Page 46 of Never Say Never

I tuck a lock of hair behind my ear and dip my fry into the ketchup on his plate. “Chocolate, obviously. Chocolate covered almonds, to be specific.”

“No, I mean, what makes you happy?”

“Oh.” I pause, thinking for a moment. “I like sunsets,Gilmore Girls, 90s movies, fuzzy socks. The lemon cupcakes from Buttercup Bakery—literally perfect. And anything with a daisy on it, of course.” I hold up my wrist, showing him the beaded bracelet Briar gave me for my last birthday, a string of tiny white and yellow daisies.

“It doesn’t take much, huh?” Tucker’s eyes meet mine as he leans in for a sip of our milkshake that our waitress just slid intothe middle of the table and my heart pounds just a little harder. “What else?”

He takes a bite of his burger, quiet, as he waits for me to answer.

“I like rainy days in bed watching movies. And I love it when someone plays with my hair.”

“That’s weird.”

“That’snotweird. It feels good. It’s totally relaxing when it’s done right, you feel all tingly and boneless.”

He looks skeptical. “’Boneless?’ You’re not convincing me.”

“Your loss,” I say with a shrug.

He laughs as he picks up his burger. We eat in silence for a few minutes, and I can’t help but think back to Tucker’s admission:I’ve fantasized about it since we were 15 years old.

I tell myself to not read too much into it, but it’s hard not to let my mind wander to how different everything could have been for us. What if Tucker hadn’t pushed me away? What if we had let that kiss be the start of something? It could have been something great.

But so much time has passed, and now we’ll never know. I look out the diner window, trying not to think about what might have been.

SIXTEEN

WHY ARE YOU GIVING ME THAT LOOK?

Tucker

Daisy is a lot of things— sweet, adventurous, easy on the eyes—but the girl is also as stubborn as they come. And trying to get her to bend against her will is just never going to happen. Which is why, after we finished dinner, I said goodnight to her at Delila’s.

First, she wouldn’t allow me to buy her dinner, and then she wouldn’t allow me to walk her home. I argued— man, did I put up a fight—but I knew there would be no changing her mind. My guess is that she thought it would make tonight feel too much like a date if I paid for the meal or escorted her back home. God knows, she’s made it clear that we need to stick to the rules. I get that she wants to stick to the pact, but does she really need to act like dating me would be worse than getting poked in the eye with a hot stick?

That’s Daisy, though. The girl has always been so damn independent. She’d probably have my head if she knew the lengths I went to in high school to keep guys away from her. She thinks I’ve interfered too much in her personal life over the years, but she doesn’t know the half of it. I made sure every guy at Heritage High knew that Daisy Carter was off limits. And ifsome idiot was stupid enough to go near her, I made sure he knew I wasn’t fucking around.

I always had her best interests at heart. There just wasn’t a single guy worthy of dating Daisy, so why bother wasting her time?

I’m walking up the driveway to my house when Jake pulls his F-150 into his driveway next door. He parks, and Everly slowly slips out of the passenger seat before opening the rear door for her daughter Birdie. Ev waves to me, her other hand rubbing her pregnant belly, as Jake rounds the car and presses a kiss to her temple. I have never seen Jake this happy, and it is all because of Everly and Birdie.

I love the guy, but Jake has always been a bit grumpy. When us guys would get together, he’d be the one sitting in the corner complaining about the noise. Or the food. Or the company. But that all changed when he met Ev. She had moved to Reed Point after leaving her ex-husband. She’s seven years older than Jake, but their age gap never seemed to matter. He fell fast and hard for her.

None of us saw it coming, but Jake knew what he wanted and went after it. Everly hadn’t been looking to get into another relationship, especially because she had her daughter to think about, but she slowly let her walls down and the rest is history. Now they’re engaged, have a baby on the way and are living their own happily ever after.

I’m happy for Jake. I don’t know if I can see it for myself—marriage, kids, the whole package. But if I were to force myself to try to imagine it, I would only ever see Daisy. God knows I’ve compared every woman I’ve ever dated to her, only to have them all come up short. But the white picket fence, two and half kids and a minivan—nope, not for me. Would I feel differently if I thought a life with Daisy was a possibility? Sometimes I wonder.A part of me thinks that my heart has decided that if it can’t have her, it doesn’t want anyone else.

“Where are you coming from?” Jake asks shutting the truck door as Birdie skips toward me.

“Hey, cutie pop!” I ignore Jake as she crashes into me and wraps her little arms around me in a hug. “Why do you look extra cute today, huh? I might need to call the cute police on you.”

I ruffle her blonde curls, careful not to knock the pink cat ears head band she has on every time I see her. “We went to see Aunt Sierra at the bakery. She’s trying out a new cupcake flavour, pink lemonade, and she said I could taste test.”

“And…?” I ask her.

Her little brows pinch together, “And what?”

“And how was it?”

---