by Kitty Parker
She realizes she's never been inside of his apartment and immediately, Morris is against her legs, rubbing himself, and she takes a moment to look around. She knows it has no right to but looking around Jack's sparse apartment – and thinking of her own – she can't help but feel a little sad.
"Haven' had a chance to clean lately," he mutters behind her.
Daisy turns to face him and smiles. "Looks clean to me."
He shrugs, avoiding her eyes now. "Don't smell like yours."
"Oh," she says and laughs a little at that. "Lemon dust spread and Clorox wipes," she says.
"Chocolate, too," he adds, his eyes slowly going back to her and she feels her stomach clench as she realizes that they're standing in the small entry hall and they are standing quite close together. It would take nothing at all if she was to reach out and touch him.
She won't, of course. She knows how he feels about her touching him. He would seem to have anyone except her touch him.
And the question clumps in her throat. She wants to ask him why he doesn't like her. She has ideas. She has a son and he might think she's looking to him for something but he must know by now that she's not looking to be taken care of. Or maybe he looks at her and wishes she had more of a woman's body or didn't have this scar on her cheek. Or maybe, he's simply just not attracted to her. There are probably all sorts of ideas.
She wishes she just knew though because maybe if she did, she'd be able to move completely past this pointless crush she has one him. She wishes she could just move on from him because liking Jack Belton is nothing but useless and nothing will ever come of it. She knows this. She has told herself this again and again and yet, she just can't seem to get herself to move past him. Even dating Spencer, Jack was usually in the back of her mind and she's honestly just tired of having him there.
"What'd you wan' to talk to me 'bout?" He asks and she wonders if he's aware how close they're standing. She has to tilt her head up to look to his face.
She swallows a cotton ball that has lodged in her throat. "It's about Matty…"
He lowers his eyes from her then as if he's a puppy who's getting scolded. "Wan' me to stop comin' 'round so much?" He asks.
"No!" She then exclaims, unable to contain herself. "No, of course not," she then says in a much softer voice, her heart pounding at just the mere idea of that. "No, that's exactly what I wanted to make sure you won't be doing."
Jack lifts his eyes once more to her.
"It's not a secret, Jack. Matty absolutely adores you," she tells him. "And I just want to make sure that nothing breaks my son's heart."
Jack's quiet for a few passing minutes and she hopes that he gets what she's saying because she honestly has no idea how else to say it to him. It's about Matty. Not her. She'll be devastated if Jack just up and leaves their lives again but she'll be okay because she's waiting for him to do it again. Matty, though, he's just six and he doesn't understand things like that and he'll be inconsolable.
He stares at her, his eyes never leaving hers. "I ain't goin' anywhere," he says in a low, firm voice that gives her shivers down the spine.
She wants to kiss him. So badly. She just wants to feel his lips on hers. She barely even remembers what it had felt like kissing him in the hospital that night.
She wants to feel his arms as they wrap around her. His arms are beautiful and he looks like he would be the sort to give absolutely amazing hugs. She feels herself ache for a hug from Jack Belton.
And even though she tells herself again and again that it just won't happen, she still feels as if her eyes want to well with tears because why can't it happen? Why does this man not even want to embrace her? Why is she falling for a man who will never fall for her?
She can't believe how pathetic she has become since this man entered her life.
"That's all I needed to hear," she says barely above a whisper. "I should get back home."
He nods and takes a step to the side, opening the door once again. She doesn't look at him.
"Good night," she bids farewell and turns to leave.
She needs to get out of here because his apartment may not smell like Clorox bleach and lemon-scented dust spray and chocolate but it smells like him and that's just as good if not even better.
She feels his eyes on her but she doesn't look at him again as she heads across the hall back towards her apartment and once inside, she closes the door, leans back against it, closes her eyes and exhales a deep breath as if she had been holding it in.
But less than what feels like a second later, there's a knock on the door, startling her. She doesn't look through the peephole. It's Jack. Who else would it be? She just has no idea why he would be knocking on her door.
Daisy opens it to see him but just as she opens her mouth to ask him if everything is alright, Jack surges forward and all she can feel are his hands on her face and his lips on hers.
…
* * *
He's imagined of kissing her for a while now. He actually has no idea for how long because it feels like it's been forever now. Maybe since that first time she kissed him months before and he hid away from her like some pathetic coward. But here he is, finally kissing her, and everything he's imagined is actually true. Her lips are soft and she tastes like chocolate and he can't stop from pushing his tongue in between her lips for a deeper taste.
And Daisy doesn't seem to mind as she moans softly and presses her lips harder against his and her fingers clutch around his arms. He's pretty sure he's heard nothing better than her moan. And here he was, thinking her laugh was the best. And her laugh is still pretty high up on the list of things his ears enjoy hearing but now, her moaning has taken the number one spot. He wonders if he can get her to do it again.
He kisses her a little harder, pushes her back against the wall behind her, and there it is. She moans softly again and he feels it in the very pit of his stomach.
Instead of wearing her hair braided and pinned up like she seems to like to – and he likes it, too – tonight, Daisy is wearing her hair down and he's actually grateful for that because his hands slide back and his fingers tangle in her hair and he's able to hold her closer to him.
