Page 97 of Guys Can't Write Romance
As she watched him lazily sit up in his crinkled t-shirt and cartoonish bedhead, Daisy realized that somewhere between the bar games and the bad karaoke, she had fallen in love with Chad McKenzie.
“Yikes!” came Rhino’s obnoxious laugh from the kitchen. “Now I know why tigers eat their young.”
Daisy looked over and saw him grinning at her. “Thank you. It took work to get this look just right.”
Rhino smiled. “You wear the hungover werewolf look like a champ, Fields.”
She smiled, despite herself, and turned to Chad. “Can you drown him the next time you go surfing?”
“Consider it done,” he said, brushing what looked like Doritos crumbs from his shirt.
“So, what’ll it be for breakfast, lovebirds?” Rhino hollered.
“What’s on the menu?” Chad said.
“Let’s see. I can whip you guys up the hangover special, or we’ve got a honeymoon special in case your night got really wild. Although I will need to have a talk with Chad about the meaning of marital bed.”
“An omelet’s just fine,” Chad said, exchanging a brief look with Daisy, whose cheeks had just flushed pink.
“How about you, Fields?” Rhino said.
“Just toast. And a hole to crawl in and die.”
After breakfast, Chad and Daisy walked to a small beachfront cafe where they ordered two coffees to-go. They took their coffees to the boardwalk, where they sat down on a low concrete wall facing the ocean. The morning waves rolled in gently, while a cool breeze brushed their cheeks. In the distance, the faint outlines of surfers bobbed on the horizon.
Chad glanced at Daisy, who was holding her cup with both hands. “Praying to the coffee gods?”
She shook her head. “They’re not awake yet.”
He chuckled.
“You better not be laughing at my hungover werewolf look, or I’m telling Chloe.”
“I’m not that brave,” Chad laughed. “I was just remembering you trying to convince me you weren’t drunk last night by trying to walk a straight line.”
“Ugh,” she groaned, rubbing her temple. “Just tell me I didn’t try to do a Riverdance Irish jig in these heels.”
“Nope. I would’ve remembered that.”
“Good. Because it’s been known to happen during drunken Daisy antics.”
“You know how to Irish dance?”
“Kind of. My mom made me take lessons as a kid.”
“Are you any good?”
Daisy gave a light chuckle. “Chloe describes it as watching a drunk person trying to put out a fire with her feet.”
Chad almost spit up his coffee. “That line’s going in my book,” he laughed.
Daisy grinned. “Thank you. We’re here all week.”
He laughed and sat back while she took her first careful sip of coffee. The warmth and caffeine hit her bloodstream like a lifeline. She breathed in deeply of the ocean air and felt her whole body relax. They sat in comfortable silence for a while, just watching the rhythm of the waves as they crashed softly in the distance.
“Thanks for last night, Chad,” Daisy said softly. “You really came through for me, and that means a lot. I haven’t laughed that hard and had that much fun since...” She turned and looked at him. “... the last time I hung out with you.”
“It was pretty epic,” he said, giving her back a soft rub. “It’s good to know there’s someone worse at karaoke than me.”
