Page 86 of In the Danger Zone
I didn’t want that, though. It was all lie. Every last bit. Had any of it been true? Had I really been her first kiss, her first everything? I didn’t know where the lies started and finished. The bakery thing was bullshit. Her family never needed money for rent since the place wasn’t even open. And she had looked me right in the eyes and told me she wasn’t gonna cash that check. I had wanted her to. Because Iwantedto help her family who were apparently struggling. That was pure bullshit, though. That and Asher attacking her.
“I dunno,” I said, sounding irritated, and that was because I fucking was. I wasn’t in the mood to fuck a girl. Me and Daisy had only just ended it. It had literally been less than an hour since I saw her and told her I knew the truth. My dick wasn’t going to get hard. It didn’t matter if some hot girl fell into my lap, pulled out her tits, and begged me to fuck her. “I’m not in the mood.”
“What do you mean you’re not in the mood? You’re single now.” Asher nudged me.
“And you’re gonna have to get over her eventually,” Tanner suggested.
Asher rolled his eyes. “Fuck, I don’t know what you were doing being with Daisy in the first place.”
“I didn’t know she was a fucking liar,” I snapped.
“Well, that’s what you get for picking her over me. Now you know. Don’t forgive her. Ever.” Asher stared at me closely. “She’s always been out to get me. She just did that through you.”
“You need to talk to Murph,” I said loudly. “Tell him all of this shit. He needs to know. We want you back on the team.”
“I’ll try again when he’s back in town.”
“Murph is gonna lose his shit when he finds out about all of this,” Colton said. “There’s no way he won’t bring you back. What the hell was going through his head when he kicked you off the team?”
Asher downed some beer before shrugging. “I dunno. He called me up a couple hours before the game and told me to get fucked. I don’t know what Daisy told him.”
“Holden mentioned something about an email.” I remembered that little conversation I had with our assistant coach. “I wonder what was in it.”
“Lies, lies, and more fucking lies.” Asher slapped a hand to the table. “You can’t let her get away with this bullshit. If she did this to you, then she’s gonna try and get the rest of us kicked off the team. There won’t be any of us left by the end of the season. That’s what she wants. Now, if you’re not gonna fuck that girl that’s been staring at you all night, then I will.”
Frowning, I watched him quickly approach a pretty brunette. Had she been staring at me all night? I didn’t know and I didn’t give a fuck. None of that mattered.
I didn’t even want to move on. Part of me was still clinging on to the past, because the last few months had been beyond perfect. They were magic and that was all thanks to Daisy.
She was still the only one I could think about.
Chapter 38
DAISY
Asher had hurt me in the worst way possible. He was smart. Too smart. The worst part was that he was pure evil as well. Knowledge and wickedness were a terrible combination.
My eyes were wet with tears as I pressed my face into my pillow. It had been a whole forty-eight hours since I last saw Evan – since he got me in that locker room all alone and made sure I ran out of there crying. How could someone so kind be so cruel at the same time? How could he believe Asher over me? How could he stand there and laugh while Asher teased me about my stutter? Was it really that fun to hurt me? Because so many people seemed to just love doing it.
I had no idea what lies Asher told Evan. Was it more than just that video of my dad doing his best to defend his daughter’s honor? When he was provoked and prodded at by Asher? Whatever it was, it worked. Because Evan had gone from looking at me with so much light in his eyes to looking at me like he wanted me dead.
The ache wouldn’t leave me. The loneliness, the emptiness. I was right back to where I started. I couldn’t get over the sound of Evan laughing at me after what Asher said.You need more than a fucking minute. You can barely get a fucking sentence out right now.
That right there had been the worst part. It was something I was never going to forget. I knew that when it happened. I could feel the stinging memory forming a little permanent home right there in my head. It was not going to leave.
More tears fell. Evan had told me loud and clear that he would never hurt me like that, that he would never attack me over my stutter. And maybe he wasn’t the one to say anything, but he still stood there and let Asher tear at any little bit of confidence I had spent so much time building.
“Daisy?” I heard a quiet voice behind me.
I sniffled, looking over to see Leena standing by the end of my bed. She held up the spare key I had given her, taking a seat next to me. I appreciated the gentle hand she rested on my back.
“I know how dumb I look right now,” I confessed. “He hurt m-me and I’m crying over him like an idiot.”
“You’re not dumb.” She shook her head at me. “You’re allowed to feel whatever you want.”
“The pain just won’t go away. I didn’t realize I liked him this m-much,” I whispered. “I only just realized that I wanna b-be with him forever.”
“Oh, Daisy.” Leena laid down next to me, wrapping an arm me. “I’m sorry he did this to you.”
