The Man, The Myth, The Nerd: High School Billionaires #3 Read online

  Jamie was right—this was my chance to say what needed to be said. I needed to apologize, for Daisy’s sake as well as mine. She’d moved on, and I got that. If she was happy, then I’d be happy for her. I’d ruined my chances with her years ago, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t say I was sorry for the hurt I’d caused.

  That didn’t mean I couldn’t be there for her now if she needed me…even if she didn’t want me.

  Jamie’s tone changed to one far more upbeat and positive—that was her default setting. “Well, at least you know the organizers of this charity concert will be excited to see you. Daisy will be over the moon when she finds out that we got you as a replacement.”

  I found myself stifling a laugh despite myself. Over the moon? That wasn’t exactly the impression I’d gotten.

  “Just wait until you meet her,” Jamie continued. “She’s so great.” I still hadn’t told Jamie that Jordan Springs was the town I’d grown up in. She just thought I was from the general area. Again, now was not the time to correct her.

  “Mmhmm,” I mumbled as I pulled into the rec center’s parking lot.

  “You’re going to love Daisy, I know it,” Jamie said.

  My smile faded fast as her words hit me like a hammer.

  I was going to love her? There was no doubt about that.

  I always had…and I always would.

  Chapter Four

  Daisy

  My day went by in a blur. Or rather, I’m pretty sure I flew through the school day in a fit of rage.

  Tieg Larson was here. He was back…in my town and at my school?

  Who did he think he was?

  “You okay, Daisy?” Eliza asked as I threw a box of mac-n-cheese onto the countertop next to the stove.

  “I’m great. Just great.”

  “You seem great,” Keith drawled as he fell onto a kitchen seat beside me.

  They’d been hovering all day. My normally annoying, bickering siblings were doing the unthinkable and hovering…over me. I was the one who hovered. I was the one they all referred to as the nag.

  Nice, right? That’s what I got for taking on the mom role at the ripe old age of sixteen. But really, when my mom died, someone had to take over, and my dad was too busy trying to make money to feed us all to be the full-time parent.

  I opened the box with too much pent-up frustration and hard uncooked noodles scattered across the linoleum floor.

  Great. Just great.

  Eliza put her hands on my shoulders and led me over to the kitchen table. “Sit,” she ordered. “I’ll make dinner.”

  Was I a gourmet chef? No. But we also didn’t have the money for meat and fresh vegetables every day of the week so mac-n-cheese was a staple for more reasons than just the fact that it was easy to make.

  Although, tonight, I didn’t care why we were eating mac-n-cheese because I had bigger problems. Like how on earth I was going to survive the next forty-eight hours until this concert was done and Tieg was back out of my life.

  “You know you can talk to us, right?” Eliza said as she poured water into a pot.

  I huffed. Sure I could, but there was nothing to say. I’d gotten over Tieg years ago.

  Liar.

  Okay, fine. Maybe I was still hurt by the way things had ended…but they had ended. Fourteen years of friendship and one epic kiss didn’t change the fact that he’d left.

  He’d left and never looked back.

  “I can’t believe he’s here,” one of the twins said. I long ago stopped trying to differentiate them by voice and I wasn’t about to turn around to see who was providing color commentary on the nightmare that was my life.

  “That’s kind of cool of him to help you out like that,” the other one said.

  “He’s not helping me out,” I said quickly, straightening in my seat. “He’s helping this town. He’s helping the schools—”

  “And he’s saving your butt,” Eliza added.

  I scowled at her. “I don’t need anyone to save my butt, as you so nicely put it.”

  Keith smirked at me as he passed the table to get out some bowls. “Oh, so you had a plan then? Some other world-famous rock star who was willing to step in and make this concert a success?”

  Yes. That’s what I wanted to say but it was such a bald-faced lie I just couldn’t bring myself to say it. No one would believe it for a second. Of course, I hadn’t had a plan. My big plan was to say a million prayers that Travis Malcolm recovered super quickly and managed to get here just in time.

  As far as plans went, it wasn’t my finest.

  We all heard the sound of tires crunching on the gravel of the driveway.

  I sighed and rubbed a hand over my eyes. That would be Brady again. He was supposed to pick me up and take me to the campsite where we were celebrating one of our friends’ birthdays. Some of them would be camping out, but not me and Brady. We had a sound check to get to in the morning. Bright and early.

