“Is it your favorite holiday?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“My birthday is July 14th in case you’re wondering.”
“I wasn’t.”
Now that sounds more like Daisy.
“Are you ready to go to sleep?” I ask, suppressing a yawn. “I need to be up in about three hours for practice.”
She bolts up. “What?”
I pull her back down. “We have an early practice, then weights before classes. The Raptors head coach want me to continue training with the team until my contract with them is signed. Coach is having me and C come in an hour earlier than everyone else for extra training. Says he won’t send us over there looking like untrained buffoons.”
“He sounds like a crusty old grandfather.”
“Don’t tell him that.”
She huffs but lets me pull her back against me.
“Go to sleep, Red. I’m here and you’re safe.”
She nods and closes her eyes, trusting me.
No matter how badly I want to kiss her, I curtail the need. This is worth more than a few minutes of kissing. Holding her, having her trust me, it’s worth everything.
Closing my own eyes, I fall asleep to the sound of her steady breathing and the feel of her warm skin pressed against mine.
CHAPTER 28
Daisy
It’s beenabout a week since I broke down and asked Hutch to come over in the middle of the night because I was scared. I’ve only seen him in person once since then as he’s been so busy, but he calls and texts constantly. He sends me silly goofy pictures of him and Collin as well as ones of him smiling and showing off. It’s adorable really.
I’m tempted to step back and try to rebuild those walls that he seems to have busted through with a mac truck, but I remember him asking only that I don’t shut him out in return for him always being there. He makes me feel so safe. How can I not do that one thing for him in return?
Because he scares me.
Shaking my head, I dig through my t-shirts and find one of my black Halloween shirts. It’s a cute one with a cat and haunted house scene. Add in some baggy dark purple sweatpants and I’m good for the day.
Today is Halloween and my birthday. Just thinking about it is making me miss Nana and I don’t even know if my brother willbe able to call me or not. He hasn’t called in three weeks and I’m starting to worry about him. I hate not knowing where he is.
At least its Friday and I decided to skip all my classes. I don’t usually do that, but I need a mental break from class. My head is still pretty messed up from Joe’s nonsense and me trying to convince myself letting Hutch in isn’t a bad thing. It’s been hard to focus in class the last few days and I decided I needed a day off. Having nothing to do might not be all that great either which is why I called the restaurant to see if there were any open shifts available for today and sadly there weren’t. It’s mine and Christa’s weekend off.
The only person who knows it’s my birthday is Hutch and today is his big meeting with the Raptors. That’ll probably take all day. He told me his lawyer and his agent had been working all week on his contract and today is the day he’ll be presented with it. He said they were hoping to have him sign this weekend and start practice with the team on Monday. He was so excited when I spoke with him last night. It was as cute as could be.
I hope he has a good meeting that ends in a signed contract. His agent required that his lawyer be there at the meeting in person so she could make any changes necessary and explain anything he had questions about. I’m hoping it’ll either get signed today or this weekend. He really wants to start practice on Monday.
There’s a knock on my door and my heartbeat instantly speeds up. Everyone should be in class by now. Who’s knocking on my door?
“Daisy? It’s Jenny!”
I let out the breath I was holding and jump up to go unlock the door. Like me she’s in sweats and a t-shirt with her hair up in a messy bun.
“I thought everyone was in class by now.” I stand aside and let her in.
“Me, Christa, and some of the other girls stayed home to help set up for the Halloween party. I came to see if you were up to lending a hand decorating if you’re skipping classes today too. Decorating is really important for us since we do trick-or-treating for the kiddos until eight. We let people start arriving for the big party by around nine or so.”
