Page 195 of How to Win the Girl

“I think yesterday I was embarrassed. It’s not every day someone screams at me in the quad, saying they fucked my boyfriend, and he went over to her house just the night before I’d said you couldn’t come by ’cause I was studying.”

I hold my hands up. “Daisy, I swear that’s not what happened. She’d been dropping into my messages and gettin' weird, and I wanted to put an end to it once and for all. The weirdness, I mean. I’d already told her I was datin’ someone. She just wasn’t hearin’ it.”

Daisy smiles. “Drake, I know that. All I’m saying is, the entire thing took me off guard. I had no idea how to react, so I left. Which, in hindsight, I shouldn’t have done. I should have stood my ground and formed a united front, but…I guess it’s too late for that now.”

“In your defense, you had no idea if I was a piece of shit or not.”

“Also true.”

I wish I’d brought food; something to shove in my mouth ’cause I’m a nervous eater. Cookies or croissants or something.

Anything to keep my hands busy since I want to reach for her and hold her hands.

“I’m not a mushy guy, I’m sure you’ve figured that out,” I start by saying. “But that doesn’t mean you’re not the first thing I think about when I wake up in the morning, or the last thing I think about when I close my eyes in bed at night.” Did I get that quote right?

Shit, it feels like I muddled it.

Too wordy.

I should read more books.

“We’ve only been seeing each other a few weeks. Less than a month. I think I’ll cut you some slack when it comes to writing me poetry.”

Poetry? God, I hope not. “Unless you want me to write you poetry—then I will. It’ll be crap but I’ll try.”

That makes Daisy laugh, so it has me smiling.

“Can you imagine me trying to write poetry? Oh god. It would be like, Roses are red, her vagina is pink, let’s bang ’cause I have to shower ’cause I stink.”

“See? You’re already mocking my finest work.”

Daisy reaches across the picnic table and takes my hands in hers. “This whole thing was a mess but…like. Are you okay? I was only worried about how I felt. How did that whole thing make you feel?”

Angry.

Frustrated.

Confused.

Worse because I felt like the situation was out of my control and in Shannon’s; as if there were nothing I could do to salvage it.

Thank god for Ryann, honestly.

Thank. God.

I owe her.

I owe my damn brother, which I hate.

“In my mind, the thing with Shannon was done. Over.” A non-issue. “It didn’t cross my mind that she would come rearing her ugly head to sabotage this. It was done before that day in class when you told me to shut my face and be quiet so you could concentrate.”

Daisy looks affronted, giving me one of her famous eye rolls.

“The looks she was giving me.” She shivers. “So cold.”

“She wasn’t the warm and fuzziest.”

“Ryann said she was a social climber.”

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