Mark had tried to help me, coming over to cook and play with Bailey, but each time it had been a little awkward. Like he wasn’t quite comfortable in my little house, and his discomfort only made Bailey and me uncomfortable.

Plus, Bailey was too much for him. No matter how kind he was, I could see it in his eyes that all her energy and tricks really wore him down. Now, he politely avoided it when he could. I think in his mind, she would grow out of it soon and we could have more time together.

Kye, though, seemed right at home.

He walked out and went around the couch, grabbing his shirt from the ground before giving me a look of her artwork.

“Honestly, this one she freehanded is pretty great. I think it’s a narwal? Maybe a horse? Either way, it’s growing on me.”

I looked at it, but I was quickly distracted, looking over every tattoo and hard plane of his body. Six years of growing up had been very, very kind to him. Every muscle was more pronounced, each new tattoo a part of him that I wanted to know.

“Please, stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” I finally met his eye, and I wished I hadn’t.

“Like you like what you see.”

“I was just admiring the artwork.”

His face hardened, and I could see his chest rise and fall with one deep breath. “I have to go home and wash some marker off my body.”

I bit my lip, holding back every word I wanted to say. I had a perfectly good shower and could definitely help wash that all off.

“Don’t you dare say what you’re thinking, Daisy,” he said, the words somewhere between a joke and a command.

He finally pulled a shirt on, letting me have some brain cells back.

I followed him as he grabbed his things and headed to the door.

“Have a good night. I’ll talk to you soon.”

I nodded, but grabbed his hand, pulling him to a stop. “Kye, wait.”

He spun, backing me up against the wall in one step. His body pressed against mine.

“Please just let me leave before I don’t.”

For all the years that had gone by, my body still reacted the same way. The burning want, the feeling that there was nothing else in this world but him and the need for him to take over every part of me. My hips pushed forward, already wanting more than I should even be thinking about.

“I just wanted to say thank you for everything tonight,” I said, trying to calm my breathing. “And that I don’t want you to leave.”

“I don’t want to leave.”

“Then stay. Didn’t you want to talk?”

He pulled me in, burying his head into my neck. “I can’t seem to remember anything I was going to talk about right this second, so I am going to do the right thing and leave.”

He stepped back, my hands trailing over every inch I could before we parted.

“I’ll see you later, Daze. Call me if you need anything.” He leaned down, pressing a long kiss to my cheek before walking out. He got on the dirtbike and took off, disappearing into the night without so much as a glance back.

THIRTY-NINEKYE

“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?”