39. Kye

THIRTY-NINE

KYE

"You have a sick sense of humor," I said to Carly as we walked into the back door of the diner. Luckily, Daisy wasn't working. Unluckily, it was because she was downtown, being paraded around on Mark's arm for his upcoming run for sheriff, and that's exactly where we were headed.

"Hey, you already agreed. I assumed you knew you would be running into her."

"Yeah, I did, but I figured it would be at the diner. I wasn't expecting to watch her walk around town all over Mark."

She huffed and handed me a bag. "I honestly forgot about that part. Blame the pregnancy brain. If you really can't handle it, I'll call Jax and make him come help."

I was already shaking my head, knowing that Jax had a long to-do list today, and I did actually want to hang out with Carly. "No, it's fine. I'll handle it. What are we doing, anyway?"

"The diner is getting a new menu, and I figured this would be a good time to let people know."

"I swear if you take those milkshakes off the menu, I will riot."

At his name, Riot came over to sit in front of me, patiently waiting for a treat or to be pet. I leaned down, rubbing his head as Carly grabbed a few more things out of the office. He was getting old now, but would perk up at any chance to be pet. The entire town was having events downtown today, from food, to Mark's campaign, to the carnival that came every year. It was a big deal, and Carly was smart for using it to get the word out more about the diner.

We headed out, packing into my car to make a five minute drive, but there was no way I was going to ask the pregnant lady to walk downtown with an arm full of things she wanted to hand out.

"Sorry, Kye," she said, and I was surprised when I looked over to see tears in her eyes. I couldn't actually remember a time I saw Carly cry, and the immediate panic nearly made me puke.

"For what? What's wrong?" I pulled hard into a parking spot.

"I didn't think about Daisy being here with Mark. I mean, I knew you were still in love with her and all, but I didn't think about it. I would probably commit murder if I were in your position. We shouldn't go. If you get upset, then I'll get upset. Then Jax will get upset because I'm upset, and it will be a whole mess."

I laughed and reached over to grab the bag she brought. "I will not be causing any of that drama, and won't be upset. I know what I'm getting into, and I'm here to help you. I'm the one who fucked up any chance I had with Daisy, not you. If I have to see her with Mark, that's also my fault."

"But it isn't fair," she said, still near tears. "I would go insane if I had to see Jax with anyone else like that."

"Maybe not, but it will be okay. Come on, let's go get this done."

She got out, Riot next to her, and I grabbed his leash before we headed into the crowd. Carly immediately got to work, stopping to talk to people and hand out her flyers. An hour went by before she stopped and groaned.

"I'm too pregnant for this."

"Then I'm texting Jax to come get you."

"No, we still have more to do."

I grabbed the stack of flyers left in her hand, already sending off a text to Jax to come get her. "And I'm going to finish."

She groaned again. "I'm really glad I chose you as a best friend. You don't touch me, you watch my scary movies with me, and you do my job when I don't feel like it."

I grinned, and checked my phone, already knowing Jax would be on his way. "He's coming to get you. He asked that you wait by the library corner because he has to get back to the track for work stuff."

"The library? The man had to choose the other side of town?"

"It's two blocks, Carly."

She huffed again and took off. "You walk two blocks with a human inside you that won't stop kicking your organs. Thanks, Kye. I owe you one."

She walked off, and I turned, suddenly determined to find Daisy.

I saw her before she saw me. Her blonde hair was pulled back and her fake prom queen smile was plastered on her face.

I circled around, coming up behind her and stepping by her side so she wouldn't see me right away.

"Having fun?" I asked, leaning down next to her.

She jumped, glancing over once as her fake smile fell before her eyes went back to the crowd. "You know what, Kye? I'm going to be honest with you because I can't seem to be with anyone else. No, I'm absolutely not having fun. This is stupid."

"Then why are you here?"

"I agreed to help Mark."

"By doing…what, exactly?"

"I don't know. Showing the town he has my dad's support?"

I laughed, knocking against her a little. "Do you want to know what would really show that your dad supports him?"

"What?"

"Your dad being here. Not you."

She finally spun, looking at me with a blank stare.

"I'm just saying. I don't get why you have to be the middle woman when he could be here."

"He was working."

"And he couldn't take off?"

She only stared more, her eyebrows furrowing the slightest amount. "Stop," she finally said.

"Stop what?"

"Making things sound more simple than they are. I agreed to help Mark show the town that he's capable of taking over the position and he…agreed."

It felt like the floor dropped out beneath me for a moment, and my brain tried to speed up enough to understand what she was implying.

"How exactly did you agree to help Mark do that?"

"I don't know. My dad asked me to just be seen with him, talk him up, or tell people how much my dad supported him being sheriff."

I forced my mouth not to drop open. "I have a very specific question, and I am going to need a very specific answer, Daisy."

