When she went to university out of state, we texted each other every day. I hated not seeing her, and she admitted she missed living in Castle Ridge too much. After a year, she transferred to Green Mountain University two towns over. We both vowed never to be away from each other that long again.

  “It was stupid of me to say yes without asking you first. I’m sorry. I’ll buy everyone coffee in the morning… the good stuff from Hard Grind.”

  Her mouth made an “O.” I knew coffee was her weakness, and Hard Grind had the best coffee in the world. Not that I had ever really traveled outside of Castle Ridge, but I suspected that its coffee was better than most.

  “Yes, the cat can stay. I’ll work my magic on the roomies, and you work your magic on the closet.” She frowned. “You don’t have to stay in the closet… but I do have a blow-up mattress that would fit this space perfectly.”

  There was something comforting about the tiny room.

  “I’m kind of limited in my options since I make little where I work, and I’m already paying for an apartment I’m not living in.”

  Her brows rose. “You mean you aren’t planning on quitting?”

  “I’m worried about the animals. Angelica isn’t that good of a vet, and I’m not saying that because I hate her. I’m saying that because our front desk assistant, Diana, gets calls from pet owners daily, complaining about Angelica’s attitude and how she doesn’t listen to what the owner has to say about their pet. You don’t even want to know how many times I’ve saved a pet from her death claws.”

  She shook her head but had a small grin. “You and animals… I totally picture you living on a farm one day. Some animal sanctuary where you commune with them every day, and where every single one of them is a rescue.”

  I smirked. “That sounds kind of amazing. I’ll be the crazy cat lady, but intensified. The crazy animal lady. Because there’s no way I’m ever dating a guy as long as I live. I’ll have the animals to make me happy.”

  “Oh my god, please tell me you’re not talking about—”

  “What? No. That’s where your mind went when I said that? I care for animals; I’m not attracted to them.” I pretended to puke.

  “Sorry, a little tipsy.” She giggled. “Enough talk about animals and terrible bosses. Let’s head out of this closet for fun. It’s your birthday, the big two-five. There are hot guys out there. Jackson invited the hockey team, and they showed up looking super-hot!”

  Memories of trying to snag a slice of pizza from a hockey player Friday night surfaced in my head. “Everyone on the team?” I asked.

  “Not everyone, but a lot.”

  “Cillian? Did he show?” I hated even asking, but I didn’t want any reminders of Friday.

  “Cillian?” She tapped her chin. “Who is Cillian? I get some of them confused. They all look so good without their shirts on. Who can tell them apart?”

  I scrunched up my face and folded my arms. “You know Cillian.”

  “Oh, yeah, the grumpy one.” She snorted and shook her head. “I haven’t seen him. I don’t think he’s here.”

  I felt relief but also a bit sad. I knew why Cillian hated me, but I would have thought he’d let it go by now. One little kiss with puke and a guy never lets you forget.

  My cheeks felt warm at the memory. I drank a lot that night, but not too much. I didn’t remember kissing the guy I had a crush on since I was eighteen.

  Despite how much he hated me, it was still hard to look at him without my stomach doing the excited shuffle. My body might be attracted to him, but his attitude toward me the past few years turned off my crush mode whenever I was around him.

  I was wondering if I wasn’t meant to date guys, ever.

  “Can I sit in here for a while? Enjoy the solitude and maybe read your book.”

  Lydia sighed. “Okay, but know that both Sophia and Harper have been asking about you. You know Harper likes to make sure everyone is happy and entertained. She might bust in here and grab you.”

  I nodded. “Tell her I need a minute.”

  Lydia nodded before leaving, closing the closet door behind her. I leaned back against the wall, knocking over the broom.

  “Fierce, never fall for a male cat’s charms. He’ll be scoping out all the single female cats on the block.”

  She meowed, and I swear she winked at me. Fierce understood.

  “Dear God, it’s worse than I thought. You’re having conversations with a cat in a broom closet.” Harper stood there, flicking her long blond hair off her shoulder.

