Page 125 of Play Fast (Brooklyn Dawn 2)

I nearly begged again, except this time for her not to cry. I couldn’t stand it. But I knew bottling up her emotions was far worse than letting them out.

I was living proof of that.

Without speaking, I moved up to sit beside her on my new ugly sofa. I drew her into my arms, prepared for her to shove me away or hit me or God only knows. But she just curled into me, getting my shirt damp from the flood of her tears. I stroked my hand down her hair and rested my chin on the top of her head, so incredibly grateful I’d even been allowed this much.

It was a long road ahead of us, and I was ready to walk every step.

“I don’t need anything from you,” I said after a while, once her tears had slowed. “I mean, promises or a commitment or anything.”

She tilted her head up. “You realize we actually haven’t made up yet, right?”

“Yeah. I’m just saying. I won’t rush you. I won’t demand a timeline or words or anything other than what you want to give. I’ll give you space.” I collected one of her spent tears on my fingertip and rubbed it away, wanting nothing more to make them all disappear. “Anything you want is yours.”

“All I ever wanted was you.”

I couldn’t speak.

She sat up and cupped my cheeks. “All beardy again. Happens so quick. As if I’d never even been here.” Her thumb touched the corner of my mouth. “Kerry said we could be good for each other.”

“What?” Slowly, I met her eyes. “But you said—”

“The night before she died we went to one of the field parties. She didn’t touch anything that night. I didn’t either. She was thinking about after. You know, once she was gone.”

I stared at her, not wanting to understand.

Horror crossed her face. “No, not like that. You know, California. She must’ve meant...” She fell silent. “That’s what she meant, right?”

I pulled her in, holding on when she started to shake. When I shook right with her.

“I didn’t see it. I didn’t know.” She pressed her wet face into my throat. “She was my best friend. I didn’t see it.”

Carefully, I brushed her hair back from her stricken eyes and red cheeks. “We don’t know anything for sure. Nothing has changed. She made her own choices.”

“We were supposed to help her. We didn’t.”

“We didn’t know. We still don’t. Combing over her words and trying to guess what was in her head is enough to make anyone crazy. All I know for sure is that she never wanted to hurt you.” I dragged in a breath, one after another. “Or me.”

“No. She thought we would have each other.” Daisy dashed at her tears, but they were falling too fast for her to catch. “What if we never had? It would be like she’d died all over again. We couldn’t even give her that much.”

“Loving her isn’t a reason for us to be together. No matter what she wanted.”

Daisy’s throat moved. “No. You’re right.”

“The reason for us is to be together is because you make me happy. I’ve never been happy like I was with you for those two days.”

Her smile broke through her tears. “You get this is crazy, right? No one falls in love in a weekend.”

“No. We probably did a long time before that. It just helped seeing you naked. Because damn, you used to be hot, but now? Holy shit.”

She laughed and pushed away my face. I kissed the center of her palm, my teeth raz

ing over her soft skin.

“I’ve only used that vibrator once.”

It was my turn to laugh. “I’m still jealous of it.”

“I bought it to scale.” She flushed prettily. “At least I think it’s close. I never had a ruler handy.”

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