Chapter 6: Daisy

##Chapter 6: Daisy

The party has been underway for two hours, and everyone's having a great time. There's plenty of delicious food, and the weather is perfect. While watching a group playing chicken in the pool, I catch a flash of caramel-colored hair from the corner of my eye. Olivia waves as she maneuvers through the crowd.

I return the greeting, happy to see her.

Olivia is the first real friend I made at BU. Before Noah bamboozled me into my current living situation, Olivia and I had planned to get a place together.

Obviously, that's a decision I regret.

She settles on the lounger next to mine and stretches out. Olivia has legs for days. "Sorry, I'm late. I was hoping to get here a little earlier, but I had to stay and cover a shift when one of the girls didn't show up."

Olivia waitresses at a diner two blocks away from campus. She's worked there for a few weeks, and the tips seem to be good. I've only met Olivia's parents a handful of times, but from everything she tells me, they're controlling. This part-time job is Olivia's way of trying to gain a little financial freedom.

"Hey, it's your loss." I shrug and wave my hand toward the pool. "You've been missing out on a pretty good show."

She grins and cranes her neck to get a better view. "Looks like a hot athlete photo shoot over there."

This is Olivia's fourth annual Walker Family Labor Day Barbecue. It was our shared love of hot, half-naked football players that originally brought us together, and we've been best friends ever since. I suspect it was at the first party during freshman year where she fell head over heels in love with Noah.

Aviators cover Olivia's eyes as she takes a moment to appreciate the man candy in various stages of undress.

Today's a suns-out-guns-out kind of day.

Sometimes it's good to be us.

"Are you finally settled in?" I ask.

Olivia was lucky enough to land an internship in California this summer. We've spoken and gotten together a handful of times since she's been back, but it's been too busy to really talk in detail.

Ignoring the guys, she twists her head my way. "Almost. There's been so much to unpack and not a ton of time with working at the diner." I know she doesn't mind the job, but it's a lot to juggle with her course load. "I wish you could have visited me in California during the break. It was so amazing. You would have loved it, Daze." She shakes her head as a small smile lifts her lips. "They have beaches with seals on them."

There's nothing I would have loved more than hanging out with Olivia in California, but I couldn't. I spent most of the summer with my mother. It was the compromise we struck before Mom agreed to let me live with my aunt and uncle after the divorce. It's the only time she and I get to spend together. As flighty as she can be, I do love her.

Olivia's attention gets snagged by something, or more likely, someone. I don't have to turn my head to know who she's staring at. Part of me had hoped that Olivia would find a guy in California to dull the crush she's been harboring for my cousin.

I'd be the happiest person in the world if they got together, but Noah is oblivious to Olivia. He treats her the same way he treats me, which is like a little sister who needs shepherding and protecting. Even though I keep prodding her into making a move, Olivia refuses to put her feelings out there.

My guess is that Noah's girlfriend has something to do with it. As we speak, Ashley prances around in front of the football team in a teeny-tiny bikini that leaves very little to the imagination. Ashley is a would-be model and stick-skinny.

Shape-wise, I'm the complete opposite. I've got boobs, hips, and junk in the trunk. I've made my peace with the ever-present possibility that my breasts could make an unannounced appearance at any point when I wear a bathing suit.

So, I'll roll the dice and take my chances.

It would be easy enough to get over my body envy and make nice with Ashley if she wasn't such a bitch. She's one of those girls who likes to dole out backhanded compliments. For some reason, I'm always on the receiving end of them.

Most of the time, I tune her out while praying that Noah will come to his senses and dump her skinny ass. But that has yet to happen.

I guess what they say about love being blind is true.

Although no one ever mentioned that it was deaf and stupid as well.

An hour later, Olivia and I are stretched out on our loungers sipping homemade iced lemonade, compliments of Aunt Marnie. The sun shines brightly with hardly any clouds in the sky, and we've shed our shorts and shirts to catch a few rays. We're slathered to the hilt with SPF 100 sunscreen.

It's turned out to be a perfect day.

Let me rephrase that. It would be a perfectly glorious day if a certain someone wasn't here, constantly snagging my attention when I least expect it. I can't glance anywhere without Carter being in my line of sight.

As painful as it is to admit, his muscular arms and wide chest are distracting.

"Is it my imagination," Olivia says, interrupting my thoughts, "or did Carter manage to get even hotter while I was away?"

Feeling like I've been caught ogling, I jerk my gaze from him and shoot Olivia a sour look. "It's definitely your imagination."

She's right. Carter is hotter than ever, as evidenced by all the female attention he's garnering this afternoon. His body is even more finely chiseled than it was before. It looks like he spent the entire summer pumping iron.

Olivia's eyes are still focused on him. "I know you two rub each other the wrong way-"

"That's an understatement of epic proportions," I mutter crossly. My anger is directed more at myself than him. It pisses me off to feel anything for this guy when he's such a cocky tool.

I must be a glutton for punishment. Maybe my parents' divorce was more psychologically scarring than I want to admit. Otherwise, why would I put myself through so much self-torture by secretly admiring him?

Her voice drops to a loud whisper. "There's an awful lot of sexual tension between you two." She slides her sunglasses down her nose and peers at me over the rims. "Are you sure there's nothing going on now that you're living together?"

I puff out my cheeks and press my fingers to my lips, making a few vomiting noises. "Ewww. I just threw up in my mouth." I scowl. "How can you even say that to me?"

"Methinks the lady doth protest too much." Humor simmers in her voice.

I make a pfft noise and roll my eyes even though she can't see me do it behind my tinted lenses.

"Hello, ladies." A deep male voice interrupts.