by Lucy Darling
“Eric,” I whimper. Still not knowing what I need.
“You need to come.”
“Oh.” I push my chest into his, feeling my orgasm coming.
“Going to come for me.” He pulls back, his eyes locking with mine. “I want to watch it.” My breath hitches at the intensity of his gaze. I’ve never seen him like this before. My eyes start to fall closed. “Open them,” he growls. The sound sends me over as he keeps thrusting against my clit, his eyes never leaving mine as I come for him. I dig my fingers into him, the feeling like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.
He buries his face in my neck, his breath warm against my skin. “God, I’ve missed you so damn much,” he says. A lump forms in my throat. He pulls back to look at me. “I’ve loved you my whole life. That has never changed and never will.” A tear escapes. “That wasn't supposed to make you cry.” He kisses the tear, stopping it in its tracks.
“I love you too. I’m sorry I pulled away. I was trying to protect myself.” I regret that day that I didn't walk up to him and ask him what he was doing.
“It’s my job to protect you.” He’s right. He has always protected me, even from the small things. Always hovering close by in case I needed him. It used to drive his brothers and mine nuts because he wouldn’t go play with them. He just wanted to sit wherever I was playing.
“Okay.” I agree. He slowly puts me on my feet. “So we’re doing this?”
“There’s never been a time that we haven’t been doing this. We just got a little hung up. I thought I should wait until you graduated.” But I’d pulled away before that.
“So really we only lost a few months?” I bite my lips. That doesn't sound so bad when I think of it that way.
“It was rough. I can promise you that.” I can see the pain in his eyes. Guilt hits me. I’m not sure if I should have it or not. It doesn't matter. That’s all behind us now. We’re moving forward toward the destiny we were always meant to have.
“I’m sorry,” I say again, reaching up to touch his face. The thought of him hurting in any way because of me doesn’t sit well. It weighs heavily on me. It’s dumb because we were both so young when it happened.
“It’s fine.” He grabs my hand, kissing my palm. “It gave me time to work on our place.”
“I haven’t been over to see it in years.” I know the house. There are a handful of houses between my parents' land and his family’s. The one he moved into has always been my favorite. It has a wraparound porch that I’ve pictured myself on many times. It needed a little work, but Eric always said he’d fix it up for me.
“It could use a few of your touches. I’m shit at decorating.”
“Are you asking me to move in with you? 'Cause as much as that sounds wonderful I kinda just moved in here.”
“When you come home on the weekends. You’ll stay with me at our place. You only have a couple years here, and we’ll make it work. I’ll come here as often as I can, and you’ll do the same.” He makes it all sound so easy. Maybe it is.
“I don’t have classes on Friday so that’s an extra day.” I did that on purpose knowing I’d likely get homesick. I’ve never been a city girl, but this is where the good schools are. He drops another kiss on my lips. I can’t believe this is finally happening.
“I love you,” I tell him again.
“I love you too.”
I lay my head on his chest. “Let’s not tell Noelle and Josh tonight.” I feel his body tense. I lift my head to look up at him. “We should tell everyone tomorrow. When our moms are here. Don’t you think?”
“Yeah.” His face softens. He kisses my forehead. “Why don’t you get ready for bed? We’ve been working all day.” He steps back. I watch him reach down and adjust himself. My face warms.
“You didn't get it—” I trail off.
“I did. I’m going to clean up in the bathroom.”
“Oh.” My face gets even warmer. He steps back farther, reaching for the bedroom door handle and pulling it open. “Use my bathroom.”
His thumb rubs across my bottom lip. “Can’t stop touching you.”
I kiss it. “Go before we get busted.”
His hand drops. I watch as he walks into the bathroom. It takes everything in me not to do a silly happy dance. Instead I walk over to the bed, falling back on it.
I should have never doubted it. Eric and I have always been an us.
5
Eric
I lie on the sofa knowing I’m not going to get any sleep tonight. I rub the center of my chest. I don’t know what’s changed for Daisy, but it doesn’t matter now. She’s all in when it comes to us now.
Maybe it was just high school or something. She didn’t want to be tied down to someone she couldn’t even be with. That shit hurts, but it’s not going to stand in the way of us. I never saw her date anyone, but I spent almost two years in the city going to college. Josh and I had gone together. We’d lived together the same as Daisy and Noelle are doing now.
We buckled down and powered through because it’s what our parents wanted us to do. They were worried we were going to take over the family business because we felt a sense of obligation to do it. They thought college would give us a chance to see what else was out there. So that we could make an informed decision for our future. All it did for me was remind me of how much I don’t like the city. I missed the quiet and simple life back home. But I knew the quicker I got through school and got all my shit together meant the quicker I could start working on making Daisy mine.
Josh was the same way. Focused on school and doing what he needed to do to get done. I don’t think school was the only reason Josh didn’t date, though. I think he never trusted anyone’s intentions when it came to dating. He was never sure if the girl was genuine or if they were just trying to date him because he had money.
There was one thing that never sat well with me. It was the time that Daisy had gotten her period and her mom wasn’t home. She’d come crawling through my window. I held her close, holding a heating pad to her. As much as I hated seeing her in pain, it made me feel good that she came to me for comfort.
