Page 16 of Three's a Crowd
‘You fucked that up then, didn’t you,’ she spat out.
She couldn’t believe it. He still thought of her as a kid: someone to protect. Not the strong, confident woman she was becoming.
‘We didn’t use a condom,’ he said, his voice tinged with alarm now.
Heat rushed through her.Jeez, she hadn’t even thought about that.Idiot. She took a calming breath. ‘Well, as we’ve just established, we were both virgins so no STIs. And I’ve been on the pill since I was fourteen for painful periods, so no babies on the way either. No need to panic.’
He breathed out heavily. ‘Thank fuck for that.’
His relief at there being no further complications stung her though. Practically, she knew it was good that they didn’t need to worry, but his focus being on that, rather than how she was feeling right now, hurt her deeply.
She guessed at that moment he was more concerned about making sure his budding career as a big shot actor wasn’t in jeopardy.
The realisation that he was being a heartless shit must have occurred to him too because he turned back to her and said, ‘Look, I really am sorry. I shouldn’t have let it happen.’
This admission only served to wound her more.
Tears sprang to her eyes and she struggled up off the ground, grabbing her clothes and pulling them on as quickly as she could, which wasn’t easy as they were still damp and freezing cold.
She needed to get back at him, to hurt him like he was hurting her, to protect her dignity.
‘Was this all just a ploy to get into my knickers? I bet it was. Cos I’m an easy target, aren’t I? Stupid, naïve Dizzy, she won’t put up a fight! Have you got some sort of bet on with Adam to see who manages to fuck me first or something? It wouldn’t surprise me,’ she ranted, the humiliation now turning to anger.
Zach was frowning. ‘It wasn’t like that. This has got nothing to do with Adam.’ He reached out and touched her arm. ‘Daisy, don’t say anything to him. Please.’ He looked imploringly at her now.
Snatching her arm away from his touch, she shook her head in disgust. ‘Of course I won’t. What do you think I am: stupid?’
He began to say something but she cut him off. ‘Don’t answer that. God, I hate you, you smug, arrogant bastard! Will youpleaseget dressed! Someone might find us at any moment, and the last thing I want is for anyone to know that I had sex withyou.’ She spat this last word out in anger. Because shedidfeel stupid now. How could she have let this happen?
Infuriatingly, even through her haze of bitter humiliation, looking at him now, his expression set in a scowl and his sleek, toned body taut with fury, she still felt a rush of longing for him.
‘You didn’t seem to mind a minute ago,’ he bit out.
‘Yeah, well, I was clearly out of my mind too,’ she countered.
Zach’s jaw was set in a hard line as he gathered his clothes together and pulled them on.
‘And don’t expect it to happen again. I want you to stay away from me, okay,’ Daisy said, her voice breaking with emotion.
She felt a bit nauseous, now it was beginning to hit home what she’d just done.
Poor Adam.
‘Don’t worry,princess, if you think I’m coming within ten feet of you again, you’ve got another think coming!’ Zach hissed back at her.
‘Fine!’
‘Fine!’ They shouted at each other.
Daisy went and sat on the top step by the cellar door, her arms wrapped around her for comfort, her fingers pressed against her swollen lips and tried to ignore the low throb that still resided inside her.
Zach stayed down on the floor of the cellar, glaring at the wall. After a few minutes, he roused himself and went to find the fuse box, flipping the trip switch back to restore the power.
After what seemed like an age, they heard the others come back into the house and Daisy banged on the door until Jack managed to force it open and let them out.
The boys thought it was hilarious that they’d locked themselves in the cellar and made a tirade of jokes at their expense. Sally was aghast at the state of them and ordered them both to have a hot shower immediately.
No-one seemed to notice the frosty atmosphere between her and Zach and she was glad when later, after she was warm and dry again, Sam dragged him and Adam off to play pool at the pub for the rest of the evening.
