24. Kye
TWENTY-FOUR
KYE
The thought of Daisy meeting me at the end of the race spurred me faster toward the finish line.
I was fucked, honestly.
There was no part of me that wasn't looking forward to kissing her after this.
I passed over the finish line, knowing I won but not caring.
Today was for Holt to see I was serious and to show off that I could be a good driver for him. Whether I won or not barely mattered to me.
Getting back to Daisy to find out what was happening with her dad was a lot more interesting right this second.
By the time I pulled around and parked, Daisy was standing alone by Jax and Carly's blacked-out Charger.
She definitely looked more pissed off than when I left her.
"What happened?" I asked.
"My dad is pissed. Thanks so much for helping with that, by the way. So, I guess it's time for our public breakup."
"Why? Because of your dad?"
"Because it's over? What reason do we have to keep the facade up? You're good with Holt now, and I came to the realization that I have friends that I like, and I don't need to keep up this stupid show."
The words hit me harder than I expected, my chest nearly caving in. It wasn't like I ever thought it was a real relationship, but I still liked spending time with her.
I gave a harsh laugh, my chest tightening, turning it all into anger. "So, you're just going from pleasing your friends to pleasing your dad? I'm useful when your friends need something to gossip about, and now that he's pissed about this, I'm useless again."
"No, Kye. That's not it at all."
"No?"
Her face fell, and she stepped closer, but I stepped back. "I mean, we agreed to fake the whole relationship for two things. Now we have those things, so wouldn't this be done?"
The entire rest of the day I had planned for dropped out from under me. The week, the month, everything I had wanted to do with her vanished.
A sheriff's car crept down the side of the track towards us. I knew her dad would be out driving around, meeting with people, and apparently ruining my life some more.
"Fine. I think that's your ride," I said, nodding towards it.
"I rode with you."
"Like I said, I think that's your ride." I pulled out my keys again. I still had more races to get to, but there was no reason to drag this out. I wasn't sure if I would even find the words to drag this out more. I was about eighty percent sure we just broke up, which meant I had no obligation to take her home.
I had no obligation to do anything.
I could feel my heartbeat picking up with each step. I would lose myself to racing today. I would get so lost in going faster that I would forget about her.
I turned the car over, not looking back as I pulled on the small marked road, passing Sheriff Wells and flipping him off as I went.
It had been six days since Daisy decided to tell me it was all still fake for her.
Six nights that I had barely slept. Six days, I had barely gotten through without texting her. And each day that passed was pissing me off more. I threw the wrench I had been using on a bolt that was refusing to come off, not caring as it bounced off the tire of the car Fox was working on.
"What the fuck, Kye? Knock it off."
"It slipped."
"And nearly hit me. Don't come around me starting shit because you're mad at the sheriff, or maybe it's Holt. Who fucking knows because you won't tell us anything."
"Maybe I don't want to tell you anything because all you like to do is run your fucking mouth and gossip about shit."
He turned back to me now. If he was shocked, he barely showed it. "You think I'm running my mouth? It's not like I'm talking and gossiping just to be a dick. Unlike you, I care about what's happening in my friends' lives."
"Oh, you can fuck off with that," I said. "You think I don't care because I don't want to hear all of you whining over your fucking girlfriends? They whine less than you guys do." He stepped up to me now. Fox was a few inches taller than me, but I didn't care. I also didn't care that he was one of my best friends.
I was about to hit him.
"Just because you're mad that you want to whine over a girl now because she ended the stupid charade you had going on doesn't mean you can come around and start shit with me."
I charged forward, slamming my shoulder into him, but Fox knew me and swung up, hitting my jaw hard.
It only spurred me on, and I pushed harder until he fell back against the car.
Before I could hit him, I was being pulled back.
"Alright, children," Jax said, grabbing my shirt and ripping me back until I was tripping over my own feet. "Kye, go the fuck home."
"I don't want to go home. How the fuck am I supposed to go there and sit around thinking about her being there? What the fuck do I do when she won't even respond to me?"
"You wait," Jax said.
"For what?"
"For her to respond? Or maybe you tell her that it isn't a charade anymore? Have you even said that you want to date her for real?"
"Of course, I haven't said that. That's ridiculous."
"Ridiculous because you haven't said that, or ridiculous that you want to actually date her."
I shook my head, more confused than before. "Both? Why would I want to date her? I don't know how to be in a relationship. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with a girlfriend."
