Hothouse Flower

< 43 >

RYKE MEADOWS

We can’t drive in a car all the way to the Canyonlands. She’s too hyperactive and ADD—which is an actual fucking problem right now, even if we joke about it. No matter if I’d love to finger fuck her all the way there…and with half her body out of that fucking sunroof. Fuck. My cock despises me right now. I should have let her suck me off in the parking lot before I went into the store.

She gives amazing head.

But that didn’t feel right. And I usually don’t jump into things when my gut says no.

I shake hands with the sales person, and I step back out into the parking lot. Sunglasses on, shielding the bright afternoon light from my eyes. The wind picks up and I pull my leather jacket tighter. It’s getting fucking cold. But what do you expect from October?

Daisy walks out of the gas station next to the dealership. She eats a Little Debbie brownie, a shopping bag hung over her right arm while wearing bright blue, flower-shaped sunglasses that I’ve never seen. They look like cheap plastic, but they’re really fucking cute on her.

She waves when she sees me and starts walking over.

“Miss me?” she asks.

“I was fucking devastated.”

“You look it.” She nods, and I hook a finger on her plastic bag and peer into it. Hair dye. Lots of it. I spot pink and purple. I glance up at her, and she looks a little worried. Maybe she thinks I won’t be into her if she dyes her hair. But I don’t fucking care about shit like that.

Hair color. Skin color. Big. Small.

I like her. Not the body she comes in.

“Are you indecisive?” I wonder. “It looks like you have the rainbow in there.”

“Precisely.” She smiles, licking the chocolate off her fingers. “Unicorns love rainbows. I love unicorns. Therefore thy hair must be a rainbow.”

“Interesting fucking theory.” I start walking further down the parking lot and she follows me.

“One of my best?” She catches up to my side.

“No it’s fucking stupid.”

“It can’t be interesting and stupid. Those are exclusive.”

“You sound like Rose.” As soon as I say the words, she brightens. I know she looks up to her sisters, and in a way she reminds me a little bit of both of them. The rest of her is just Daisy. Just wild.

We stop by a black sportbike that I just bought from the dealership. Like I said, we can’t ride in a car anymore. I have the means to buy a motorcycle to appease Daisy’s restless state, so I’m going to fucking do it.

“We’re riding together?” she asks me with a smile.

“Yeah.” I take her plastic bag and shove it into my backpack. “You okay with that, sweetheart?”

“Will you let me drive some?”

“I’d let you do whatever you want, as long as you pay attention so we don’t fucking highside.” Last thing I need is for her to fly off the fucking bike.

“What about lowside?” She’s already done that once before: slid off the back of the motorcycle while it raced off without her.

“How about we don’t ever fucking crash?”

“But if I crash,” she says, slinging her leg over the seat. “I’d rather crash with you.”

My brows rise and she smiles bigger, brighter, pulling her scar. “You tell that to all the guys you’ve hooked up with?” I ask her.

“No,” she says, “because you’re the only one I’ve dated who rides motorcycles.”

I shake my head. “Your list of pickup lines, sweetheart, is insane. And I fucking swear you’ve used most of them on me.”

“I have?” she says, eyeing my muscles with a little more desire than before. I can tell she’s remembering the tent, when we had sex for the first time. “Looks like they worked.” Her eyes flicker to mine. “I have you.”

Her bedroom eyes are going to fuck me over like they never have before. I toss her a white helmet, not alleviating the moment. With us, the tension will probably stick around for seven whole days.

Everyone is taking their time driving to Canyonlands, so yeah, we have a week.

A week alone with Daisy.

For the first time, we’re going to see how we are as a couple. No restraint. Very little boundaries.

I sense the excitement.

But I also see the trouble.