Always His Cowgirl (Always 2)

Josh was the same way. Focused on school and doing what he needed to do to get done. I don’t think school was the only reason Josh didn’t date, though. I think he never trusted anyone’s intentions when it came to dating. He was never sure if the girl was genuine or if they were just trying to date him because he had money.

There was one thing that never sat well with me. It was the time that Daisy had gotten her period and her mom wasn’t home. She’d come crawling through my window. I held her close, holding a heating pad to her. As much as I hated seeing her in pain, it made me feel good that she came to me for comfort.

As she lay in my lap that night, she’d asked me the same question that she asked since we were little kids. If we were going to get married one day. I told her yes, but we had to wait until we could be together. I respected not only her but Bunny and Jameson. I knew that life would take us on different journeys because of the circumstances, but I never expected it to take her away from me. But I’d never given up hope that one day she’d be mine.

We had been young when we’d made those promises to each other. Yet I had meant every word. When she’d asked me if I was going to wait for her, I knew what she meant. She was asking if I’d date or be with other girls until we could be together. I’d promised her I’d wait. It wasn’t even a question she needed to ask because she had already owned my heart.

We went from making promises one day to her not even being able to look at me the next. She’d gone cold without any explanation. I thought maybe she’d gotten cold feet or something. That it was too much too soon for her to handle.

“Eric.” I lift my head at the sound of Daisy's sweet voice. I’m still fucking hard from our dry humping earlier. I’d come all over myself. I wasn’t even embarrassed about it. There was so much pent-up desire and love that rode me hard. Having her back in my arms again was a dream come true.

“Babe? Everything okay?” She slides on top of me. I wrap my arms around her, holding her tight.

“This reminds me of the night I crawled through your window.” I try not to tense up. “I probably should leave it alone, but you’d said you’d wait for me.”

“I did.”

“But you didn’t.”

I sit up, moving her onto my lap. She’s now straddling me. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Daisy. I’ve waited. I’m still fucking waiting. I’ve never even kissed another girl let alone fucked one.” I can’t keep the growl out of my voice. The idea of being with someone else is enough to piss me off.

“But I saw you. And Eric said—”

“Hold up. You saw me with someone else? That’s fucking impossible. Because it never happened.” Her bottom lip starts to tremble. All this time and this is the reason she went cold on me? Something that’s not even true. It all starts adding up. I should have known. It would have had to be something big if Daisy all but ran from me. She’d been saying she was going to marry me since she was four years old. Then it was all gone in the blink of an eye, and she distanced herself from me. “Don’t cry.” I cup her cheeks.

“I should have left it alone. Let's just forget it.”

“No. I’m not forgetting it. I want this straightened all the way out.”

“Your graduation I went looking for you. I wanted to give you your gift.” I shift, lifting and pulling it out of my pocket. She lets out a gasp, seeing the compass. I click it open, displaying the picture of her and me when we were kids that sits inside it. The picture that continued to give me hope on so many days when I thought I’d lost her forever.

“I found it on the ground.” I thought it was weird she’d tossed it away, but if she thought I was with someone else I could see Daisy raising hell. I’m a little surprised she didn’t walk up and punch me if that was the case.

She puts her hand over it. “I went looking for you to give you this. I couldn’t find you so I asked my brother where you were. He nodded toward the barn as you were coming out with Missy right behind you, and she was fidgeting with her dress.”

“I’m sorry, babe, but I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I saw you!”

I try to think back to that day. “Missy told me King got out of his stall. I went into the barn to put him back up. When I got there, he was in his stall. Missy wanted to get me alone.”