He has no clue why kissing her feels as good as it's feeling. He never got this feeling when he and Carolina kissed; the feeling like everything was a little bit warmer and brighter. He can't help but wonder if Daisy ever got that feeling while kissing Spencer.
Their lips eventually part, both of their chests heaving up and down to fill their airless lungs, and they look at one another, neither clearly too sure what to say right now. She's probably wondering what the hell had made him do that and Jack knows that he should probably say something but he doesn't have the first clue as to how to explain himself.
"See you tomorrow?" He finally speaks.
Daisy gives him that soft smile of hers and she nods her head.
"G'night," he then says and considers kissing her again but instead, he's able to take a step back towards the door. If he kisses her again, he has no idea when he'll be able to leave and they are nowhere near that point yet.
"Good night," Daisy says in return, still smiling that soft smile, and Jack swears he can still feel his lips trembling as he leaves her apartment and heads back into his.
People eat all sorts of weird things in this world. Who's to say that in some part of this world, peanut butter and sardines do actually go together?
…
"Wanna grab some lunch?" Martinez asks and Jack wheels out from underneath the car he's been working on for the past day. "What do you think?"
"'m thinkin' that not even a junk yard would want this thing," Jack grumbles, looking over the car that came in for an oil change and he just keeps finding things wrong with it. The owner though seems to be a bit attached to it and told Jack to do whatever needs to be done. And Jack gets it. He loves his truck and his bike and would do the work they both need to keep them running but sometimes, a person just needs to throw in the towel.
"At least working on this is keeping you from being in a bad mood," Martinez grins at him.
Jack's brow furrows. "What makes you think I'm not in a bad mood? This car is pissin' me off," he says but Martinez just keeps grinning and shakes his head.
"Nah. If you were really pissed off, you'd be kicking at the thing by now or throwing your tools around," his boss points out to him.
Jack doesn't have a response for that and doesn't say anything as they head to the diner. The truth is, he's not in a bad mood and it's not just because he's busy that day at work. Being busy has never stopped him from being pissed off. He figures that with most of his life, he's been pissed off.
And he's not some genius but he's not an idiot. He knows exactly why he's not in a bad mood today. He hopes that when he gets home tonight, there's a post-it on his door.
They get a booth by the window and order their usual burgers and cokes.
"You got any cupcakes today?" Jack then asks the waitress before she can leave.
"Yep, sure do. A fresh order just got delivered this morning," she beams. "There's banana with cream cheese frosting and a-"
"'ll take that one," Jack says and that's the only one he needs to hear because out of all of the cupcakes Daisy bakes and has him try, the banana is definitely his favorite.
The waitress takes note of their order and then leaves. Martinez looks at Jack with a cocked eyebrow and curious look. Jack's definitely never ordered a dessert before.
"Am I going to want one of those cupcakes, too?" Martinez guesses.
Jack just smirks and shakes his head. "You sure as hell ain't sharin' mine."
…
He had a dozen reasons as to why he should stay the hell away from Daisy. And it's been almost a year and he has stuck to those reasons. Even when he knew, deep down, that he liked this girl and imagined being with her in all sorts of ways, he reminded himself of all of those reasons and kept himself away from her.
Over the summer, he's gotten close to her – and Matty – again though and it's gotten harder and harder for him to remember every way in which being with Daisy in any way was a bad thing. The list of reasons dwindles down until there's just a couple of ones left and even after he kisses her, he can still remember those reasons and wonders if those are reasons that will always be true and will somehow keep him from kissing her again.
The main reasons is something that will always be true. Daisy is just too damn good for him. She's like one of those cupcakes she bakes. Sweet and kind and just being around her makes him feel better. He can't imagine himself ever making her feel like that. Daisy and him are just on two completely different levels and she's so much higher than him, he doesn't have a shot of ever reaching her.
Why the hell would this kind of girl ever want to waste her time on him? Why would she want his lips and dirty hands anywhere near her? If it was anyone else, Jack would think that it's just because their kid likes him but Daisy's not like that. Matty is a cool kid and really likes Jack and Jack really likes the kid so that helps but it's not the only reason why Daisy seems to like him. He just has no idea what the other reasons could possibly be.
He gets home from the garage and sure enough, there's a yellow post-it on his door, asking if he wants to come over for dinner and he can't help be grin. Actually grin. Daisy Greene is making him grin like some damn idiot just because she's given him a dinner invitation; like she's never done that before.
He opens the door to his apartment and Morris is right there, waiting for him. Jack scoops the cat up in his arm and then turns, heading towards Daisy's door, giving it a swift knock. She answers a moment later and smiles the instant she sees him. Jack smiles a little, too. Not the grin he had given the post-it just a moment ago but an actual smile all the same.
"Hi," she greets and she sounds a little breathless.
"Everythin' a'right?" He asks as she steps aside so he can come inside. He bends down and sets Morris down on the floor and she closes the door behind him.
He doesn't kiss her. He wants to. Wonders what it would be like if he just leans down and gives her a quick peck but he doesn't. He's not sure he's going to kiss her until Daisy moves towards him, signaling to him that she definitely wants him to kiss her again. Maybe the night before had just been a fluke. He practically forced himself on her.
