Page 12 of Stealing Sunshine

Brody shrugs me off, unbothered. “It’s not for everyone.”

“What about you, Ice?” Poppy asks.

I stare at her, trying to analyze the barely there twitch of her lips. Bryce adjusts her posture beside me, her leg no longer bouncing.

“What about me?”

“You have an extra room, don’t you?”

Anna gasps before glancing between Poppy and Bryce. “Yes!That’s right. You said you were using it for what again? Your clothes?”

I don’t dare steal another look at Bryce. Not even when she shifts again, this time planting both feet on the floor.

“Would you do me this favour, Bryce? Please?” Johnny asks, excitement ramping with every word.

When I feel the weight of her eyes on my face, I look over. The vividness of the blue is startling this close up and without the dull, yellow lights of the bathroom to drown them out.

“It would only be for a couple of weeks,” I say softly.

Her tongue presses against the inside of her cheek. Everyone’s watching us, not a single word spoken. It’s eerie, and I itch at my forearm when my nerves become relentless. Something about this woman shocks my system. Makes me shy, almost.

Maybe I should just take Brody and Anna up on their offer.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Just say yes, Bryce,” Poppy mutters, the first to break the silence.

Bryce’s nostrils flare with her short sniff. “Fine.”

With a quirk of my lips, I offer her a thankful smile. She doesn’t return it before darting her eyes away and toward the bar. Then, she’s up and away from everyone.

Discomfort nips at me, but I ignore it. Bryce can hate me all she wants as long as I can sleep in peace. Besides, it will only be for a max of two weeks. Not a day more than that. We can deal until then.

“Sorry, Daisy. She takes her personal space seriously,” Poppy divulges.

“It’s okay. I get that.”

“I’ll talk to her. Straighten her out,” Johnny says.

Poppy twirls the tiny straw in her red drink. “No, I’ll do it. She’s just not the most welcoming to people she doesn’t know well.”

It’s a lie. I’ve heard the opposite from my brother and his girlfriend. If that were the case, Bryce wouldn’t have taken in both Aurora and Anna as easily as she did when they moved intotown. Yeah, she’s guarded and brutally blunt. That’s obvious. But rude? Down to her very core? That’s still to be decided.

It seems that I’m an exception to her usual behaviour, and I’m curious enough to want to know why. She can be warm to those she cares about as I’ve seen a handful of times, and I want to know why I’ve been written off as someone who can’t be tucked into that category the way my brother and everyone else has.

“Thank you, everyone. I appreciate you helping me out. And for offering me a place, Brody and Anna.”

“Anytime. We’ve got a soft spot for the Mitchells,” Anna says with a wink.

“If I didn’t mind the smell of cattle or being woken before sunrise, I’d have moved in without a second thought.”

“I’m with you, Daisy. When we stay in the guest house on the weekends, I’ve started wearing earplugs,” Poppy says.

Brody laughs. “You get used to it after a while.”

“Only if you want to.” Poppy finishes her drink and pats Anna’s shoulder. “I’m going to check on Bryce.”

“Want me to come?” Anna asks.

“No. I’ve got it. Just let me out.”

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