You know, deep down I always knew Brandon was a thief, because last night, he totally walked away with my heart. I roll over in my bed and stare at the cloudy sky, a fitting match for my mood, and the honest to God’s truth is, this isn’t on him. He asked me to help him get a girl. I was the one who agreed. I didn’t have to, nor did I have to have sex with him. Hell, I wanted that. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now, not so much.
I check my phone and find a bunch of messages asking about my flight. I reply with a group message to let the others know I’m going to spend an extra night here at the beach. Ending my vacation wallowing in self-pity is a hell of a lot better than getting on a plane and seeing Brandon and Naomi together. How I even thought if they hooked up it would help me move on was beyond me. With Naomi in med school with me, and now that she’s part of our circle of friends, there’s no way I can avoid the two.
Yup, totally a masochist.
But I can’t think about that right now. It reminds me of the playroom we found and how it ignited heat between us and led us down a path I knew better than to travel. I roll over and stare at the ceiling and work to quiet my racing brain, especially when my gaze lands on a picture of Brandon, Chase and me. Maybe there’s a part of me that always knew I’d lose him, which is why I was always afraid to tell him how I felt. I wasn’t enough for my own mother, for God’s sake. Why on earth would I be enough for Brandon?
I glance at my phone and see three dots coming in from Brandon. It’s a private message, not a group one, and my heart stops beating. Maybe he’s going to tell me Naomi was a mistake, and that it’s me he’s always loved and that he wants a future with me. His words finally puncture my screen, and my entire world pretty much falls apart as I read.
Brandon: Safe travels, Duke.
I stare at those three innocuous words until they blur before my eyes. It’s not what I was hoping for, but he is wishing me safe travels, and that’s nice. Normal. Like we haven’t been having sex. But we have been and as much as I don’t want to admit it, I always knew he could never be mine, and now…well, now things are different and wrong. How the hell could they not be?
I roll back over and will sleep to come, but soon enough, car doors are being opened and closed, as my friends jump in cabs to go back to the airport. I’ll miss a day of classes tomorrow, but I don’t really care.
Honestly, I never should have come to Seattle with him, never should have read his sex scenes, and never should have followed him into the neighbors’ cottage where things certainly took a different turn in our relationship.
Seagulls squawk in the distance, and when outside falls quiet, I push to my feet and pad to my window. I open it and let the morning breeze wash over my skin. At the other end of the beach, I spot Sebastian cleaning up outside his place. Maybe I should help him. I could use the distraction.
I make a quick trip to the bathroom and clean my face and teeth. I tug on shorts and a T-shirt and lock the house behind me. Sebastian has a confused look on his face by the time I reach him.
“What are you still doing here?”
I shrug, and try to make light of it. “I wasn’t quite ready to go back yet.” He nods and puts a few empty cans of beer into a garbage bag. I search around and start tidying up.
“Has Nick gone back?” I ask, simply to make conversation.
“Sleeping. We take off in a couple hours.”
I nod again and smile, trying to appear happy and light when I’m actually dark and sad. I move with an enthusiasm I don’t feel, and nearly trip over a log simply because I’m a hot mess.
“Okay, sit.”
I lift my head to find Sebastian staring at me, as he shakes his head. “What?”
Yeah, I get it, I’m pitiful.
“Sit, Daisy.”
I plunk down on a log, and he sits opposite me. I hold his gaze and take in his handsome face. What kind of fool was I not to go for this guy? He’s funny and sweet and…and…he’s not Brandon. Last night when he wanted me to put on the coat, I simply told him I liked him…as a friend. I’m pretty sure Brandon heard the first part, and not the second and I left it at that. At least this way he won’t try to set me up with some guy on his team, and now he no doubt thinks I’m hanging back to be with Sebastian. I had to be straight up honest with Sebastian, though. I couldn’t let him think I wanted more.
“What the hell, Daisy?”
“What?” I ask again, my heart hurting in my chest.
“If you like him so much, just tell him.”
Okay, do I play dumb here? I’d bet I’d be really good at it, considering how dumb I’ve been lately. I blink up at him, and open my mouth.
“Don’t.”
Okay, so no playing dumb. “He’s with someone else now.”
“That girl he punched in the face, you mean?”
I wince. “He didn’t actually punch her in the face.”
“So, her then.”
“Yeah, her.”
He snorts. “That’s who he wants?”
I’m shocked at the weird revulsion in his voice. “Why do you say it like that? There’s nothing wrong with Naomi.”
“You’re wrong. There’s something very wrong with Naomi.”