  “It’s my birthday. I can do what I want.”

  “Like live in a closet?”

  “It’s not like you have an extra bedroom.”

  “You got me there.” Harper stepped into the closet and shut the door.

  “It has charm, doesn’t it?” I waved around the tiny space as Fierce walked in between her legs.

  She narrowed her eyes but surrendered to Fierce’s magic as she bent over to pet the purring feline. “Not really. I guess it’s a cute idea, Daisy, but maybe another time. We have guests. There’s an amazing party going on right outside that door. Hot, muscular men, eager to let loose, are mingling in our living room and kitchen, and if you are feeling up to it, this closet. Or should I say, your bedroom?” She gave me her over-the-top wink as she lifted Fierce and cradled her in her arms.

  I nibbled on the bottom of my lip and squeezed the Jane Austen book even tighter. “I’m tired, and I had a long weekend.”

  “It’s only Saturday night.”

  “Sense and Sensibility is all I need to enjoy the night.”

  Placing the cat back down, Harper shook her head as she plucked the book from my arms and tossed it aside.

  “Hey, that’s a classic.” I glanced back to see where the book landed, but Harper was too quick for me. She shimmied herself behind me and grab my arms.

  “Quick, I got her,” she yelled, and a cooling gust of air filled the room as the door swung open.

  Sophia stood there. Her thick, lustrous hair the color of silky chocolate cascaded over her shoulders. I had always been jealous of Sophia’s hair. We both had brown hair, yet she always looked like she came from a shampoo photoshoot. I told her once she should be a hair model, but she scoffed, telling me she’d never work for The Man.

  Harper pushed me forward.

  “What are you doi—”

  “It’s for your own good,” Sophia said, stepping aside as Harper pushed me past.

  “You’re better than this, Daisy. We are doing this out of love,” Harper added.

  “Lydia said I could stay there—”

  “Lydia was the one who told us to do this.”

  Once Sophia closed the closet and shoved herself against the door so there was no hope of me getting back inside, Harper let me go.

  My mouth fell open. I looked around for my best friend, but she was nowhere to be found.

  “Having her do your dirty work, I see.” I narrowed my eyes at them.

  Sophia’s lips quirked. “Remember, this is a small town. I wonder what Andrew would say if he found out you were so depressed that you hung out in a closet during your own birthday party.”

  She didn’t play fair. She knew Andrew would love it if I couldn’t enjoy a party without him.

  I fisted my hands at my side. “Fine. But I’m not eating whatever food you made, no matter how many people rave about it.”

  Sophia liked to cook when she wasn’t working for her dad’s car rental business. She dreamed of being a chef one day, and I could totally see that happening. Her food was amazing.

  Her emerald eyes flickered to something over my shoulder as she smirked. “Okay. I think there’s someone behind you ready to wish you a happy birthday.”

  Excitement filled my chest as I assumed she meant Jackson was behind me. Maybe he brought Lucas. I’d have a legitimate excuse to hide out in the closet with a book if I was reading to my nephew.

  I was so happy that I jumped around, only to discover it wasn’t my brother or my nephew. Not only that, but I lost my balance and fell when I landed.

  The good news was the guy caught me; the bad news was, it was Cillian, and it wasn’t his hands that caught me. It wasn’t even his body.

  It was his lips.

  That’s right. I fell onto his mouth for my birthday.

  Chapter six

  Cillian

  Stuck at a party I didn’t want to be at, hunched over in a small closet. Chalk this up to the worst party I had ever been to.

  “You don’t have to be here. I’m fine,” Daisy said as she clutched a book to her chest.

  “Really? Tell that to your friends.” I threw my thumb over my shoulder.

  “You two aren’t coming out until you kiss and make up,” one of her friends said, followed by laughter.

  She frowned with obvious displeasure at being stuck in the tiny space with me. “First you two force me out, and now you lock me back in. Make up your mind,” she called out.

  Her cheeks were flushed, and as much as I knew I shouldn’t be staring, I couldn’t take my eyes off Daisy.

