Crave Me (The Good Ol' Boys #4)(8)
I didn’t like it when she said my full name. It meant I was in big trouble.
“No! I don’t care!”
“Daisy, you don’t talk to your mother like that.”
“I hate you both, I really hate you! I wish you would just go away and leave me alone!” I yelled, regretting it immediately.
She instantly turned around and looked at me wide-eyed with a tear running down her face. I had never said that to them before. It just came out. I didn't mean it, I loved them both. I felt really bad. I was about to apologize and tell her I loved them, but I was cut off.
“AMARI!” Dad yelled out, grabbing the steering wheel. “This f*cking idiot—”
The loud crashing noise that followed made me want to put my hands over my ears as my body was thrown forward. The car spun, whipping Mommy and Daddy’s bodies all around. I wanted to cover my eyes. I think I was screaming, or maybe that was my mom? My head hit something hard and my body felt like it was on a roller coaster ride, as we tumbled and tumbled and tumbled. I didn't know which way was up and which was down.
For a second, I caught a glimpse of Mommy's face in the mirror, and I swear she mouthed, “I love you.”
It all happened so fast, yet it played out in slow motion in front of my eyes. I heard glass shattering all over me, pieces flying through the air. The sound of crushing metal drowned out our screams.
When we finally stopped, an eerie silence filled the car. All I could hear were raindrops hitting what was left and rumbles of thunder in the distance. I was really dizzy and tired. It was hard for me to open my eyes, but when I did, what I saw…
Would forever haunt me.
***
A week went by before we stood in the pouring rain. A black umbrella placed high above our heads, a man I had only just met holding it securely in place behind us. I watched the raindrops fall, forming puddles all around us, shuddering with every single drop.
She said he was her baby brother who loved me very much but he was a very busy man and couldn’t come visit us. He always sent me gifts for my birthday and holidays so I always believed what my mommy had said. But now I wasn’t so sure.
He never smiled.
He didn’t laugh.
He barely even spoke to me.
I don’t think he liked me very much, but I still wanted to reach for his hand to hold it. I still wanted him to wrap his arm around me so I could hide inside his big arms and feel protected from what was happening all around us.
I bowed my head in remorse and shame.
“Are you ready, Daisy?” Uncle Alejandro’s rough voice filled the air from above me.
I nodded, lying. I wasn’t ready. I would never be ready. It surprised me when he reached for my hand. My gaze quickly followed the length of his arm up to his cold, dark eyes that never held any expression or emotion.
“The real world is a f*cked up place,” he said in a neutral tone out of nowhere, making my eyes widen and my head jerk back by the way he spoke to me.
It didn’t faze him. “It’s better that you learn that now. You can’t stay a little girl forever, Daisy.”
“My name is Briggs,” I declared.
No more Michael.
No more Amari.
No. More. Daisy.
A part of me knew he wasn’t looking for an explanation. I didn’t say anything as we stepped forward, taking one last look at where my parents were laid to rest. Knowing I got my wish.
I had put them there.
Chapter 2
<>Austin<>
All the boys were like brothers to me. We grew up together in the small beach town of Oak Island, North Carolina. Our parents were all good friends since childhood, so it was only natural that we all became best friends with one another too.
Out of all the boys, I was always closest with Dylan McGraw. I don’t know why, that's just how it was. As we got older, I guess I felt like out of all of them, I could relate to Dylan the most. You could maybe even go as far as saying I looked up to him in some ways, since he was a year and some change older than me. He was twelve, and I had just turned eleven. He never gave a damn about what anyone thought or said about him. He would tell it straight to your face, not caring if he hurt your feelings or not. He never judged me. I wasn’t saying that the other boys did, but Dylan was different. He treated me like an equal.
Jacob Foster was the oldest of the boys, almost thirteen. That didn't stop Dylan from taking on the role of big brother to us all. Which was probably why I bumped heads with most of the boys and as we got older and our balls fully dropped, it only got worse. Jacob was the most levelheaded one and smart as all hell too. Which was interesting in regards to the girl he actually ended up with.
Then there was Lucas Ryder, who was only a year older than me. He was twelve going on thirty, and stubborn as shit. He had a smartass personality and sometimes he took it too far. We all loved to surf but Lucas was the most skilled, constantly riding into waves that had us all questioning his decisions. We butted heads more often than not. There were times that I thought our friendship wouldn’t survive it. The animosity towards each other grew more and more as the years went on. Eventually, down the long, unexpected road of life, I wouldn’t exist to him anymore.
We all looked out for each other in one way or another as kids. With all the time we spent together, our mannerisms and personalities crossed over from one boy to the next. It would have been rare if our traits hadn’t blended together over time.