand under the table, laying it on top of her own. Giving it a little squeeze, I just wanted her to know that I was there. That no one was going to judge her, that whatever happened in school wasn’t going to happen again. Maybe she was on high alert, but I wanted her to know that she could relax.
“That’s so cool. How’d you get into that?” wondered Sasha.
Daisy looked over at me. Again, I could see that hesitance. Did she think someone was gonna laugh at her? Make fun of her stutter? I kept squeezing at her hand. I wanted her to talk. Hearing her voice was the best part of my day.
“I… I’ve just always f-found art super interesting,” Daisy explained, her voice soft. “I’m definitely n-not an artist m-myself, b-but I love all the stories that art tells you.”