  “Happy birthday.” I turned my attention to the cat, hoping she hadn’t noticed me gawking at her.

  “Thanks. This wasn’t really what you had in mind when you came here tonight, huh?”

  I pulled at the collar of my leather jacket. “I didn’t want to come tonight. My teammate, Emmanuel, dragged me here. So, I wasn’t really expecting much.”

  Her frown deepened. “Oh. Did you have other plans?” She hugged the book even tighter.

  “Just my usual, pizza while I hung out with the best person in the world.”

  She nodded. “Right. Of course. That sounds a lot better than being stuck in a closet… with me.”

  A bead of sweat slid down my brow, tickling my cheek. I scratched at the spot, wiping away the moisture, and wondered what she meant by being stuck here with her.

  It was as if she thought I didn’t want to be around her… which I didn’t. But it was because she didn’t like me.

  “What do you mean, ‘with me’?”

  She finally let go of the book and tossed it aside. “I’m not naïve, Cillian. I know you hate me.” Daisy threw up her arms. “We kissed once, and I almost threw up on you. I get it. I’d probably hate me too. It seems I’m not really attractive to the opposite sex.”

  That wasn’t what I expected at all when I came here tonight.

  “You think I hate you? Because you threw up after we kissed?” I sucked in a breath at the realization of what Daisy admitted. “I thought our kiss made you sick.”

  Her head lifted from staring at the floor, and an adorable grin curled her lips.

  “Cillian, you thought the kiss made me sick?” She shook her head. “Oh no. I had been drinking that night… not so much that I don’t remember the kiss or wasn’t in a proper state to accept a kiss. But I didn’t react well to the alcohol because my body has trouble handling it. If I have more than one glass of beer or wine, I usually become sick. What would normally give someone a pleasant buzz can send me over the edge.”

  She shrugged. “So I just don’t do it anymore. If I do, it’s the occasional glass of wine or flute of champagne on New Year’s Eve, but that’s it.” Daisy reached up and covered her forehead with her hand. “I was utterly embarrassed after kissing you, so I avoided you for the rest of the night. I’m sorry you thought I hated you.”

  I couldn’t believe I thought Daisy hated me for the past two years, when in actuality, she had become sick from alcohol.

  “Hmm. That’s funny.” I cringed and shook my head. “Not funny that you threw up, but that you don’t really drink. I don’t drink either. I’m a recovering alcoholic, and I’ve been sober for almost two years. I actually became sober a few months after that party.”

  I studied Daisy for her reaction to my confession. She nodded as if I told her it was raining outside—not the usual response I got from people. People usually said something like, “That must be so hard. I could never do that.”

  Then they’d treat me as if I was a weird alien to be avoided. When the team went out, they never invited me. I understood why they wouldn’t want me tagging along to bars, but if they went out to dinner or anything that didn’t involve drinking, I never got an invitation.

  It didn’t take long to learn that if you didn’t get drunk with them, you weren’t really part of the team.

  “That’s the reason I didn’t want to come tonight. I don’t like to go to parties because there’s usually alcohol there, and I don’t drink.”

  “I thought when you said you didn’t want to come tonight it was because of me. I guess we were both under the wrong impression.” She held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Daisy Haynes. This is my birthday party. It’s nice to meet you. Fun fact about me: I’m secretly trying to turn my nephew into a book nerd like me.”

  I watched her hand hover in the air, waiting to be held. To her, it was a funny little way of starting over. She did not know what that hand meant to me.

  I swallowed and reached for her, clasping my hand over hers. A warmth bloomed where we touched. I never thought a handshake could cause my chest to ache. “I’m Cillian. I play hockey with your brother.”

  She held my hand, waiting for me to continue.

  “Something no one knows about me… Uh, I can’t defend myself against tickling. I am incapable of fighting back.”

  She smiled, and it was gorgeous. Her firm shake was brief before letting go.

  Her head fell back, and she groaned. Once she lifted it back up, Daisy said, “God, my brother. He hates you.”