"You've been doing it for months now," Fox said, calm now. "There's not much more to it than what you've been doing. Don't be a dick and care about her."
"And then what?" I asked.
"What do you mean?" Jax asked, eyebrows furrowed.
"I mean, I go tell her all this and that I do want to date her, and then what happens?"
They looked at each other and then at me. "You date?" Jax asked. "That's what comes next."
"Just endless dating? Endless time together?"
"Isn't that the goal?" Fox asked. "Aren't you upset right now because you feel like you've lost her?"
He was right. That's exactly what the problem was, and I hated it. I wanted her back around. I wanted her texting me, bothering me, and touching me constantly. Anger swelled in my chest that she cut off our relationship without even talking to me. She didn't even have one conversation to ask what I wanted or even tell me what she wanted. She had been too worried about what everyone else wanted to not even bother about what we wanted.
"You got this, Kye. Just tell her you want a real relationship and then take it one day at a time. You're already better at it than a lot of people," Jax said.
I stared at them both before stalking out to my car to leave. I didn't want to be here today. I didn't want to work on cars; I didn't want to go out for a drive; I didn't want to do anything but find Daisy and fuck her until all she could say was my name.
A few hours later, Carly barged into my apartment, Riot right behind her.
"Hey, I heard you're being an asshole today. Very on brand," she said, smirking as she grabbed my candy bar off the counter and tore into it.
"That was mine."
She nodded, taking a bite. "Kinda figured. Going to fight me now, too?"
"No. I don't feel like getting my ass kicked."
"At least you haven't lost your mind completely," she said, smirking as she took a bite.
"How can I be sure of that?" I asked, feeling like I had lost any sanity I had left.
"Oh, I would for sure be the first to let you know."
"Did you need something? Or just came to steal my candy?"
"Mainly the candy, but I also figured you forgot that we all made plans tonight to go to the haunted acres and do all the haunted houses."
I hadn't forgotten. I'd almost been looking forward to it, but now I felt so on edge that I wasn't sure if I wanted to go anywhere.
"I'm not going now."
"Come on, Kye," she groaned. "Let's just go out. You love the haunted house, and I heard this year is the best one they have ever had."
Fake blood, the sounds of screams and chainsaws, scary clowns. It did sound like a good way to get my mind off the girl who hated all of that. There was nothing there that would remind me of her, and maybe that's what I needed.
I could barely sleep in my bed without thinking of her there with me.
"Fine. I'll go. It's better than this."
Carly rolled her eyes. "Moping around isn't as fun as you hoped?"
"Not at all."
She waved me out of the apartment and downstairs to all our cars.
Everyone avoided me when I went downstairs, choosing to tiptoe around me and the questions I knew they had for me.
"I'll meet you guys there," I said, wanting to drive myself and avoid more of their awkwardness.
It was short-lived, though, because when I finally made it into the haunted acres and met them by the first haunted house, they did not look happy.
"What now?" I groaned.
Jax pushed Carly forward, and she glared back at him. "Nice," she said. "Literally throwing me to the wolves."
"You're the one that wanted to be best friends with him. So go on, be a good friend."
She rolled her eyes and pointed to something behind me.
When I looked back, my chest sank. The pit of my stomach churned until I felt sick. There was Daisy, dressed up in what appeared to be an attempt at a scary costume and a guy next to her. His hand moved to her lower back, pointing her towards a food cart. Red blurred my vision, and I wanted to scream.
The only girl that could touch me, the only one I wanted to touch, and now another guy's hands were on her.
I stepped forward, heading their way, when Carly grabbed my shirt and pulled me back.
"What are you doing?" she asked, her hand fisting to hold me in place.
I twisted, slipping out of my shirt and stalking away.
"Kye, what are you doing? You can't just go hit him."
"I'm not."
"Then what are you doing?" Scout yelled.
"Following them."
"You can't stalk her," Carly said.
"Like fuck I can't."
They headed towards the biggest haunted house, and I could only laugh. She hated scary things, but came here with him? And there he was, hoping she was going to cling to him because of it.
I grabbed a cheap mask off of one of the vendor tables, throwing a twenty down without stopping.
There was no chance in hell that she was going to be clinging to him. Daisy wasn't even going to make it through the entire haunted house with him.
Before she even had a chance, I was going to take her.