I sit up a bit straighter, and I mentally picture the girl who has it all—even the guy I love. “What could—”
“She’s not you.”
I go completely still, Sebastian’s words circling my brain like a runaway puck. “She’s not…”
“Daisy, you’re the whole package. Why do you think I spent every summer since we were teens trying to convince you to be my girl?”
“I mean, I kind of thought you might like me.”
“Kind of thought? I—we—every guy on this beach was crazy about you.”
“I didn’t really know.”
“Do you know why you didn’t know?”
“Stunned?”
He stares at me for a second, clearly not expecting me to say that, and then bursts out laughing. “No, you’re not stunned. Well, maybe you are. But you’ve been hung up on Brandon for as long as I knew you.”
I sigh, bend forward and brace my elbows on my knees. “I’m pathetic.”
“Nah, you just know what you want.”
“He doesn’t want me, though. He calls me Duke. You know that.”
“So.”
“So…Duke is a guy’s name. He thinks of me as one of the guys.”
“If he thinks of you as one of the guys, Daisy, then he’s playing for the other team. Trust me, I’ve seen the way he looks at you and he does not look at Naomi that way. They have zero chemistry.”
“Then why did he never try anything with me?”
He angles his head, like he knows something. “Hasn’t he?” Sebastian mumbles under his breath, my cheeks warming as he adds, “Maybe he’s worried about the friendship.”
“I am too.”
“I think you need to get your ass on a plane back to Canada go tell Brandon everything you’re feeling.”
“What if I lose him?”
He reaches out, takes my hand in his and gives it a little squeeze. “You already have.”
It’s true, I have and you know what, I’m damn tired of running the other way before someone can leave me. Hell, Brandon already left, and I’m not a baby who can’t do anything about that. It’s time to slay those demons because I’m a grown woman, totally worthy and loveable and if my mother didn’t want me, that’s on her. Not me. She’s the one who missed out, because I’m a queen, not a pawn. Brandon had shown me that since we were kids, and now it’s my turn to show him a thing or two. “Why are you so good at this girl talk stuff?”
“My last girlfriend made me watch all the rom-coms with her.”
I chuckle as my mind drifts to Brandon’s book. “What do I say?”
“I don’t know, Daisy. You know him better than I do. In the movies I was forced to watch, there was always the big grand gesture before the happy ending.”
“Happily ever after,” I correct.
“Whatever. All I know is you need to show him what he means to you, and that you’re the girl for him. Otherwise, you’ll spend your life wondering, what if…”
What if…
I said those exact words to Brandon once. Fear and panic bursts inside me, prompting me to jump up. I need to say something, do something…I need to at least try and if in the end Naomi is the girl for him, I’ll at least know I fought.
I hug Sebastian. “Thank you.”
He laughs. “You’re welcome, now go.”
I move a little quicker as I head down the beach back to my cottage. The first thing I do is check for a new flight, but today is fully booked. That’s okay, it gives me time to show Brandon what he really means to me, and I’m going to do that by writing his happily ever after for him—ending his book the way I want us to end—or rather begin.
For the rest of the day, I think, pace, walk, write, delete and start again. Wow, writing is way harder than I ever imagined. How the heck does Brandon do it? By the time I close my laptop, I’m too tired to see and fall asleep on the sofa. I wake bright and early, read over yesterday’s words, which totally suck. But I have the flight home to revise.
I run around the cottage and tidy up, and it’s midafternoon by the time I get an Uber to the airport. Only problem is, there’s a storm moving in and I’m a bit worried about delays. My phone pings, and it’s a text from Sawyer checking in on me. I resist the urge to ask her how Brandon is doing. I don’t want to tell anyone my plan, in case everyone is mistaken about Brandon and it’s not me he wants. For all I know, he could have been lip-locked with Naomi since Saturday night. If that’s the case, then fine—well not really—but I have to see this plan to fruition.
The airport is crowded and loud with flights being canceled all over the place and I find a corner to sit, wait and write. My heart races faster as the hours tick by and I check my phone over and over to see if Brandon had reached out to me. Nothing. I guess he’s back at practice with no time for anything else—although in the past he always made time for me. I’m missing practice too, but for me, my future doesn’t depend on hockey like his does, so it’s not quite as bad.
Day turns to night and it’s Tuesday by the time I get on my plane for the long trip to Halifax. It’s not a direct one, either. Booking last minute means stopovers and now I’m worried I won’t even be home until mid-week. I’m sure the others are wondering what’s going on, so I send a message to the group chat, to let everyone know of the delay. Everyone responds, including Brandon, telling me to travel safe. Wow, I guess from the nonchalant responses, no one is too concerned.