"Don't call me Daisy," she said, throwing her shoulders back. It was so defiant. Every time she tried to straighten up and look perfect, it was all a show to look more capable, and as strong as I knew she was, I always thought the show of it was cute.

"I thought that was your name."

"It is, but you only call me Daisy when you're mad or upset. I feel like I'm getting scolded when you call me that."

"Is there something that you think I would be scolding you about?"

She didn't answer, and I was starting to worry I already knew the answer to my question.

"Daisy," I said again. "Are you pretending to date Mark to make him look good for all of this?"

"No. I mean, we are dating, I guess, and it does help his image, but it's not like we agreed to pretend to date."

"Why did you start dating him, then?"

"I don't know. My dad asked me to go on another date with him, you know, since you ruined the last one, and I agreed. He was nice enough, so I went on another, and then another, and I guess then it turned into us dating. Why are you bothering me about all of this?"

"I'm not sure if I should be mad or start laughing. Are you saying you only started dating Mark because you wanted to make your dad happy and then you kept dating him to make him happy?"

"Kye," she warned.

"Tell me right this second I have it all wrong, that none of what I said is true at all, and you are actually crazy about him. Tell me, and I won't bring it up again."

She spun back towards the crowd, her arms crossed over her chest, as her frown deepened. "You are the worst. No one asked for your opinion."

"It wasn't an opinion. It's, apparently, a fact because you aren't giving me an answer."

"Because I don't know what the answer is."

It felt like as good of a time as any to test my chances. Maybe it was wrong, maybe she would instantly hate me, but I had to know.

I stepped closer, angling myself at her back. She wore another dress today, this one pulled down on her arms so her shoulders were exposed, leaving me with thoughts of wanting to lean down and kiss along the bare skin. It would be so easy, from her shoulder to her neck to her lips.

"It can be pretty simple," I said, quieter now. "Is Mark happy with you two together?"

"I think so. He hasn't said otherwise."

"Is your dad happy that you two are together?"

"Happier than I've ever seen him when I've dated someone."

I moved a little closer, her back pressed against me now. "And what about you? Is the perfect prom queen as happy as she's trying to look?"

She stepped away, turning back to me with wide eyes and nostrils flaring. "I don't think that's any of your business anymore, is it? And don't call me that again. It's been ten years since I was any sort of prom queen, and I don't like you calling me that. I need to go. I have to go find Mark and my dad. He has Bailey with him, and I'm sure they are both ready for a break."

She was already trying to walk away, but I followed after her.

"Daisy," I said, hating how much I loved the way she stopped and immediately turned.

"What?"

"I just want you to be happy, and it looks like you're doing what you always do and trying to please other people instead of making sure you are happy."

"You don't know what is going to make me happy."

"No, but is being paraded around by Mark and your dad really what you want? Does he know you're pretending?"

She shrunk back. "Maybe I'm not–"

"Does he know? Is this like what we did? You pretend to date and each gets something out of it. Is that what this is?"

"No," she said, taking a deep, shaky breath and looking away. "No, it's not like that."

"Then what's it like?"

"I don't know. We are dating, Kye. He takes me out, I go along, he wins his Sheriff stuff, and then…"

"Then? You ride off into the sunset together? You get married? Have a family? Then, what?" I asked. I could hear my temper rising in my voice and feel it in my chest. I wasn't trying to get upset. When I walked over here, I thought I was going to keep my cool, but now I was learning that she wasn't actually interested in the guy she was dating.

"Does he know?" I asked.

She gave a half-hearted shrug with one shake of her head.

"Daisy." This time it really did sound like I was scolding her.

"Kye!" she said, matching my tone. "You have no room to judge my life. You walked out of it. You don't get to throw your judgment at me the moment you walk back into it. I have to go."

I took three steps until I was only inches from her. "You are amazing, Daze. Perfect exactly the way you are, and you do not need to be paraded around for other people's benefits like that just so they think you are a good girl and staying out of trouble."

"Isn't that what we did? Didn't you like that I was seen as a good girl, and you used it to your benefit?"

I smirked. "Didn't you like that I was seen as trash who would fight anything that moved, and you used that to your benefit?"

"I never saw you that way."

"I know that's a lie, but I'll let it slide. Do you want to know the difference between what happened with us compared to what's happening with you and Mark?"

"What?"

"First, we were both in on it. And second." I reached out, running my fingers down her arm and wishing I could do more. "I think I fell in love with you the moment you kissed me, and I'm pretty sure you fell in love with me. We can say different, but I don't think much of what happened between us was fake from that night."

A speaker sounded behind her, and I could hear Mark's voice.

"I have to go," she said again, but moved closer.

"Alright. I'm texting you later."

"You are?"

"I can call you if that's better?"

"No. Texting is fine," she said, but I could see the confusion.

Part of me did feel bad that her relationship didn't seem to be everything she hoped for, but the other part of me was hopeful.

There might still be a chance that Daisy could love me again.