Page 50 of Never Say Never

EIGHTEEN

BE A GOOD GIRL FOR ME, REBEL

Tucker

The two weeks leading up to Christmas are some of the best days of my life

Holden has been spending most nights at Aubrey’s, so I have Daisy in my bed for a few hours before she eventually goes back to her place. We’ve promised one another that we’re going to stick to the rules and so far, we have… for the most part. Even when everything in me has wanted to pull her back into my bed and go to sleep with her warm body against mine, I’ve stayed strong. When I wake up in the morning, Daisy is still the first person I want to talk to.

The only thing that has helped me from breaking our rules is knowing that Daisy is mine—at least until she leaves. And god, do I love having all her attention on me.

Daisy and I have been inseparable, spending all our free time together. We hide away at one of our houses and snuggle on the couch and watch movies when we have a place to ourselves. We take drives to the next town over where we won’t be seen, and we go for early morning walks along the beach. It still annoys me to no end that she spends her days with Dr. Dick at the clinic, but she’s made it pretty clear that there was never an attraction therefor her. It doesn’t mean I don’t wish that he would pack up and start a new practise in North Dakota.

When I’m not with Daisy, I’m with the team. I watch an hour or two of tapes every day with Jesse, and after the guys are finished in the weight room, I go in and workout in peace and quiet. I’ll slip on my headphones and try to focus on weights, but the championship game is always on my mind. In three weeks, we’ll play our final game of the season.

Tonight is Christmas Eve, which means Daisy and I are at my parents’ place for dinner. It’s been a tradition for as long as I can remember. Of course, our families have no idea that anything’s going on between us, so we are keeping our distance. It’s so fucking hard to be in the same room as Daisy and not be able to touch her. Whenever it feels like nobody is watching, I try to catch her eye, and we exchange a private look that is meant for only us. Just that one look is enough to keep going, even though it feels like being this far away from her might kill me. I’ve kept my hands to myself all night, my willpower being put to the test.

“Is it time to open our presents yet?” my sister asks, nodding to the 9-foot Christmas tree in the corner of the room as she flops down onto the couch next to Daisy. The entire house is decorated, stockings hung, and my mom’s favorite Michael Bublé Christmas CD drifts through the built-in speakers.

“You’re like a giant 5-year-old, Addy,” I tell her, shaking my head.

“I just like Christmas.”

“You just like presents,” I counter.

She grins. “You may have a point.”

Every year we do a Secret Santa and this year I drew Jonathan’s name. Easy as pie. The guy likes to golf, so I splurged and bought him a range finder and a box of Pro V1 golf balls.

“Let’s do it, who wants to go first?” my mom asks, setting her glass of eggnog on the coffee table. We’re all in the living room:Mom and Dad, Uncle Randy and Aunt Victoria, Daisy, Addy, Jonathan and me.

“I think we should let Addy open her gift,” Jonathan says as he takes a box from underneath the tree and hands it to my sister. “Before she implodes.”

Addy hugs the shoebox-sized package to her chest, then motions for Jonathan to sit next to her on the couch as she slips the bow from the gift. She looks excitedly at her husband when she finds a smaller box hidden inside the larger one, then opens it to reveal a pair of diamond earrings. “Jonathan! These are beautiful,” she says with her hand over her heart. He gazes back at her like he knew she was going to love them.

It makes me wish I could put a smile on Daisy’s face like the one on Addy’s. The thought surprises me. Daisy and I aren’t even dating, but lately I often catch myself thinking about her as if we are in a relationship.

We go around our little circle, everyone taking their turn to open a present, until the only person who hasn’t given their gift to someone is Daisy. She stands in front of me with a box tied with a green ribbon, her eyes twinkling as she hands it to me. I meet her eyes, conscious of the fact that everyone in the room is now looking at us.

“Merry Christmas, Tuck. I couldn’t resist!” Daisy sits back down on the couch as I unwrap the present.

I laugh as I unwrap the tissue paper to reveal a pair of pajamas with my face printed all over them. “Wow. I know I’m pretty popular around Reed Point, but I had no clue they make jammies with my face on them.”

“Who knew?” Daisy shrugs, indulging me as I stand and hold up the set for the others to see.

“These are the best. I’m never taking them off.”

“Not a good look,” Addy teases. “Daisy, he’s full of himself as it is, do we really need to encourage him?”

“Hey, Dais, what did you pay for those?” Jonathan jokes. “I may need to get myself a pair.”

“Not if you ever want to sleep with me again.” Addy gets up, collecting the wrapping paper from the floor while I walk over to Daisy and wrap her in a big hug. Then I remember we have an audience and back away quickly.

After the gift exchange, the eight of us play a game of Rummikub before calling it a night. It’s eleven o’clock when Daisy’s parents head home. Addy and Jonathan don’t last much longer, saying goodnight and going upstairs to my sister’s old bedroom after helping my mom tidy up. My sister and I are staying at my parent’s house like we do every Christmas Eve and Daisy is staying next door with her family.

My parents are busy in the kitchen, so I slip out and quietly sneak up behind Daisy as she looks for her jacket in the closet. I run my fingers softly through her hair because every time I do, she makes this moaning sound that my dick loves to hear.With my lips at the shell of her ear, I whisper, “Can I kiss you goodnight?”

She spins around to face me, her cheeks flush. “Don’t you dare,” she says, unconvincingly.

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