  I chuckled as I stretched my fingers, trying to ease the warm sensation left by her. “I’d say he does. Which is weird because we got along for a year when he first came to the team, and then suddenly, he didn’t like me.” My brow rose. “Did you tell him about our kiss?”

  I had wondered if that was the reason. People didn’t start hating you out of the blue; there was always something behind it.

  “No. God, I was already embarrassed by throwing up right after it. Telling my brother that I not only kissed his teammate, but then puked on his shoes would be the last thing I’d do.” She threw her hands in front of her face in humiliation, as if it just happened.

  I reached over and tugged her arms down. “Don’t worry about it. That was two years ago. A lot has changed since then.”

  She glanced down at her wrists I hadn’t let go of. Daisy pulled her arms away, wrapping them around her stomach.

  I shouldn’t have held on for so long. Like I said, it was two years ago. She may not hate me, but it wasn’t like she was attracted to me anymore.

  “About Friday at the pizza shop… I just want to say sorry. I was having a terrible day. My boyfriend cheated on me and I’d just found out.” She rubbed her arms as if the thought iced her to the bone.

  “What?”

  That couldn’t be right. Who would be stupid enough to cheat on Daisy? She was smart, captivating, and the most gorgeous woman I had ever met.

  She snorted, proving her utter adorableness. “I came home from a long day at work at the veterinarian clinic and walked in on him in bed, naked, with another woman. As you might expect, I didn’t react well.”

  “I don’t think anyone would react well to that.”

  She frowned but shrugged it off. It was obvious she didn’t want me to notice the pain in her eyes.

  “I went straight to the pizza shop afterward. I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to take your pizza from you. I was just hungry and feeling sorry for myself.”

  Daisy was having a terrible day, and I was the asshole who brushed her off. Thinking she had no clue what a bad day was. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

  Daisy was gorgeous, hard-working, and sweet as pie. Speaking of pie, I should have offered her some of mine that night.

  “It’s me who should apologize. The coach had told me something I didn’t want to hear, and I took it out on you. That was wrong. I was in a bad mood.”

  “When aren’t you in a bad mood?” she mumbled.

  My eyes widened as her hand flew to her mouth. She shook her head, letting her hand drop. “I don’t know why I said that. I didn’t mean it—”

  “Yes, you did,” I said with a sigh.

  “No, Cillian, please—”

  I held up my hand. “That’s what the coach told me. Basically, he said I was a jerk all the time, telling me to lighten up. And I proved him right with how I treated you that night. So, I’m sorry. You wanted something to eat, and I couldn’t even share a slice of pizza with you. The team nicknamed me Grumpy Old Man, and I don’t blame them.”

  I leaned back against the wall, kicking a bucket out of the way. The cat yelped and ran behind Daisy. Since she was the nicest person on earth, Daisy reached down to calm the cat.

  Why couldn’t I be like that? Even in my apology, I freaked out an animal.

  She stood and took a step closer to me. As stuffy as the closet was, my skin pricked from the heat of her body with her chest a mere inch from my stomach.

  When Daisy lifted her head, her silky brown waves falling down her back, I had to fist my hand to stop from curling my fingers through her hair. The scent of lavender surrounded me, and all I wanted was to wrap my arms around her.

  “You aren’t a jerk, and they shouldn’t call you Grumpy Old Man.” Her lips curled into a smile so bright I felt its warmth in my heart.

  “I know what I am… but it’s kind of you to say that.”

  A cute little wrinkle appeared between her brows. “I’m not saying it to be kind. I’m saying it because it’s the truth.”

  Her arm lifted, and I watched those fingers of hers as if they were about to save me from drowning. They fluttered in the air, and when they landed, I felt a twitch in my cock.

  Daisy rested her hand on my upper arm, her lips parted, and I swore I saw her beautiful brown eyes dip to my mouth.

  Perhaps she was hoping for a redo after her confession about our last kiss. I cleared my throat as she licked her lips.

 

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