Fifteen years old
The music followed me as I trudged from the house to the barn.
I didn’t like the fuss, the coddling, or seeing so many smiling eyes directed my way. I wanted away from it just for a little while. Mom would scold me for staying away too long.
Rude, she called it. And I suppose she was right, so I’d have to head back soon.
Sitting down on a hay bale, I tugged my phone from my pocket and resumed my earlier game of Angry Birds.
“Quinn.” My father’s voice had my head snapping up and my hand putting my phone away. He gave me a knowing smile, stepping closer and leaning against the wooden door. “You’ve never liked being the birthday boy.”
“That obvious?”
He stuck a piece of hay in his mouth, mumbling around it, “‘Bout as obvious as your mom telling me she’s made chicken pot pie.”
My dad’s favorite dish. She always used it to get something she wanted.
Chuckling, I shook my head to get some hair out of my face. “She know I left?”
“Nah, not yet.” I nodded, and he glanced over his shoulder, a slow smile creeping over his face. Looking back at me, he said, “Your secret’s safe a while longer. But don’t be too long.” Straightening from the door, he came forward to clap me on the shoulder, then left, whispering something to Daisy just as she rounded the door of the barn.
Even after seeing her almost every day for as long as I could remember, the sight of her was like a kick to the gut. Blond hair, wild and untamed. Purple framed glasses and light brown eyes that were like sponges, studying and absorbing everything around her and filing it away for later when she had a paintbrush or pencil in hand.
“Hey, birthday boy.” She smiled timidly and jumped up to sit beside me. “Sick of the shenanigans already?”
Blinking and tearing my eyes away from her long, tanned legs, I cleared my throat. “Yeah. What did my dad say to you?”
“Just saying hello.” She kicked her feet out, crossing her ankles. My eyes stayed glued to the drawings on her white Chucks to stop them from roaming up those legs again.
Warm breath washed over my cheek, sending my head turning and making our lips end up only centimeters apart. She smelled like that caramel lip balm she liked so much and looked like a golden-haired goddess. My dick stirred immediately, standing at attention behind the confines of my jeans. I thanked God she was looking at my mouth and hopefully wouldn’t notice.
“Can I give you your present?” she whispered, her eyes darting from mine, to my lips, and back again.
It wasn’t the first time we’d ended up in a position like this. But it was the first time since we were kids that our lips had been so close. And seemingly on purpose, too.
“That depends.” My voice turned croaky as if something was stuck in my throat.
“On what?” She giggled, and my heart jolted like it’d been struck with a live wire.
The song inside the house changed, and I got an idea. “On if you’ll dance with me first.”
She leaned back, grinning and wide-eyed, and I wanted to growl at the injustice of finally having her that close, only to lose it a second later. “Why, Quinn Burnell.” She laid the Southern charm on thick, which did nothing to help the situation in my pants. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were trying to hit on me.”
Jumping up before I snapped and tried to make out with her right there on the hay bale, I grabbed her hand, tugging her to me and wrapping my hands around her slim waist. She slowly moved her arms up over my shoulders, stepping forward until her chest brushed against mine.
“Fifteen,” she murmured. “Think of all the things you can do now.”
I rocked us side to side, not taking my eyes from hers. “Like what?”
She shrugged, and I squeezed her waist.
“Like … dating.” Her cheeks turned pink, and she looked away.
Pausing, I waited until she looked up at me again. “Since when do people have to wait until they’re fifteen to start dating?”
“That’s just what Mama says. She said she wasn’t allowed to until she was sixteen. But that she secretly started dating my dad when she was fifteen.”
Her voice was soft, like she was afraid to talk too loud, for fear of me discovering what she wasn’t saying. I found it anyway and latched onto it with a smile on my face and confidence filling my chest. I huffed out a short laugh.
“What?” she asked.
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
I started rocking us from side to side again, loving the feeling of having her in my arms. Her tank top had ridden up, and my fingers found the bare skin on her lower back, making small circles over it. Goose bumps lifted under my touch, which only made me harden more. If she could feel me pressed up against her, then thankfully, she didn’t comment. Though some part of me shamefully wished she would.
Fourteen. Christ. She was only fourteen. That kind of stuff would have to wait.
“Why don’t I need to worry?” she asked, stars filling her eyes.
“Because … you’re already spoken for. And I don’t think your mama will mind.”
Raising a blond brow, she asked dryly and a little nervously, “Oh, really? And why won’t she?”
“You and I both know the answer to that,” I said quietly. She swallowed, and I made my move, lowering my forehead to rest on hers. “Will you go out with me, Daisy June?”
A stuttering breath left her parted lips, landing on mine. “You want to date me?”
My brows furrowed. Not liking the disbelief in her voice, I countered with, “Hasn’t that always been obvious?”
She shook her head slightly, her eyes dancing so much that I could almost hear the whirr of her thoughts. “That’s why you haven’t taken any of the girls from school out yet?”
