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“I never thought I would see the day when Daisy O’Donnell got that look on her face for a man,” Devi said with wonder.
“I knew it would happen eventually.” Brianna stretched and hid a yawn. “I like him. He’s nice to her and her friends. I wholeheartedly approve and look forward to your wedding if we all survive.”
“Why wouldn’t we?” Daisy asked. Everyone was treating this like some horrific, dangerous thing. Like a ball of violence rolling inevitably her way. It was one dude who deserved every bit of prison time the law could throw at him. “Da is handling it.”
She had all the faith in the world when it came to her father saving her. He would never allow anything bad to happen if he could fix it. It was what her da did. He fixed things.
“Yeah, well, my father is worried your father is currently starting a cartel war, and we might all get caught in the middle of it,” Brianna confessed.
“Da will be very careful.” Of that Daisy was sure. Uncle Adam was on the dramatic side. It was why her short stint at Miles-Dean, Weston, and Murdoch hadn’t worked out. A girl hit one little delete button and it was like the world ended. It hadn’t been the world. It had been a kind of mean-girl AI assistant, and Aunt Chelsea had sent her a cookie bouquet. Not that it had saved her job.
“I’m not so sure about that. You are your father’s precious baby girl. He’s got to be panicking,” Brianna said. “He’ll do a lot to protect you. I mean he and your brother apparently scared off all the Doms at The Hideout for years. I can’t believe we didn’t catch that.”
“I knew something was up. I mean when we walk into a bar all eyes go straight to Daisy’s chest, and that’s the women, too.” Devi cupped her own boobs, looking down at them. “I wish you’d grown more. Damn my athletic build. I have my mom’s boobs.”
“You have fashion model boobs,” Bri countered. “You can actually wear the clothes you design.”
Daisy was confident in her boobs. Nate liked her boobs. He talked about them all the time.
“I don’t design for skinny chicks. I design for all of womankind,” Devi explained. “Wait until you see the bridesmaids dresses I made for Carys’s wedding. They’re beautiful, but the twins and Tash are in the bridal party, so there is definite cleavage. Daisy, tell her. You look gorgeous in yours.”
Would she be allowed out for Carys’s wedding? “They’re stunning and very boob forward.” She loved it when Nate laid his head on her chest and snuggled. Was he thinking about weddings? They could go to Vegas and spend all the money they would have spent on a wedding on an amazing suite. Or she could use it to fix up her house so they had somewhere lovely to live. A vision of Nate helping her paint and hang curtains floated through her head. She wanted to go grocery shopping with him. “I think I’m in love.”
Brianna’s eyes rolled. “Of course you are. You’ve been half in love with him since you were a kid. I knew what would happen the minute you said he was coming to Dallas. I knew you would see him again and it would be over.”
“Over?” It didn’t feel over. It felt like life was just beginning.
“The flirting. The crazy nights,” Bri said, a little wistful. “I miss our crazy nights, but I also know you two are moving on with your lives. You’re going into another stage.”
“I’m not moving on,” Devi replied with a shake of her head. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m completely single over here. I’m still one of the nuns of The Hideout.”
“But you are,” Brianna insisted. “You’re completely into a guy. It doesn’t matter if he can’t love you back. You feel something for him. Something I haven’t ever felt. I grew up around this amazing love, and it wasn’t only about my parents. I watched my brother. Tristan’s loved Carys all of his life. I don’t know what he’s doing, but I know he still loves Carys and he still wants to share her with Aidan. I’ve never wanted anyone like that. Like Daisy wants Nate. Like you want Zach.”
Zach Reed. From what Daisy had put together, he was the military liaison for the CIA team. She was fairly certain someone had explained it to her, but it was a lot of acronyms. He’d come to The Hideout with Cooper for the first time a year and a half before, and Devi had very quietly lost her mind over the handsome captain.
Not that she’d told him. She’d made Daisy and Bri promise not to say a word. They were a sisterhood within a sisterhood, and neither she nor Bri would ever break a confidence.
“I can want Zach all day, but we know who he wants,” Devi said.
“She’s engaged.” Daisy knew what Devi thought. She’d watched Zach, and his eyes always followed Tasha Taggart. A month before they’d overheard Kenz and Kala talking about how Zach had admitted he was in love with their sister. “Tash is happy with Dare. Zach is a single man.”
“And Tasha is his type. Not me,” Devi replied. “So while I might have these feelings, I’m not going to act on them. I’m not going to make a fool of myself.”
“Did I?” Daisy mused. She thought her friend was missing the point.
Devi neatly ducked as a pillow was thrown her way. A sorry was yelled out, and one of the boys ran to reclaim it. “I didn’t say you were a fool. It obviously worked out for you and Nate.”
“I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t tried. I think it might be more foolish to have these feelings and never give them a shot. Even if he doesn’t want you. At least you know. And if you’re too scared to be forthright, there’s always masquerade night. But you should probably wear a better disguise. Apparently mine wasn’t great.” She reached out to her friend. “I know how it feels to want someone you think you can’t have. I also know what Bri is saying. When we were in college we were an unstoppable party, wreaking havoc and fun everywhere we went. Now we have degrees and we spend our weekends sitting in the locker room at a sex club trying to figure out what to do with our lives.”
“I think you know what you want to do with yours,” Devi chided.
She was wrong about that. “I know who I want to spend it with. I’m not sure what I want to do. A psych degree sounded like a real thing at the time. Turns out there’s not a lot of call for it. Maybe I should give real estate another shot.”
Bri groaned. “Or you should go back and get your master’s and become a therapist for children. Just don’t tell them about the supervillain thing you so recently convinced poor Rand of.”
“I thought we were going to let her come to that conclusion on her own,” Devi pointed out.
The idea played around in her head. She did spend a lot of her time talking to kids, and most of it was helping them with their problems. When she thought about it… It was…brilliant. “I would be good at that. I would enjoy it.”
