Page 13 of Dark Daze

She pointed at me. "Shit, you're right." And giggled again. "Come over here and sit with me. You look like you're going to fall down."

"You're leaning over sideways." I grabbed her hand and led her over to the couch.

"No, you." She flopped down heavily. Her skirt rose and fell around her. In that dress, she took up three quarters of the couch.

I slipped into the last quarter. "If you fall asleep, you're going to wake up in that dress."

She made a gesture that she didn't give a shit right now.

I decided not to press the matter. We would deal with her regrets in the morning.

"You should get married, Daisy," she said. "Then we can have another party like this."

"There will never be another party like this," I said. Not to mention the last week was complicated enough without throwing the idea of marriage into the mix.

Every time I turned around, one of those three guys was watching or waiting to help me with something, or coming up to talk to me, or asking me to go somewhere with them. That was all, none of them tried to do anything to me, or with me but flirt.

Hilton didn't even do that much. He talked about the weather and the other guests.

Every time we spoke, Hayley seemed to appear out of nowhere just so she could glare at me. I stared back at her until she looked away, but she was starting to give me the shits.

Whatever he felt for me had nothing to do with her. I didn't ask him to end their relationship. That was her fucking problem.

"You should get married anyway," Bella said. "And have lots and lots of babies." She squinted at me. "Hey, you never told me who Nova's father is."

"Didn't I?" As if I didn't know that already. I hadn't told anyone, including him.

Especially him.

She grabbed my hand a little too tight and squeezed. "Come on, if you can't tell your best friend, who can you tell? I won't tell anyone."

That was accurate; she was unlikely to remember this conversation in the morning.

I glanced around the room. Most of the guests had left and the staff who hurried around cleaning up weren't paying us any attention.

I sighed and hesitated for a few moments longer before I said, "It's Ric."

Her mouth formed an O. "Ric as in… Vinny's best man Ric?"

"As in my ex-boyfriend Ric, yes," I said.

She blinked at me a couple of times. "Does he know? He doesn't, does he?"

"Nope," I agreed. "And I'd like it to stay that way."

Honestly, I had no idea how he’d react if he found out. He was volatile at the best of times. And the worst.

"Right," Bella said slowly. "My lips are sealed."

"Promise?" I looked at her firmly.

"I promise never to tell anyone Ric is Nova's father," she said.

I exhaled softly. "Thank you. I don't know what he would do if…" I shook my head. I was lost in my thoughts for a moment until I realised Bella was snoring.

Fuck.

"Need some help?" a smooth voice asked.

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