"I got roped into something and I have no idea how it happened," she tells him and heads into the kitchen with Jack following her.
Matty's sitting at the table, eating his chicken breast and mixed vegetables, and there's a boy with dark skin and a shaved head sitting in the chair next to him at the table, also eating dinner, both boys laughing over something. And on the counter is two dozen cupcakes, yet to be frosted and decorated.
"Jack!" Matty exclaims the instant he sees him. "This is Tavon. He's my best friend."
Tavon looks at Jack and smiles shyly at him before looking down to his food.
"Hey," Jack greets Matty and the team's quarterback.
"Tavon's mom works at the nursing home and she picked up an extra shift today. I told her that I'm more than happy to take Tavon to practice tonight," Daisy says with a smile in the boys' direction. She then looks to Jack. "And then another mom on the team called me and oh, she was good. Complimenting Matty and telling me how good he is and how the team is so lucky to have him and then asking me about myself and my baking and then she's suggesting that I bake two dozen cupcakes every week on Friday's practice before a game for the team and coaches and if I want to make any for the parents, I can make three dozen, but that would be great and I was agreeing to it before I even realized it," Daisy says. "And I don't mind baking cupcakes for the team and coaches. Not at all. And really, two dozen is nothing but she could have just come out and ask me instead of manipulating me into doing it. And why the heck can't the other moms bake something? Why can't we take turns?"
Jack's lips twitch in a little smirk. "You're too nice," he says as Daisy hands him a plate with a chicken breast and he helps himself with two scoops of mixed vegetables from the pot simmering on the stove. "Are they gonna pay you for your ingredients?"
"Of course not," Daisy shakes her head. "But my son is the running back for the Gators and I should just want to do this without a peep."
Jack almost chuckles. "You ain't gonna be makin' a peep," he points out to her. There's no way Daisy would complain to anyone about this even if it was really bothering her.
"Of course not," Daisy says again with a sigh.
With their own plates of dinner, Daisy and Jack sit down at the table with the two boys.
"Jack, we're playing the Bears tomorrow," Matty tells him. "You'll be there, right?"
"If I'm not workin', you know I'll be," Jack says. He doesn't like coming right out and making a promise to the kid just in case on the off chance that he gets slammed at the garage and isn't able to make it. He can't stand the idea of letting this kid down.
"Coach Douglas was telling me that the Bears head coach was at our Wildcats game and he was laughing about my curls. Said it made me look like a girl," Matty frowns.
Jack has a feeling that T-Dog is making things up just to get under the boy's skin in an effort to make him play against that on Saturday. If the Bears coach really was at the game, he was more concerned with how fast Matty could run as opposed to what's on his head.
"There's nothing wrong with your hair, Matty," Daisy tells him gently. "You know that."
"My brother calls me bushy top when I got my hair," Tavon speaks up. "That's why I have mama shave my head."
Matty looks at Daisy, clearly about to ask her for the same, but Daisy just shakes her head.
After dinner, she sends the boys to get their pads and practice jerseys from Matty's room and Jack helps her clean up. He loads the dishwasher for her and puts the leftovers away so she can start piping the cupcakes.
"I made you an extra," she says, handing him the first finished one. "It's just chocolate with chocolate buttercream frosting."<
br />
"Gonna make me fat, girl," Jack frowns but takes the cupcake without argument.
Daisy just smiles and he wants to tell her how nice this has all been; how nice it always is when he comes over here and eats dinner with her and Matty and he helps her clean up. It's all so damn normal and domestic and he's never had anything close to this in his life before. He never thought he would ever have it so why think about it or think about wanting it?
But now, he's got it and why the hell did this girl ever let him into hers and her son's lives?
He wonders when he can kiss her again.
…
He goes to practice with Daisy that night, helping her with the trays of cupcakes, and then he stands off to the side with Daisy, away from the other parents, to watch Matty. He doesn't know much about football but he knows enough and Matty is good. Like Johnathan had said. He's real good for just being six and Jack actually feels a little proud when he watches the kid take a hand-off from Tavon and tears down the field, running almost sixty yards for a touchdown in the end zone. Like he's had anything to do with Matty's football skills.
"Again!" T-Dog barks and blows his whistle and Matty doesn't even show signs of being tired as he jogs back and the kids all line up for the play again.
"I heard a boy on the Raptors team got a concussion from last week's game," Daisy says quietly as she never takes her eyes from the field.
Jack looks to her and even without her looking at him, he can see the worry etched clear on her face. "Kid's too fast. No one's gonna be able to ever catch 'im to tackle 'im."
And he knows it's bullshit. It's football. Eventually, Matty will get sacked by someone. He's gotten tackled already but it's only a matter of time before he gets plowed into by another kid. Jack knows it and Daisy knows it, too. But she turns her head and smiles up at him as if that's all she needed to hear and he smiles a little, too.
She leans into him then, resting her head against his arm, and Jack thinks about putting his arm around her but he doesn't. He's not sure if he can or if she would want him to. He just stands there and thinks how warm this girl makes him feel.