51. Daisy

FIFTY-ONE

DAISY

The next day after work, I got to the apartment to find the place empty.

Kye was supposed to be watching Bailey, and after my tires were slashed and the house broken into, my panic bubbled up immediately. I pulled out my phone, already hitting the button to FaceTime Kye.

He picked up in two rings, his smiling face filling my screen.

"Hey," he said, turning the phone down to Bailey quick and back onto him.

"Where are you?"

"Walking towards the apartments."

"And where have you been?" I asked, already heading back downstairs to the sidewalk.

"The tattoo shop."

My mouth fell open. "Excuse me?"

"We are right outside," he said. "I'll be inside in one minute."

He laughed, clicking the call off, and I wasted no time storming outside to meet them out front.

"You took her to a tattoo shop?" I was almost yelling, but I couldn't believe what he was telling me and I couldn't believe how cute the two of them looked. He apparently took her shopping too, because she had on new clothes. Her little shoes matched his and so did the hat, both of theirs backwards to match. Even her blonde hair matched his and I realized then that she looked like his. If we were walking down a street, I wouldn't think twice about assuming that was his kid. Even the relaxed way they were together made them look like family.

"Relax, Daze. It's one of the cleanest environments next to a hospital and the guys and girls there are great. She knew she had to behave and sat with me like a champ. Everyone loved her gymnastics routine too," he said with a smirk.

"I held his hand for the needles," Bailey said proudly.

"Yes, she did through the entire thing. And showed everyone your tumbling routine too, so that was a hit with them." He smiled down at her and back at me.

"You can't bring a child to a tattoo shop, Kye!"

"It's not like she got a tattoo and anyway, I needed the artist there for approval."

"The artist? What are you talking about?" Every part of me was about to explode with the cuteness that was Kye with a child and finding a reason to be upset was losing its appeal. "I swear if you let her tattoo you, Kye, you will both be in so much trouble."

He leaned down, whispering something to her, and she giggled before running to his other side and trying to pull up his shirt. Finally he helped and I could clearly see what the tattoo was, even covered in wrap.

It was the animal she drew on him with marker before. It was close to what she had drawn, a little perfecting from the tattoo artist, but overall, it was Bailey's drawing.

My heart raced and stomach dropped.

"You got that tattooed on you?" My voice squeaked, but nothing was processing. I struggled to find any coherent words.

"First my name on your hands and now this? Kye, this is too much. This feels like more than tattoos, this feels like…" My words died because it felt nearly unbelievable.

This made him really feel like ours.

He stepped closer, close enough that I could smell the musk of his body wash. The scent went to my head, and I leaned into him more.

This couldn't be real life. I couldn't be this lucky to find this type of love and have it come back to me.

The man I had loved from the day I met him, loved me back, and even loved my child.

And now he was two feet away, tattooed with my name on him and her drawing, asking me a question that I realized I was ignoring.

"What did you say?"

"I said," he leaned down, kissing my neck once, "what does it feel like?"

I hesitated. I already knew he wanted all of it. He made it clear that he wanted us together, but some part of me still feared the worst.

"Daisy, tell me."

Finally, I met his eye.

"It feels like you're ours. That we're yours. That maybe it's just a tattoo, but I've never been able to get one because that is permanent and then you go and tattoo us on your skin."

He just smiled. "That I can understand. I know I can go get a tattoo on a whim, but they do mean a lot to me. Looking down to see your name was the only thing that made me not feel insane after being gone for years. I would ask myself over and over how I could think of you so often. At least with this, I had an excuse to why I thought of you. I think I have been yours since the moment you pulled me in, told me I was now your boyfriend, and kissed me years ago. Tattoo or not. As for Bailey's tattoo, she is one of my favorite people and I liked her art. I can only hope to be hers, too." His hand trailed down my jaw and my head leaned back, giving him access to whatever he wanted. "Whether you want me or not, I could never be anyone else's."

I could barely believe his words. Dreams and nightmares of him saying these things to me made it hard to believe this was real. I grabbed onto his arms, trying to not collapse.

"Of course I want you. I only want you."

He kissed me hard, smiling as Ransom and Quinn's car pulled up.

Quinn rolled down the window. "Come on, you three. Head up to our place. We brought dinner."

I smiled, taking Kye's hand as he picked Bailey up.

I wasn't sure how life could get better than this.

The next day, I sat back on the small chair that Kye had brought out into their garage for me. We had planned to go out tonight, but he insisted on taking his older car and it broke down before we even got out of the parking lot.

"You know, you have two other perfectly good cars to choose from."