By the time I get home, it’s the middle of the night, which means I’m going to have to wait until Wednesday to see Brandon. While I’d like to go straight to him, he’ll be up for practice early and I don’t want to ruin his game or chances at the NHL because that’s what he plans on doing, even if it isn’t what he really wants.
Is Naomi still what he wants?
I crawl into bed, and Alysha moving around downstairs wakes me. My heart leaps, knowing I’m going to see Brandon today, and I hurry downstairs to find a very concerned Alysha when I enter the kitchen.
“What?” I ask.
She swallows. “There’s something wrong,” she blurts out.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Brandon.”
I grab a chair and sit. Is Brandon hurt again? Is he concussing? “What?” She narrows her gaze. “Alysha, what is it?”
“I think you should go see for yourself.”
I stand on wobbly legs. “Where is he? Is he at the hospital?”
She angles her head like I just suggested the most ludicrous thing, and I remind myself she doesn’t know about the concussion.
“He’s at his place.”
Leaving my purse and everything else behind, I hurry out the door and start running down the street. His place isn’t that far and a car would have been faster, but when fight or flight mode hits, I ran. The sound of my feet hitting the ground rings in my ears, and I don’t slow until I round the corner, and see Brandon’s place in the distance. I soon hear more pounding sounds, but it’s not coming from my feet. What the heck is going on?
As I get closer, I realize the noise is coming from Brandon’s backyard. His parents own this place, they bought it as an investment for Brandon to live in while he was here, and to rent to students afterward. Are they renovating or something?
I step around the house and come to a resounding halt at the scene unfolding before me. Okay, Alysha was right, something is wrong, very wrong indeed.
“Brandon,” I call, the ground wobbly beneath my feet as I take a tentative step closer. I eye him as he turns to me and uses his forearm to wipe a bead of sweat from his face. I swallow and continue with, “What are you doing?”
“Building a treehouse.” He says it so casually, like it’s something he does every day, a new burst of worry travels through me and grips my throat.
“Okay.” I nod, simply to placate him, but I’m still a bit lost here. I glance at the piles of wood, nails and equipment. Why the hell isn’t he in class or at the rink? Why didn’t one of our friends message me to let me know he’s not doing so well. “It’s nice,” I say for lack of anything else as my brain races. I should contact Chase first. Yeah, Chase. I grab my phone and quickly shoot off a message to Chase, pleading for him to get here ASAP.
“It’s for my ending,” he says quietly, and I swear to God, I’ve now seen all sides of Brandon but I’ve never seen this sad, lonely…worried side.
“Ending?”
“Of my book.”
Still a bit confused and wanting to keep him talking until Chase gets here, I say, “I’ve been thinking about your ending too.” I glance at the hammer and nails in his hands. “I’ve been working on your ending, you know…for the book? I even did some research into publishers.” His eyes go wide and I try to see his pupils. I quickly shake my head. “No, I did this on my own, not through your mother. I would never tell anyone. I… I just thought…you never had a happily ever after and I wanted to help.” Okay, this grand gesture is going way differently than I imagined after Sebastian put the idea into my head and I hatched a plan back in Seattle. But I want to keep him talking.
He swallows. “You did that…for me?”
“You sound surprised.”
“I shouldn’t be.” The hammer taps against his leg as he swings it.
“This treehouse….it’s about your happy ending?” Making light I say, “Do the nails have something to do with nailing your happy ending?”
He goes dead serious. “Daisy, where did we meet?”
“In a treehouse.”
“Where was the first time I scared you? Sorry about that, by the way.”
“In the treehouse, and no, you’re not.”
He grins and this is the first time since coming around the corner that I can breathe. “The first time I put my mouth on you?” he asks his voice a bit husky now.
I swallow and my body heats in remembrance. “In the treehouse, and it was the first time I put my mouth on you, actually. The first time you put your mouth on me was the neighbors’ playroom.”
His eyes dim, like he too is remembering. “The first time I fell in love with you?”
Naturally I’m about to say the treehouse, as it’s been the answer to his questions, but my brain kicks in and I ask, “…you love me?”
“I love you, Daisy. I think I always have, but blocked it because you were my best friend, and I was fucking terrified of losing you. I couldn’t think of you like that…” He shakes his head, and blows out a slow breath. “Until I couldn’t stop thinking of you like that.”
My pulse is thudding so fast, I’m not sure I’m hearing what I think I’m hearing. “Concussion?” I touch my head. “Changed your personality.”
