Between Liam, Fox and Ash’s kid, who was five, and Lily, Jax and Carly’s four-year-old daughter, there was a pack of kids that were quickly becoming inseparable when we got together. It was one of the biggest reasons I started hanging out with the crew again. Now, though, I was best friends with the girls and ended up spending most of my free time with one of them, if not all of them.

My dad was still going on about seeing Bailey. “She’s my granddaughter, Daisy. You know your sister would want me to have more time with her.”

“My sister would understand that her daughter has more of a life than I do and would like her to have friends.”

“Exactly. She’s Willow’s daughter, not yours, and you need to stop acting like you get to make all the decisions for her.”

Red hot anger sliced through me anytime he tried to say Bailey wasn’t mine. “Bailey became my daughter the minute Willow passed, and someone had to take custody of her. I took full custody and as sheriff, I think you understand that means I get to make all the decisions for her.”

“Daisy, you need to bring her here. I⁠—”

“I will bring her to your house tomorrow. For now, I’m going to my friend’s dinner. Goodbye.”

Bailey ran past me, yelling out the same line of a song over and over with her dress already twisted and halfway off. I grabbed the backup clothes I had for her and shoved them in my bag before grabbing her.

“Come on, Bee, we have to go.”

She screeched, and I continued out the door.

Mark pulled into the driveway. The window to his cruiser was down, and I waved as he stopped next to me.

“Thank you so much for the ride,” I said, and he nodded, getting out to help me. “My car will be back from the garage tomorrow, hopefully.”

“Come on, Bailey,” I said as she hesitated. “You get to go see Liam and Lily.” Her head fell to the side, and she gave me a sweet smile.

“Okay, let’s go,” she said, sliding down my side to get into the car. Mark was already putting the car seat in the back and Bailey jumped into it.

Her little crush on Liam was already paying off for me, and she happily got into her car seat and buckled herself in. I tried to tell myself that every month, and every year, was only getting easier. Bailey was becoming more self-sufficient, which I thought would be a relief, but it somehow became a nightmare with how smart she was getting. It didn’t help that she had a wild streak in her I couldn’t contain.

Bailey would never be the girl following her friends jumping off the proverbial bridge. She would be the leader, and I never realized how scary it was for the parent of the leader.

“Really, Mark. I appreciate the ride.”

He smiled, reaching over to pat my hand as he drove. “Anytime. I don’t mind getting to see you two for a few minutes.”

While we’d gone on a couple dates, and while I considered us dating, I still couldn’t bring myself to call Mark my boyfriend. He was sweet, and likable. My dad loved him, and I really had nothing to complain about, but I still hesitated to push the relationship along any faster.

“You work all day?”

“Till ten. Yeah. I would offer to see you after, but I’m guessing you’ll be sleeping by then after a day with this one.” He pointed back at Bailey and gave me an apologetic smile. He knew how much it took for me to keep up with her. Between my anxiety and her antics, I was either running after her or panicking about her safety. It was endless and exhausting.

And while Mark didn’t mind helping me with things like a ride or bringing over some food for us to hang out, he wasn’t sure what to do with Bailey. Not that I blamed him exactly, but it felt strange that the guy I was dating couldn’t understand what to do with her. He wanted his own kids, at least that’s what he’d told me, but the look of fear that came over him anytime Bailey needed anything more than a snack made me think he wasn’t quite ready for them yet.

He kept the conversation going, telling me about work and things going on in town. He was an officer now, working under my dad, but was currently running to take over for my dad. He wanted to be the sheriff, and I was helping with it. Dating the current sheriff’s daughter looked great to the town, and he was using every opportunity to show us off together. He went on about it all, my mind wandering the moment he started about the logistics of everything. I’d heard so much about the sheriff’s life growing up with my dad, that listening to it now was like white noise. It wasn’t Mark’s fault, but no part of me could tune into the ramblings.

By the time we made it to the country club for the dinner, Bailey was humming in excitement. I jumped out to help her out and was already five seconds behind her flurry of excited movements.

“Thanks again,” I said, leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. I liked Mark.

Mark was fine, and fine was the exact reason we hadn’t made it past a quick kiss here and there.

He seemed fine with it, and I definitely would not be the one pushing for more. I knew he liked me. The constant reaching out and taking me out was obvious. He had made it clear he would respect me and let me make the first move towards anything more physical, which was nice, but it meant we had been dating for months with nothing past a make-out session.

I should have known Bailey was going to bolt, but part of me was too preoccupied thinking about everything I had to do this week, and everything about Mark.

“Bailey!” I yelled, already running after her as I waved back at Mark. She made it inside seconds before I did. “Bailey!” I yelled, running down the hallway. I knew the crew would be in the banquet hall, looking over the place Scout was holding the wedding, and I knew Bailey knew the entire place well enough, but I still needed to catch her.

I turned the corner, slamming hard into someone’s chest.

THIRTY-THREEDAISY

Arms reached out, steadying me.

I didn’t know it was possible to happen twice in my life.

That moment when you look at someone and the world around you shatters. This time, though, it was memories flooding back in. Like a movie playing so fast, I couldn’t get the entire story, but felt each scene with the same heightened emotion I felt when it happened in real time.

Every kiss. Every fight. When I said I loved him, when he said it to me, and the feeling of my heart breaking under the weight of the words.

The first night at the party that I kissed him.

Anger and heartbreak rushed in, ready to knock me over.

It was like a day had gone by since the last night I saw him, not six years.

“Kye?” I asked, not quite believing he was standing in front of me, touching me. I knew he had been back in town plenty of times, but we had managed not to run into each other. I had avoided the crew when he was around and he managed to not come around the diner when I was there.

“Daisy,” he said, sounding as surprised as I was.

Another wave of heartbreak washed over me at the sound of my name, my eyes already threatening tears.

He stepped back fast, shoving his hands into his pockets, but not taking his eyes off of me. He looked different. We had both grown up, but unlike me, he had gained plenty more tattoos, from what I could tell. His mess of blonde hair hadn’t changed, though, still as unruly as the look in his eyes. Every part of him had filled out, muscles more defined, jaw sharper, every deadly part of him harsher now.

He hadn’t seemed to have lost any edge to him. Something about him was still feral.

I had wondered if that would ever die. If the wild part of him would ever be quiet enough to live a normal life, but I could tell it hadn’t.

I guessed that should be expected when you raced cars and cheated death for a living.

“I wasn’t expecting you here so soon,” I said, breathless.

“You thought I would miss my sister’s wedding?”

“No, but I assumed it would be a last-minute stop on the way to your next race. I didn’t think we would see much of you this week.”

He smirked. “Not this time. I haven’t heard the end of it for cutting it so close to Fox and Ash’s wedding. I’ve become a lot better at planning over the years.”

“I see that. A week early? I’m almost impressed.”