"Yes, but this one is special."

"Special, but broken," I joked.

He turned back with a frown. "I can get it running with no problem."

"Tonight?"

He laughed, grabbing another wrench and leaning back over the engine. "Okay, that might be a problem."

"Well, then, I guess I will get comfortable." I hopped up on the back of the car next to him, already pulling out a book.

"You're staying?"

"Of course. We planned to hang out, and Bailey's with Fox and Ash. What else would I do now?"

He laughed, grabbing my hips and pulling me down from the car to the edge. "I have an idea of what you could do."

"Besides reading? What did you have in mind?"

He worked fast as he unbuttoned my shorts and pulled them down. His hands moved down my inner thighs, parting them so he could lean down between them. I closed my eyes, enjoying the lingering heat where his lips pressed against my thighs.

His tongue ran along me, making my back arch immediately. I laid back on the car, the cool metal making me jump at first, but his mouth came back down over me. He groaned against me, his arms wrapping around my thighs as his tongue pressed hard against my clit. My chest heaved as I struggled to get a full breath. Every nerve grew sensitive, and by the time he pushed two fingers into me, I was falling apart.

My body tensed. His fingers pushed into me again as his mouth clamped down on my clit. I broke, white stars bursting in my eyes as my body tightened around him. He slid me higher on the car, jumping up to crawl over me.

"Can you take more now?" he asked, laughing as he undid his belt. "I don't even know why I asked. You always want more."

Before he could even get his jeans unbuttoned, my phone went off, the high pitched beep pulling me out of the moment.

"What is that?"

"An alarm, I think. Maybe it will stop."

We waited, but the beeping didn't stop, and I finally gave in, grabbing it to silence it.

"Shit," I said, seeing the notifications popping up. "It is the diner's alarm."

"What about it?"

"Carly gave me the login to take care of the alarm stuff until after the baby comes, but Mia, the other waitress, can never seem to set it right, so it goes off constantly lately."

"Do you need to go down there?"

I grabbed my phone, calling Mia twice before I realized she wasn't going to pick up. "Yeah, it should only take me a few minutes to reset the alarm. The place should already be shut down."

He was grabbing another set of keys and already heading to the door.

"Um." I stopped, pointing at the car he had been working on. "Based on the dark liquid pouring out of that car, I think you need to stay here."

"Shit," he said, heading over to grab something to catch it in. "Are you sure you're okay to go? I can get this stopped and come."

"No, it's alright. I'll be right back," I said.

"Alright. Here, take my car, the running one, and call me if you need anything." He leaned down, kissing me hard. "And hurry up, I wasn't even close to done with you."

I headed out, turning back to watch for one second as he leaned back over the engine. His muscles strained as he fought with a bolt.

I was going to hurry. I was going to drive as fast as I ever had, if it meant getting back to that view sooner.

The diner was dark when I pulled in, letting me know that I was right. Mia had thought she was setting the alarm, but didn't. Hopefully, she at least cleaned the place up. I hadn't wanted to talk to Carly about her since Carly was a little busy with other things, but I think it was getting to the point I would have to.

I headed up, trying the front door, happy that it was locked at least. I tried the side door next, but it was locked, too. The alarm went off again, telling me it still wasn't locked up right.

A flash of white caught my eye, and I peered in the window more. At first, I couldn't understand. The blonde hair, the skirt and bare legs, the white of her shirt.

A girl was laid out on the floor, unmoving, with her face down. I couldn't see who it was and the blonde hair wasn't helping. Mia and Amber were both brunettes. I was already digging through my purse, trying to find my keys and my phone.

My hands shook as I pulled them both out, shoving the key into the lock and unlocking my phone.

The call connected just as I got inside.

"I need help," I said, trying to breathe as I turned the girl over.

It was Mia.

The rush of confusion made me stutter through the next few questions. Who was I, where was I, what was happening.

"I think she's dead," I said, the words echoing as I looked at Mia's face. I knew she was, but I could bring myself to confirm it.

"Okay, Daisy. They are coming. Don't worry." The woman kept talking, giving me directions until she finally told me to stand outside and wait.

I stumbled until I reached the cold brick wall outside, leaning against it as cars pulled up. My dad came up first, trying to pull me up, but I didn't move. He yelled out questions, and I tried to answer them, but I couldn't focus.

"Mark," he yelled. "Help her."

Mark crouched down in front of me, but I shook my head. "No, don't touch me. Go. She needs help, not me."

He stared for a few more seconds before getting up.

I didn't want my dad or Mark trying to help me. I didn't want anyone but Kye.