As she lay in my lap that night, she’d asked me the same question that she asked since we were little kids. If we were going to get married one day. I told her yes, but we had to wait until we could be together. I respected not only her but Bunny and Jameson. I knew that life would take us on different journeys because of the circumstances, but I never expected it to take her away from me. But I’d never given up hope that one day she’d be mine.
We had been young when we’d made those promises to each other. Yet I had meant every word. When she’d asked me if I was going to wait for her, I knew what she meant. She was asking if I’d date or be with other girls until we could be together. I’d promised her I’d wait. It wasn’t even a question she needed to ask because she had already owned my heart.
We went from making promises one day to her not even being able to look at me the next. She’d gone cold without any explanation. I thought maybe she’d gotten cold feet or something. That it was too much too soon for her to handle.
“Eric.” I lift my head at the sound of Daisy's sweet voice. I’m still fucking hard from our dry humping earlier. I’d come all over myself. I wasn’t even embarrassed about it. There was so much pent-up desire and love that rode me hard. Having her back in my arms again was a dream come true.
“Babe? Everything okay?” She slides on top of me. I wrap my arms around her, holding her tight.
“This reminds me of the night I crawled through your window.” I try not to tense up. “I probably should leave it alone, but you’d said you’d wait for me.”
“I did.”
“But you didn’t.”
I sit up, moving her onto my lap. She’s now straddling me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Daisy. I’ve waited. I’m still fucking waiting. I’ve never even kissed another girl let alone fucked one.” I can’t keep the growl out of my voice. The idea of be
ing with someone else is enough to piss me off.
“But I saw you. And Eric said—”
“Hold up. You saw me with someone else? That’s fucking impossible. Because it never happened.” Her bottom lip starts to tremble. All this time and this is the reason she went cold on me? Something that’s not even true. It all starts adding up. I should have known. It would have had to be something big if Daisy all but ran from me. She’d been saying she was going to marry me since she was four years old. Then it was all gone in the blink of an eye, and she distanced herself from me. “Don’t cry.” I cup her cheeks.
“I should have left it alone. Let's just forget it.”
“No. I’m not forgetting it. I want this straightened all the way out.”
“Your graduation I went looking for you. I wanted to give you your gift.” I shift, lifting and pulling it out of my pocket. She lets out a gasp, seeing the compass. I click it open, displaying the picture of her and me when we were kids that sits inside it. The picture that continued to give me hope on so many days when I thought I’d lost her forever.
“I found it on the ground.” I thought it was weird she’d tossed it away, but if she thought I was with someone else I could see Daisy raising hell. I’m a little surprised she didn’t walk up and punch me if that was the case.
She puts her hand over it. “I went looking for you to give you this. I couldn’t find you so I asked my brother where you were. He nodded toward the barn as you were coming out with Missy right behind you, and she was fidgeting with her dress.”
“I’m sorry, babe, but I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I saw you!”
I try to think back to that day. “Missy told me King got out of his stall. I went into the barn to put him back up. When I got there, he was in his stall. Missy wanted to get me alone.”
Daisy glares at me.
“She tried to throw herself at me and I side stepped her and she landed in a giant pile of hay. I left her there and walked out. I mean, come on, Daisy. It was the night after I told you I’d wait.”
She covers her face with her hands. I pull them back down, wanting to see her. “No more hiding.”
“You really haven’t been with anyone?”
“I’ve never broken a promise to you in my entire life.”
She starts to cry. I pull her into me, holding her.
“I should have known. I was so upset.” She sniffles. I’m pretty sure she wipes her nose on my shirt. She pulls back to look at me. “But Josh was the one who told me you were in the barn with her. That I shouldn’t have snuck in your room and I had to let this fantasy of us getting married go. Because you were leaving soon.”
I’m going to kill him. He may be my best friend and like a brother to me, but I’m still going to murder him. He’s known this whole fucking time that Daisy thought I cheated on her? Not only that he effed it up. I clench my fist.
“He’s full of shit. Josh and I did every fucking thing together. Through high school and college. He knows I’ve never been with anyone.”
“I don’t understand why he did that. And why after all this time he wouldn’t come clean about it.”
“But you believe me?” She nods her head. I lift Daisy up, setting her down on the sofa next to me before I stand, heading straight for the spare room.
“Eric wait!”
I slam the door open, flipping on the light. The bed is empty. We both turn to look at Noelle’s door. Well, fuck me. This was unexpected.
“Let me. She could be naked or something.” Her face scrunches up thinking about her brother and Noelle getting it on. I don’t think she cares; I think she just doesn’t want to think about her brother having sex.
She turns the knob, opening the door. The light from the bathroom in Noelle’s room lights up the bed. She sits up, holding the sheet to her chest.
“Get dressed,” I order before slamming the door. I grab Daisy's hand, pulling her back toward the living room.
“I mean. How did I not see this coming? Did you know?”
“Don’t pay much attention to Josh’s sex life.”
“What does that mean?” Her voice drops. “Was he a manwhore in college?”
