Rose, Lily and Lo bicker behind us, deeper inside the room. I ignore their voices as best I can. But I hear Lo say, “Go vomit in your Gucci handbag, you’ll feel better. And maybe you’ll expel some of that bitch inside of you.”
“Says the guy who’s more sloth than human. Go hug a tree and eat an ant.”
I tune out the rest. Ryke and I exchange a look before staring back down at Daisy.
She rubs her temple, her long hair tangled at her waist. “I feel really short when you guys do that whole towering over me thing.” She swallows. “I think I need some water.” She tries to leave again, but we block her. “Okay, really, what’s going on?”
I hand Ryke’s phone to Daisy. We both know that she can handle this information. Lo and Lily don’t need to hear it, which is why Ryke has kept this to himself.
“Wait…” Daisy frowns, her brows scrunching. “…this has to be a wrong number.”
“It’s not,” I say. “We just checked.”
She shakes her head. “He wouldn’t say this to me. He’s not that crude.”
“He didn’t say it to you,” Ryke tells her. “He sent the text to me. He’s a fucking guy, Dais—he’s going to be cruder to me, not his girlfriend.”
She stares at the ground in thought. “What…what happened last night? Did I do something…？”
“Fuck,” Ryke curses and he glares at me. “She can’t remember anything.”
Well, if it had to be either Rose or Daisy, I’m selfishly glad it was this one who blacked out. “It’s fine. You didn’t do anything out of your nature, Daisy.”
Her worry doesn’t dissipate with that fact, which is why I said it. I want her to break up with Julian. We all do. And somewhere in her head, she does too. She’s just too frightened to do so.
“Okay…” She hands me Ryke’s phone. And she tries to run her fingers through her hair, but it catches on a giant knot. She clears her throat. “Okay, I’m going to think about this—”
“What is there to fucking think about?” Ryke growls.
She stares up at him, and her eyes expand a little more than usual. She’s scared. “I have a shoot with him soon, a jeans campaign. I can’t…I can’t afford for there to be weird tension between us. He may…” She shakes her head. “…he might complain to the designer about me. And I’ll be the one sacked. They really like him, and Mom will be…” She struggles to breathe fully.
And then across the hall, the door to Julian’s room slowly opens.
Daisy’s eyes widen, and she mutters, “I have to…run.” And she dashes out of the doorway and down the flight of stairs.
“Fuck,” Ryke curses before sprinting after her.
As soon as they’re gone, I shut the door behind me, concealing Rose, Lily and Lo inside so they don’t see what’s about to happen.
Julian comes out, nodding to me with tired eyes. “Is there any hot water left?”
“Yeah,” I say. “Hey, man.” I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. “I have to ask you something.” He thinks we’re cool. It makes getting the truth that much easier from him, but my muscles constrict the longer I have to withstand Julian. I see the text and the threat of gangbanging Rose’s little sister in my brain—like a warning of who he really is.
He groans. “If this is about your friend, Ryke, you can save it. I’ve had to deal with a lot of bullshit being with Daisy, but that was ridiculous. She’s my girlfriend, and I had to put up with him grabbing at her.”
I can’t defend Ryke right now even though I want so much to do so. He grabbed Daisy once to keep her safe from him, at her wish.
I blink. “I thought she wasn’t your girlfriend.”
He runs a hand through his messy hair. “Friends with benefits, whatever. We’re dating.”
“Exclusively?”
He glares. “Yeah, that’s what I said.” No it’s not, you asshat.
I hold up my hands. “I’m just trying to get things straight here.”
“Well get this straight,” he says. “Your friend isn’t going to be with her. He needs to go find another girl and stop staring at mine.”
“Okay,” I say. “Did you text him last night though? He said you did…”
Julian frowns. “What are you talking about?”
“At four this morning—”
“I was asleep.”
I hand him Ryke’s phone so he can verify.
“What the hell is this?” He shakes his head and pushes the phone into my chest. “I didn’t send this.”
I want to believe him because he appears confused. But if all models are like Daisy, then they’re really good actors.
“Right,” I say, pocketing Ryke’s phone. “I’ll let him know. It must have been a prank.”
Julian just shakes his head again. “Everyone here is fucking crazy.” He nudges my arm. “At least we’re the two normal ones.”
“Yeah, man.” I nod with a smile and he heads to the shower without another word. I rub my jaw that hurts after concealing a scowl. I don’t know who to believe, but I think we all want Daisy far away from Julian until her photo shoot—when she can actually break up with him without fearing being fired and subsequently her mother’s disappointment.
I head downstairs to make breakfast. Ben follows me. Before I go to the kitchen, I peek out the living room window.
Daisy runs through the snow. Barefoot. Without a jacket.
Ryke catches up to her easily, and he wraps his large coat around her body. He picks her up before she can protest, holding her beneath her legs and her back. Her feet are reddened and frostbitten, and she buries her head into Ryke’s bare chest while he talks to her, to calm her down.
I back away.
For as much as I give Ryke a hard time, I can’t imagine another person with a kinder soul.
CHAPTER 28
CONNOR COBALT
Rose and I spend three days teaching Loren and Lily how to ski. They admitted to never learning during family trips. They’d ditch lessons to goof around, and when they reached a certain age, they replaced normal adolescent behavior with more dangerous activities. Lo would stay at a bar all day, drinking until he passed out, while Lily would sleep with anyone willing.
Daisy opted to snowboard, and even when she chose the black diamond slopes, both Ryke and Julian went with her. Savannah was the only one skilled enough to film them. I can only imagine Ryke and Julian at each other’s throats. That episode is going to draw millions of viewers.
Scott’s the only one who stayed back at the cabin. A rarity. He usually loves tagging along, which means his tactics are changing. I don’t know what he plans to do yet, but I’m constantly on guard.
Everyone changes out of their wet and puffy clothes by the front door. I make it into the living room first to start a fire. Lily is by my side next. I glance back and notice Rose removing her third sweater and brushing her hair off her reddened cheeks. Lo bickers by her side as he stumbles to take off his boots.
Lily clears her throat.
Obviously she wants to talk. “Yes?” I ask.