“He barely believed me. And now we have to keep this up for three more weeks? How the fuck am I supposed to manage that?”

“Oh, come on. I’m not that bad,” she said, grinning.

“No, I meant how the hell am I supposed to keep up this idea that I have a girlfriend?” I asked, already shaking my head. “Forget it. I just can’t believe he was that skeptical. I know we agreed on two outings each, but what about now? Can you handle adding another one or two?”

She shrugged. “I don’t see why not. It’s working great for me, and being seen out again with you could really rile Dean up. Plus, the girls even invited me out for a day on the boat, which is basically an invitation back into the friend group. They want to know all your dirty secrets, or more like our dirty secrets.”

I hid my eye roll. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand wanting friends—I couldn’t think of my life without mine—but what I didn’t understand was the stupid games she had to play just for them to like her.

“Am I supposed to be going on this boat with you?”

“No, you weren’t invited. I think they are still scared of you.”

“Thank the damn world for that because being stuck on a boat for hours with those people and having to play nice sounds like my own personal hell.”

“Don’t worry. It will be the entire group of friends, and I don’t think you’re experienced enough in that type of group to play nice for that long.”

“At least you recognize that,” I said, laughing. “Do you want to go out for a drive before I bring you home?”

I didn’t know what made me ask. I usually liked to go out alone, but the other day she came with me was…nice.

She was already agreeing, pulling on the harness and leaning her head back to look out the window as I idled out of the parking lot.

My mind that usually raced had been quiet, and as much as I liked to go out for late night drives, I was starting to think I liked going out on a drive with her more.

TENDAISY

The car was quiet as he wove through town. He didn’t even have the music on, instead choosing to let the rev of the engine drown out everything.

Not that I minded. Driving around with Kye like this was peaceful. Loud, but peaceful.

“I want a milkshake. Do you want anything from the diner?”

“The diner?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Yeah, the one right on the edge of town? Do you not go?”

“I mean, maybe? What’s the name of it?”

“The diner,” he said again. “That’s what it’s called. If it has another name, I don’t know it.”

I laughed. “Okay, then, yeah, I would also like one.”

He nodded and hit the gas. The only problem with that was we were coming up to an intersection.

“What are you doing?” I yelled, grabbing onto the harness. 

He laughed as he turned the wheel, the back of the car breaking free as he went around the corner. The car moved sideways, drifting around the corner as I yelled.

I squeezed my eyes shut until I could feel the car straighten out again. 

“When I said I wanted to go for a milkshake, I didn’t mean get there as fast as possible.”

“Oh,” he said, laughing harder now. “Well, you are going to have to be more specific next time.”

“How about I make a blanket rule of not doing…whatever that was around any corner.”

“Are you serious? How am I supposed to get around turns?”

“The boring, old-fashioned way? By coming to a stop, putting on a turn signal, and slowly turning.”

He pulled into what I assumed was the diner, but there really was no sign out front. He huffed, but shut the car off. “There is no way in hell that I will be agreeing to that,” he said with a smirk. “What do you want?”

“I’ll take one of whatever you are having.”

With one sharp nod, he got out and headed inside.

I waited in the silence, the warmth of the car still wrapping around me. It was strange being out with Kye, but even more strange how normal it felt. The pressure to be anyone but myself was gone around him. It didn’t matter because he seemed to have no expectations of me. I didn’t have to be a good daughter, or girlfriend, or even friend with Kye. I could just be me.

Kye came to my side and ripped the door open, his face stone as he shoved the drinks at me.

“Here,” he said, barely letting me grab them before he was standing back up straight. “Lock the doors and do not get out of this car for anything until I am back. And I mean anything, Daisy.”

“What?” I said, panicking as I took the drinks. “What’s wrong?” I finally noticed the two guys walking towards the car. They looked like Kye in some ways, the tattoos, the scowls, but I was suddenly worried they were nothing like them. “Who are those guys?”

He didn’t answer, slamming the door and motioning for me to lock them.

I did, my eyes glued to them as they walked up and started talking. None of it looked friendly, but Kye still had that smirk on his face. I was starting to be convinced that it was there solely to piss people off.

The other guy yelled something, the muffled word lost to me, but then he swung, hitting Kye right in the face.

I screamed, but no one paid any attention to me. Instead, Kye went after him.

The glow of the lights from the diner was the only thing letting me keep track of what was happening now. As soon as Kye got close enough, the guy swung again, hitting Kye squarely in the nose, but somehow it didn’t deter him.

With one swift swing of his arm, Kye’s fist connected with the guy’s jaw. The guy yelled in pain as he stumbled back, trying to regain his balance.

He didn’t have a chance, though. Before he could see straight again, Kye was on him, swinging over and over.

It felt like hours, but the entire thing was over in less than a minute. Kye had kept punching, his fists landing on the guy’s face, chest, stomach, and anywhere else he could connect. The guy stayed standing, his hands weakly trying to fight back, but Kye was ruthless, not giving him a chance.

Finally, the guy fell back, landing in the dirt behind him. Kye watched for a few seconds before, apparently, deciding that it was officially over. 

He got in, blood dripping from a large cut at the bridge of his nose. When he reached for his milkshake, I could see his red, bloody knuckles. Like it didn’t even phase him, he took a sip.

“Fuck, these things are my favorite,” he said. “Ready to go?”

I nodded, but I couldn’t find any words.