“I’ve never seen him with anyone else.” I hear the door open and Josh heads down the hallway with Noelle right behind him.
“Are you guys seriously mad I’m with Noelle?” He looks pissed. Good. I’m fucking livid.
“You lied to Daisy.” Josh’s face drops. He knows exactly what I’m talking about.
“It was stupid. I shouldn’t have done it. I thought it would be better for both of you. That you could come back together later. I didn’t want you two living the way that I was.” He glances over at Noelle, who still looks confused by everything that’s going on.
“Is someone going to explain to me what the heck happened? Have you been crying?” Noelle scowls at me as though I’m the cause of Daisy’s tears.
“She barely talked to me for years. For fucking years, I wondered every night and day what I had done to make her hate me. How I managed to lose the most important person in my life.” I take a step closer to Josh, the anger building in me the more I think about the time I’ve lost with Daisy.
“I’m sorry. I—" I sucker punch him in the stomach. The only reason I don’t hit him in the face is that I don’t want blood on Daisy’s new carpet.
Both the girls gasp as Josh leans forward trying to catch his breath. I stand there waiting because I am far from done. Finally he stands all the way back up back again. I hit him again.
“Eric.” Daisy pulls at my arm. I look down at her. “I’m pissed too but this isn’t getting us anywhere.”
I look back to Josh, who is once again standing there waiting for another blow. He’s not going to fight back. I can see it in his face. The regret is written all over it. Josh always thinks he’s doing the right thing. Normally he is. But not this time.
“Let's go to bed.” Daisy pulls at my arm. “Take me to bed.” She pulls me with her. Noelle steps out of the way as Daisy leads us down the hallway.
As fucked up as all this was, it feels like a weight has been lifted off my chest. I’ll be pissed later. Daisy is leading me to her room, and I won’t waste another moment of our time together.
6
Daisy
“You okay?” I turn around as Eric shuts the bedroom door.
“I’ve got you, and having you is all that’s ever mattered to me.” He lifts me off my feet. I wrap my legs around him. He always says the right thing.
“Now that you have me what will you ever do with me?” That gets me a smirk from him.
“Oh, I’m sure I’ll think of something.” He carries me towards my bed. When we get to the edge of it, he takes my mouth in a kiss that leaves me breathless before placing me on the bed, his body coming down over mine. I lift my hips, trying to get a repeat of what he’d given me earlier. He smiles against my mouth. “So impatient.”
“Can you blame me?” I suck in a breath when his mouth goes to my neck. “Oh my. That feels really good.” I dig my fingers into his hair. His rough hand slips up my shirt, reminding me we both have way too many clothes on. He growls against my skin, sounding primal, and it’s the hottest thing I’ve ever heard in my life.
“Clothes.” He gets up and I watch as he pulls his shirt over his head. I stare at his broad chest. “Daisy, clothes.”
“Eric.” He goes for his belt, pulling it out of his jeans. It hits the ground with a loud thud.
“I’ll rip them off of you.” I have no doubt from the look in his eyes that he will do exactly that.
“Your chest.” He stops unfastening his jeans. “When did you do that?” I get up on my knees to get a closer look, my fingers wanting to touch it.
“One night in college. I couldn't sleep. I was homesick. More than anything Daisy sick.” I place my hand on the tattoo that’s over his heart. Tears begin to form in my eyes at his gesture. The fact that he had branded hi
mself with my name when I had thought there was no hope for us is almost unbearable. He never stopped believing in us. Never stopped loving me.
“You marked yourself as mine.”
“I’ve always been yours, and you know it.” I pull my hand away to kiss the black lettering. “The daisy is a nice touch.” I kiss there too.
“You can explore the tattoo later.” He grabs my shirt. I let out a surprised scream at how fast he pulls it over my head. He grabs the outside of my thighs, giving me a pull so I fall back down to lie on the bed as he pulls my panties off. He’s got me naked in five seconds.
“If I didn't know any better I would think you’ve done this before.”
“If I can wrestle a calf, I think I can handle wrestling you.”
“Good point.”
He still stands on the side of the bed looking down at me. His eyes are everywhere. He visibly swallows.
“Daisy.” I almost don't recognize his voice. He puts his hand on my knee, and I know what he wants. I lick my lips, telling myself to not be shy. This is my Eric. This is my love. This man will not only be my husband but my everything. He’ll know every inch of my body.
“This?” I ask as I spread my legs open for him. The air that hits me is cool. I’m already so wet. I can feel it on my thighs too.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry?” I jerk as his head comes between my thighs. My ass tries to come off the bed, but Eric easily pins me back down as his mouth takes no prisoners. I dig my fingers into the sheets, needing to hold on to something. There are no words to explain how his mouth feels on me. I already feel like I’m going to come.
“Eric,” I whimper. His fingers dig into my hips, grounding me.
“Let go. It’s mine,” he says against me before his mouth is right back on my clit. I let go, allowing the orgasm to take me. I cry out his name, but he doesn't stop. My body jerks, still sensitive from the pleasure he had given me. His tongue leaves my clit to slide down my slit until I feel it thrusting inside of me.