"I don't blame you. I could sit out here and look at this all day."
"You still want to punch me in the balls?" I asked, running my hands through her hair, gently undoing the tangles.
"No, I guess not."
"I don't even want to know why you two are up this early, let alone outside," a voice called out, startling us. We both whipped around, spotting Lane standing with the door half open and his head sticking out.
"We are watching the sunrise," Daisy answered, giving him a smile.
"Cute," Lane mumbled, rubbing his sleepy eyes. "Just wait, dude, pretty soon she'll be waking you up at the butt crack of dawn to get her ass fucking water and," his voice raised, mocking Cora's voice, "I need to make sure it has fresh lemons in it." He huffed, shaking his head. "High maintenance pain in my ass. Have fun freezing your asses off," he laughed, shutting the door.
"Looks like Lane isn't a morning person," Daisy said.
"I think you're right there," I opened the camera bag on my lap and dragged her camera out. I spent the next twenty minutes watching her behind the lens. She was so carefree. She would snap a few shots, from every angle of the porch, pause, flip through them then go through the same process again.
"Smile," she called out, stopping in front of me with the camera pointed my way.
"Nu uh," I said, putting my hands over my face.
"Stop being difficult," she demanded, stomping her boot covered foot in the snow.
"Only if you come take one with me," I insisted, moving my hands away from my face and giving her a look.
"Fine," she plodded back to the bench, sliding back onto the bench next to me. Grabbing the camera from her hand, I turned it around so the lens was facing us.
"Ready, 1, 2, 3 say fuck you," I smiled, clicking the button and a bright light flashed in our faces.
"Really, say fuck you," she said, elbowing me in the side while I flipped the camera around to look at our picture.
"We look good together," I commented, taking in what was on the screen. Our heads were slightly touching, tilting in towards one another. But the best part of the entire picture was her smile. I knew she was enjoying this time with me. "You know, you should give me a chance," I said, out of nowhere.
She stopped messing with her camera and gaped up at me. "Huh?"
"Give me a chance. One chance. If I fuck it up, you can kick me in the balls or never talk to me again."
"What are you even talking about?"
"I'm saying exactly what it sounded like. You and me taking a chance with each other. We could make each other happy."
She flicked some remaining snow off the bench. "Wow, that's um, random."
"How? Obviously we both have enjoy each other's company and try to deny it all you want, but I know you have feelings for me." It was forward, I knew, but it needed to be said.
"What about the other girl?"
Goddamn, here we go again. "Daisy," I said, softly, even though I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, "Piper and I are nothing. I haven't been with anyone else since your little drunken escapade at Lane's party." And something just dawned on me, holy shit: I hadn't had sex in two months.
"I'm not talking about Piper," she replied, now staring at me.
"Okay," I drawled, "then who the hell are you talking about?"
"The girl you were talking about last night," she said, confusion crinkling her brows. "The one you said made you change your mind about love."
Oh hell. I couldn't help it but laugh. "Baby, that girl I was you." Her face brightened for a second, then fell again.
“You’re right, I do like you,” she confessed, easing my relief of possible rejection. “I’m just not certain if I’m ready for another relationship yet.”
“Baby, I’ve never had a relationship, so we would make a great pair,” I said, nudging her side. “I’m not saying if we try, it’s going to be perfect, because it most likely isn’t. Shit, we may try this out and find out we can’t stand each other. But, we need to go with what’s right in front of us. We both enjoy each other’s company and we’re comfortable confiding in one another and that means you trust me. And I trust you,” I added. “When you’re around, I don’t think about my fucked up family problems or how I need to go to the next party and prove to everyone that I don’t give a fuck about it. When I’m with you, I’m content and I’m happy, which is something that rarely happens. But somehow, Daisy, you bring that out in me.”
“Wow,” she said, looking at me carefully.
“Too much?”
“Definitely a lot, but I wouldn’t say too much.”
“You don’t have to say anything now. Go home and think about it but I swear, if you give me a chance, you won’t regret it.”