He shakes his head. “I could never finish my book because I had no idea what happily ever after looked like. You once gave me advice to circle around to the beginning. Put my characters in the same spot doing the same thing as when they met, but this time, feeling differently about it.” He drops the hammer and nails and puts his hand on a big two by four piece of lumber. “That’s what I’m doing here.”
Tears prick my eyes. Is this really freaking happening? “Brandon,” I begin. “I haven’t been honest with you. I’ve been keeping a whopper of a secret and that secret is that I’ve been in love with you since I first set foot in your treehouse. I was terrified of losing us.” He takes my hand in his, brushing rough callouses against my flesh and I warm. “I helped with the ending of your book. I wanted to write out an ending. To show you that I’m here for you, and love you. No matter what. I want you to have the future you want…and more importantly, I want to be in it. I planned to tell you all that, but then Alysha told me to get over here, and you…you were one step ahead of me, trying to put us back together with a…treehouse.”
“Sebastian…” he murmurs, his voice shaky. “I heard…”
“There is no Sebastian, and I know what you overheard. What you didn’t stick around to hear was me telling him I liked him as a friend.” Warmth and love move into his eyes. “It’s you I love, and this is our happily ever after,” I say, tears choking me up. “You’re a real-life hero, Brandon. This is better than any romance novel ending.”
His jaw works as he clenches, like he’s fighting back tears. “This…this will be our treehouse, Daisy. No one else allowed.” He swallows as he struggles to talk. “As far as my concussion, I don’t think it changed my personality. All I know is you were the girl who was always by my side and when you came to Seattle with me to put me back together, I couldn’t keep what I felt for you under wraps any longer. I saw you for who and what you really were. The girl I’ve always loved. I guess in the back of my mind I figured if I fucked things up, I could blame it on the concussion, Duke.”
“Duke,” I say quietly that one stupid word hitting like a punch to the face. I stumble back a bit, and he reaches for me.
“Hey.”
“Brandon, you called me Duke.” I shake my head. “I’m not sure you really do see me as anything other than the tomboy who was the only girl allowed in the treehouse.”
His face pales as he stares at me, and then as if he has an epiphany, he laughs and steps back into me, holding me tight, so I can’t break free. “Don’t you get it. You wore those daisy dukes. Those sexy denim cutoffs that fueled my teenage fantasies.”
Now it’s my turn to stare. “Wait…” I grin, the pieces starting to fall into place. “Ohmigod, that’s why you call me Duke?”
“Yeah, and I had to call you Duke to remind myself I needed to treat you like one of the guys, but holy hell, Daisy, you were as sexy as fuck and you still are and I fucking love you with all my heart and I want a future with you.”
“I…I want that too.” I turn at the sound of footsteps and spot Sawyer and Chase, Kennedy and Matt, Piper and Beck, and my roommate Alysha standing there. Alysha is all alone, naturally, since her soon to be fiancé is in the Hamptons. I shake my head as they all grin at me. I guess this is why they’ve all been so quiet and distant. They were all in on this. I grin at them, and my friends all give me big smiles. That’s when I spot Ryan, and the way he just moved in beside Alysha.
There has to be something going on between them, but I can’t think about that right now, not when Brandon is squeezing my hand. I turn my attention back to him, and let it all pour out of my heart. “You once told me med school was the most important thing in the world to me,” I say. “You were wrong. You are. You’ve always been more important than anything else, and I love you and want a future with you.”
“You’ve just made me the happiest guy in the world, and I want to write, Daisy. I’m going to tell my parents.”
My eyes go wide. Did he just admit he wants to write in front of our friends?
“It’s okay. I told them everything, even how much I love you, but they already knew that.” He exhales hard, and a grin plays with his lips. “Okay, now let me get this damn treehouse finished, so we can climb in, make out, and start on that future!”
“Oh, come on,” Chase says. “We didn’t need to hear that.”
Everyone laughs as he hugs me tight.
Okay, this is even way better than what I put in his book, which is why he’s the writer and I’m not. “Now this is the perfect ending, B.”
“No, it’s not,” he says, and I frown in confusion. “It’s the perfect beginning, but don’t worry, when I get you alone, we’re going to talk about that ending you want.”
“Oh?”
He winks. “It’s time we nailed our happy ending, Duke.”
I laugh out loud as he spins me around and kisses me with all the love he’s been holding inside him. “I don’t think we have to wait until the treehouse is built.” I take his hand, ready to drag him inside. “Come on, let’s get started on our future, and I’m definitely into showing over telling, so how about you show me exactly how you’re going to nail that happy ending.”