Or worse, that it was a five-second fluke and the second she touched me again would be blinding pain.

“Kye,” she whispered. The heated tone wasn’t lost on me. It was too much, the teeth, the nails, the lips. I knew what came next, and I didn’t think I could handle more after what she just did to me.

What no one had ever done to me.

“We should go,” I said, pushing a hand into my hair, nearly ready to start pulling it out. “Unless you need to go back inside longer.”

“No. No, that should be fine for me.”

“Alright. Come on. I need to get you home, then.”

“Oh. Oh, right, of course. Let’s go.”

I didn’t say a word as I got in, waiting for her to get in and pull on her harness before I took off. The car roared as I hit through the gears down the quiet street. If Daisy was scared, she didn’t do anything, but unless she started screaming, I wasn’t going to slow down.

I needed her out of my car and to put some distance between us again. I needed a break from the buzzing that had filled my head, my body screaming at me to touch her. It was magnetic, my hand twitching on the shifter, wanting to know if I touched her again, if it might be different.

The pain had to come back. There was no way that I woke up last week and suddenly found a way to be cured. Could I suddenly not be revolted when someone put their hands on me? Would my skin not crawl and my stomach not churn now?

It didn’t matter, though.

Because there was no way in hell I was going to find out.

EIGHTDAISY

Kye had pulled out of the party, and neither of us said a word.

Ever since he set me down, he looked pissed. His eyebrows were still furrowed as he pulled out another cigarette.

I hated smoking, and I almost wanted to ask him to not, but he was already mad. I couldn’t make it worse.

It wasn’t that I thought Kye would hurt me. From everything I’d seen from him, he didn’t seem randomly violent, but I knew he could be.

I didn’t know how far I wanted to push to find out what made him snap.

“How long will you be at your dad’s place?” he asked, breaking the silence.

The question pulled me out of my thoughts and sent me right back to that moment when Dean got mad at me for this. 

“I don’t know. At least until a dorm room opens up, and hopefully not a day longer. My older sister moved out a few months ago, so it’s not that bad staying there. But if I pull up in your car, he’s going to freak out, so please park around the corner. I need to keep the peace while I live there.”

I bit at my lip, debating if I should ask him about what just happened. He was moving on like nothing happened, and I was wondering if he wasn’t as mad about the kiss as I thought.

I definitely wasn’t mad about it.

Even kissing his neck made my whole body turn to flames.

Regardless of what I thought about Kye, my body seemed more than happy when I touched him.

“Why do you call me Daze?” I asked.

He smirked, the dash casting him in a warm, blue hue. He shifted the car again, the smooth movement catching my attention. He seemed to do it mindlessly, but I couldn’t figure out how he knew when exactly to do it.

“Because your name is Daisy, and I like the shortened version. It seemed more fitting.”

“Everyone just calls me Daisy.”

“Daze-ee,” he said, sounding it out. “Same thing?”

“But it’s not.”

“Does it bother you?”

I looked over every feature of his face. From the strong jaw to the straight nose, which itself was a little surprising considering I would have guessed he had broken it more than once in his life.

“It’s never been my favorite, but it’s growing on me.” I looked around, realizing we were getting closer to my dad’s house. “And you can just pull off here. I’ll walk down the road to the house.”

“Yeah, of course. Wouldn’t want you to have to explain to your dad why you’re pulling up in a car he is usually chasing after.”

“How many times have you been chased by my dad, exactly?”

“I don’t know. We’ve raced a few times.”

“He’s the town sheriff, Kye, I don’t think he would agree that it’s racing.”

“Maybe he’s just mad he loses.”

“Bye, Kye.” I got out, laughing as I shut the door and headed towards the house.

I made it to the front door, shutting it quietly before I slumped against it. 

I’ve kissed Kye twice now, and each time made me weak. I wanted to forget it, but it still played over and over in my mind.

“Hey, Dad,” I said, walking past where he sat in the living room. He was watching TV, but I knew he had been sitting there waiting for me to get home.

“Hey, honey, how was your night?”

“Fine, I guess. The usual.”

I heard him then. Kye’s car out front. The rev of the engine and then tires locking up on pavement.

“Those damn guys are always coming around here. You would think they would know better than to go to the sheriff’s house.”

“Yeah,” I said, almost feeling bad that I was just out with that same guy.

My dad grabbed his radio. “Can someone come around my house? Some kids are out here racing.”

“I’m going to bed. Goodnight,” I said, running to my room.