Addicted After All(153)
My lips lift in an agitated smile. “You think this’ll push me to drink?” It sucks that Lily’s little sister sees me like a breakable doll. I have been put together too many times to let Hale Co. pull me under.
“We all do…” she replies, looking to Ryke for affirmation. Stay f*cking strong, I glare at him.
He does well, not once shifting towards me or wavering with an unsure glance. He just focuses on his girlfriend. “Lo can handle it.”
The foreign words ring in my ear. Even if it’s constructed for Daisy, I like hearing that phrase from my brother.
“See,” I add to her with the tilt of my head. “I haven’t self-destructed yet.”
“This is between Lo and me,” Ryke layers it on, not letting up. “This isn’t about you, Dais.”
The guilt-trip actually works this time. She can’t meet our eyes anymore. She concentrates on the carpet like the ugly f*cking gold pattern is suddenly more interesting than this conversation.
“Come here,” Ryke breathes as he seizes her hand and tugs her to his chest. She hides her face in a hug, and he places a consoling hand on her head. “We’re not trying to beat you down, Dais. We’re just trying to make you understand.”
“Okay,” she suddenly murmurs.
Ryke and I exchange surprise. “Okay what?” I ask.
She takes a single step back with a heavy exhale. “Okay, I’ll self-sabotage.” Her green eyes flit to ours. “If that’s what you both want…”
“It is,” we say in unison.
She twists the bottom of her white blouse, untucked from her green skirt. “So next week, I can—”
“No, tonight,” Ryke almost growls out the word. He’s nervous about her winning before then. I am too, but he cares more deeply for Daisy. His concern is a higher wattage than mine.
“Tonight?” she repeats, her mouth dropping. “Ryke, this is a charity event.”
I cut in, “I’m going to write a check, so it’ll make up for whatever happens.” I know that’s not the right thing to say. Daisy looks petrified, her eyes widening at the thought of hurting people. She’s not going to, but in her mind, maybe that’s what she sees.
Ryke cups her face, and she stares only at him. “Dais, we’re not asking you to humiliate yourself or anyone around you. Just throw out this f*cking etiquette book your mother gave you, and do what you feel.”
She blinks back tears. It’s hard to watch, but I can’t turn away either. “Maybe…next week,” she hesitates.
“No.” Ryke pulls her into his body, with both hands on her cheeks. “Today, tomorrow—be wild, Calloway.”
She inhales strongly. “What if that’s not who I am?”
“Then be who you are, sweetheart,” Ryke says passionately. “But don’t change for them.”
Daisy fingers his business suit, and I think she’s going to comment on it. Maybe that fight is a sore one because she doesn’t mention the change he’s made for the company. Though, she stands on the tips of her toes to kiss his shaven jaw. He tenses, and then she lands on her feet. “Don’t stop me,” she tells us, and she actually smiles, her eyes twinkling deviously.
“I rarely do,” Ryke reminds her.
She blows out a breath like she’s embracing something inside of her that she’s locked away these past months. And then she begins walking backwards towards the ballroom door. Her grin grows as she plants a playful gaze on Ryke.
I have no idea what she’s about to do, to be honest. I just hope it’s enough to persuade the board that she’s too reckless to be a CEO. That she’s still young.
She pushes through the doors, and we’re close behind. In the packed conference room, Daisy wags her brows at us, and then spins towards the groups of boisterous people, no one on stage right now.
She does one cartwheel, and her skirt flies up to her waist. Revealing underwear that says…I roll my eyes. But the similar underwear reminds me of Lily.
Beside the chocolate fountain, Lil holds a stick with a banana. A smile overtakes me. It’s an old trick of ours. Act like you’re contemplating dipping a piece of food into the fountain, when you’re just killing time.
I peel my gaze off her and onto my brother. He’s trying to suppress a rare smile of his own, completely infatuated with Daisy. She’s on the fourth cartwheel and gathered more attention from people. When she does a handstand, people watch her. A few board members shake their head in disapproval.