Page 67 of Always Mine

“I should be asking you that, don’t you think?”

She laughed.“Nah, I’m good.Being stabbed a few times is a walk in the park.”

Luke’s brow went up as he took the seat beside her.

“Okay, so it wasn’t all that great.It stung like a bitch.Are you happy now that I sound so weak?”

He shook his head.“I’m not happy.I didn’t get to you in time.I should have.Daniella hated you after what happened at the quad all those years ago.She wanted my dad to ...make you suffer.She kept asking him to make a deal where you could be hurt, or meet an accident, or something.It always pissed her off that she could never get him to take revenge for her.”

“She was a coward and she had what was coming to her,” Daisy said.She didn’t feel any remorse for beating the shit out of her.Daniella, and a group of her posse bitches, along with Ryan—when he was alive—cornered Tabitha in the bathroom at high school.They beat Tabitha so bad she had to go to the hospital.There was no way the Skulls were going to let that slide.Daisy wouldn’t allow it, so at the quad she made sure Daniella suffered for what she did.

Everyone always thought Daisy was weak, that she didn’t know how to fight.They always called her the “fat one,” the “not skull,” and a lot of other names that made her feel like she was less than a Skull.The biggest problem she had when it came to fighting was that she didn’t stop.The moment she was in the zone, there was no pulling her out of it, and Tabitha had to pull her back.

“I know,” Luke said.He held his hands up.“Everyone was shocked by what went down at the quad.Daniella thought it was going to be an easy fight.”

“And what did you think?”Daisy asked.

“I had my doubts.You were a Skull, and none of you were easy.You were all fucking hard, and stubborn.”Luke placed his hands on his thighs.“That feels like a different time, doesn’t it?Kind of like we were playing this game of life.”

“You might have been playing.I wasn’t.I wanted us to get through high school as best we could.”

“It’s what I wanted,” Luke said.

“And yet, you tried to fall for Tabitha,” Daisy said.“What did you hope that would achieve?”

Luke laughed.“I loved her spirit, okay?She was different from the other girls.It wasn’t like I could look at you.I had already heard the rumor that you were off limits?”

This made her frown.She hadn’t expected to go down memory lane with Luke, but now that they were here, she was curious.“Rumors?I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

“Anthony, you’ve got to talk to him.He is the one who warned guys away from you.”

“He did?”

Luke chuckled.“You didn’t know?Look, Daisy, I know some people said some bad shit about you and all that, but have you looked in the mirror lately?”

She tended to avoid looking in the mirror.She wasn’t going to admit to Luke that at times, she still saw that tiny girl with dirty hair, and the body that hadn’t been washed.Even her parents hadn’t shown her how to brush her teeth.It was embarrassing.

“You’re beautiful.You were beautiful throughout high school.Not everyone saw it, I get that, but you were.Some of the guys, I can’t remember their names now, but from science and English class, they wanted to ask you out, and apparently Anthony put a stop to it.Any guy that showed an interest in you got a visit from him, with a warning, or something got broken.Tabitha seemed like the easier girl to fall for.I didn’t want anything broken.”

“I had no idea.”

“Yeah, Anthony has pretty much belonged to you, for as long as I’ve known you.You’re off limits to everyone but him.Does that piss you off?”Luke asked.

Daisy stared at him and she shook her head.“No.”

“Wow, you two are fucking made for each other, aren’t you?”

“Why?”

“You don’t mind that he stopped you from dating other men?”Luke asked.

“Luke, I have been in love with Anthony since before I was five years old.I loved him then, I love him now, and that is never going to change.He loved me when I was dirty and my real parents didn’t take care of me.He loved me when Lacey and Whizz took me in and became my true parents.He loves me now, even when my hair hasn’t been washed, and I’ve got scars.When I cry, he’s there.When I am angry, he is there.When I make mistakes, he doesn’t judge me, he’s there for me.He is my rock.He is my Anthony,” Daisy said.“I know what we have might not be normal, people might not even trust it, but I trust him.I love him, and if he stopped some stupid guys from asking me out, risking breaking my heart, then all that does is make me love him even more.”

He stared at her.“I hope one day I get what you and Anthony have.”

“Don’t settle,” Daisy said.

“That is all you can do.”

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