What? A stunned laugh left me. “You’re crazy, you know that?”
“Why? They follow you around like you’re a chocolate popsicle and they’ve been left out in the sun too long.”
Chuckling, I lowered my head even more and whispered against her caramel scented lips. “I didn’t notice. Maybe because all I see is you.”
I was about to close the gap, to meld my lips softly to hers, when she jumped. Her arms and legs clung to me as she stuffed her face into my neck. “You’re not scared?” she whispered into my skin.
Holding her ass, I turned and sat down on the bale again with her in my lap. “Scared of what?”
She unstuck her head, her glasses falling askew. I righted them as she mumbled out, “That if you decide you don’t like dating me, we won’t be friends anymore.”
“I’m not scared. You and me … like the moon and the stars, we’re permanent.”
Her breath stuttered out of her. “You’re a real smooth talker, booger breath.”
I tucked some of her hair behind her ear, smirking. Then, as fast as lightning, her lips were on mine. One second, I was staring at her, and the next, she’d dived on my mouth as if she just realized she could.
My eyes closed as her soft lips pressed firmly to mine, and her small hands gripped the sides of my face. I’d never kissed anyone before, but being with Daisy, everything felt instinctual. Like it was second nature for my lips to part hers, a known fact that my tongue should skim the inside of her lips and that she would always meet me, touch for touch.
“Guys! Hey, whoa.” Alexis’s voice had our mouths pulling away and Daisy flying off my lap so fast, she almost fell smack on the dirt-covered floor. My hand flew out, catching her wrist to steady her before I looked over at the entry to the barn where Alexis was staring at me, something foreign crawling over her face.
“Happy Birthday.” She cleared her throat when her voice caught and fixed her attention on Daisy, who was busy looking at the ground. “Want to give him your present yet? It’s starting to get hard to … contain. If you know what I mean.” Alexis turned and left, leaving us alone again.
Daisy smiled shyly at me as I stood and grabbed her hand. I kissed it, and she fluttered those damn lashes as she watched me. Tugging her to my chest, I was about to kiss her again when she planted a hand on my stomach and said, “She’s right. I really do need to give you your present.”
As we walked back over to the house, I reluctantly dragged my feet, but as we got closer, I heard it.
An unmistakable sound of a whimper.
Looking around, eyes scanning the dark, I tried to find the source when Daisy grabbed my hand in both of hers. “Come on.” She laughed, walking backward up the steps and tugging me along. The door flew open and out ran a golden ball of fluff, heading straight for us.
“Holy shit.”
“Quinton Benjamin Burnell,” my mom scolded. “Birthday or not, fifteen or not, I’ll still wash that mouth out if you’re not careful.”
Picking up the puppy trying to scratch the hell out of our legs, I gave her a sheepish smile. Mom shook her head, her eyes softening when my dad wrapped an arm around her waist.
“A puppy?” I asked as it licked my face. “You got me a puppy?”
Daisy bit her lip, reaching over to pat its head. It turned its attention on her, trying to lick her hand off. “Mom and Dad, too. It’s a golden retriever.”
“Unbelievable,” I breathed, not caring if I looked like I was five instead of fifteen. They got me a puppy. I’d wanted a dog for years. Ever since our old cattle dog passed away when I was eight.
“He’s a boy,” Daisy informed me. “And he’s given me hell for the past two days while trying to keep him happy at our house.”
“Ate my good pair of running shoes,” Joseph, Daisy’s dad, said with a scowl.
Her mom, Henrietta, elbowed him. “You haven’t been running in years.”
He huffed, and my mom laughed with Henrietta.
“Your parents said it was okay. I checked first.” Daisy righted her glasses when the puppy tried to lick them off her face.
“You’re cleaning up after it, and your mother’s already enrolled it in puppy school at the town vet. Lord knows that thing’s gonna need it,” my dad grumbled but with mirth in his voice. He loved dogs, too. And I knew the reason we hadn’t gotten another one until now was because of how attached he was to Donny, our old one.
I didn’t answer him, though. I just stared at Daisy, barely registering all the eyes of the guests who were filing out onto the porch or the puppy licking my earlobe. “Thank you,” I said quietly, hugging the dog closer to me. Daisy’s face turned pink after a moment, and I tore my eyes away.
“Where’s Alexis?” Daisy asked later as we watched the puppy run through the barn, kicking up hay and bits of dirt while he raced in circles.
“No idea, think she went home.”
Daisy yawned. “So what are you going to name him?”
Pulling her to my side, I fiddled with a long strand of her hair as we watched the ball of energy try to dig its nose into a sack of potatoes.
“Spud,” I blurted.
“Spud.” Daisy’s voice was curiously soft, as though testing the name. “Spud!” she called, but the puppy kept working that bag as if he didn’t even know we existed.
I chuckled. “Guess it’ll have to grow on him.” She rested her head on my shoulder, and I turned my own to press a kiss to her forehead. “Best birthday ever.”