I was making her. Making what I feel about her.
Swallowing past the roughness in my throat, I put it down and clean up the broken mugs and a bowl that shattered when I threw the thing I made across the room. Once I’m done, I move to the couch, bringing the abstract metal flower representing my girl with me. I put it on the coffee table and trace the shape with my gaze, seeing the curve of her smile, the arch of her back, the indescribable and intangible feeling of her excitement when she’s on the back of my bike.
No wonder I followed the pull to create, willingly leaving her in my bed to get this out of my head. I was a man possessed until she crept down those stairs. I lean forward and curl my hand around it, imagining it’s her under my palm.
Every single thing went into this piece and I feel naked staring at it.
Fuck, I can’t live without her anymore. I don’t want to. Learning to do it in the last ten years has been the worst kind of hell.
Maisy gave me back something I haven’t had in a long time by reminding my heart it could still beat and feel—and it’s always been for her. She’s it for me. I can’t let her go without a fight.
She’s what’s most important to me now.
Not my parents’ ghosts.
Not taking down her parents for condemning me to a life of gruesome nightmares, emptiness, stripped of everything. The life my own parents had a hand in damning me with. But they couldn’t take everything away from me. I fought and survived and found my way back to her.
You and me, that’s how it’s supposed to be. Her voice echoes in my head. We said it to each other as kids. We’re not soulmates, not fate—nothing poetic like that. But we do fit together.
I was surviving before, but I wasn’t living until Maisy Landry was mine again.
My hands flex at my side. Why am I sitting here pretending I’m a gentleman when I’m anything but? I’m not a good man. Maisy is my daisy and I’m going to go fight for her to prove it.
Determination settles in my bones and I grab my keys for the motorcycle while putting my phone to my ear. As soon as the call connects, I’m talking without waiting for a greeting.
“I need you to do something for me,” I say, swinging a leg over the leather seat. “And I need it done yesterday.”
My thumb swipes over the smooth material. Everything around me reminds me of her.
Colton’s laugh filters through the phone. “Really making a habit out of breaking the rules. If Wren finds out about these IOUs, he won’t be a happy camper.”
That guy hasn’t been happy since his light left this world. There’s nothing left in him but brutality.
“I don’t care.” My voice doesn’t shake as I give everything I have to make this right for her. “I’ll pledge my entire life if I have to in payment.”
Colton grunts, then goes quiet when he realizes I’m deadly serious. After a minute, he asks, “What do you need?”
I start the bike’s ignition, mentally mapping every field of wildflowers I know of. I’ll start with the one by our tree, where I found the purple daisies ten years ago.
“Holden Landry’s admissions acceptance and football draft. Reverse it. Erase the blackmail evidence we sent.”
“Uh, why?” Colt drawls. “That’s the opposite of what you’ve been working on.”
“It’s important,” I snap. Pausing to draw in a deep breath like Maisy was showing me this week before she left, I lower my voice. “Please, Colt. Just help me out with this. If I don’t fix it…”
I don’t finish, shutting down the thought. Life without Maisy isn’t something I’m going to think about, which means failure is unacceptable.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks. Text me.”
Hanging up, I take off in search of the flowers that always remind me of Maisy with fire burning in my blood. I’ll pick every wild daisy I find until there aren’t any left. She deserves that and more, and I’ll give her the whole fucking world before I’m done proving to her how much she matters to me.
By the time I make it to the bakery, I have to nudge my way through the opening day crowd spilling onto the sidewalk. A few people give me sharp looks and wide berth, the Wilder name still hard at work, but I ignore all that when I hear her laugh ring out inside. The light, airy sound ripples over me.
Maisy.
It’s impossible to stop the way my heart stutters.