  With Tieg.

  I groaned but my misery was lost in the madness that ensued when Brady rang the doorbell. Barking started and then chirping, followed by some squeaks. I lifted my head and found myself staring into my littlest sister’s big green eyes.

  Beth arched her brows. Even at seven she knew something was up. Since when did Brady ring the doorbell? He knew better.

  Suspicion barely had a chance to take hold before my worst fears were realized.

  “Daisy, Tieg’s here for you!” one of the twins called out.

  I froze, my gaze wild as I looked from Eliza to Keith to Beth.

  “Want me to go?” Beth asked, her childish voice so sweet, her eyes so sincere that it reminded me of who I was. Or rather, who I wasn’t. I wasn’t some kid anymore—I was a grown woman of eighteen, about to graduate, taking care of five younger siblings…

  I pushed away from the table and drew in a deep breath. He might have left behind a lovesick little girl, but that wasn’t me. Not anymore.

  “Daisy, are you sure—”

  I waved away Eliza’s concern as I headed past my siblings to the front door.

  My breath hitched in my throat as I opened it. Did he really have to look so good? It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. If karma actually existed, he’d be covered in warts and have a hunched back. But nooo. Tieg had to grow up to be even hotter than ever with that shaggy, mussed hair and the sharp angles of his jaw and cheekbones. Even slouching against my doorframe, I couldn’t miss the fact that he’d filled out. He was taller and broader, with wide shoulders that tapered down to a trim waist.

  Of course it would be too much to ask that he grow up to have a belly. Nope. I’d bet all my money—which really wasn’t very much—that underneath that fitted T-shirt he had abs of steel.

  For some reason, that made me mad.

  Fine, maybe it wasn’t the probable six-pack that had adrenaline coursing through my veins, but rather the look in his eyes.

  How dare he look at me like that. Like he knew me. Like he saw me. Like no time had gone by and we were still thick as thieves and sharing every little secret.

  My spine stiffened and my hands clenched at my sides. “What are you doing here?”

  “I was hoping to talk to you.” His voice was the same. Lower maybe, but it still had that husky quality that made girls everywhere swoon when he opened his mouth.

  I pressed my lips together. I hated that voice.

  “Can I come in?” He glanced past me, and I didn’t have to turn around to know that my siblings were watching everything from the doorway.

  I ignored his question. “Keith, make sure the kids wash their hands. Eliza, finish cooking, please.”

  One of Tieg’s brows lifted as my siblings burst into action behind me and the result sounded like chaos.

  Someone let out a scream that made it sound as though torture was going on in the bathroom.

  Matthew, no doubt. He had a thing about getting clean. If washing his hands was torture, Tieg ought to see the scene that occurred at bath time.

>   I gave my head a little shake. What was I thinking. Tieg ought to see nothing. Tieg wouldn’t even be here once this concert was over.

  The concert. I just had to focus on the concert.

  “Did you meet with Mary?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Yeah, she showed me around the venue, introduced me to some of the other bands. She seems to have it all under control.”

  “Jamie sent us some good people.”

  “She’s the best.” He said it so simply, I wondered if he had any idea how much it crushed me to hear it.

  Oh, I wasn’t jealous. I mean, sure, there was a part of me that was curious to know if she was his girlfriend, but I wasn’t jealous.

  I just hated the fact that she was his friend. Had I been replaced? Was that it? Did he just move on to another girl the moment he’d walked away from me?

  I stared down at our feet. Get a grip, Daisy. This was a business interaction, that was all.

  “Sound check is tomorrow.” I didn’t look up but I saw him shove his hands in his pockets.

  “Yeah, she told me.”

  What are you doing here? I clamped my jaw shut to keep from asking again. I could handle awkward silence. Yup. Look at me go. Just dwelling in the awkwardness. Loving it.

  “So I guess that’s it then,” I snapped, looking up. Dang it, why did I have to go and be the one to break the silence?

  I wished instantly that I hadn’t looked up. I wished I hadn’t seen his eyes. That hooded lazy look he always hid behind was gone and what I saw there…

  It nearly killed me.

  Regret and a world of history stared back at me. Every memory I’d tried to forget, every conversation, every night I’d snuck out to meet him, that kiss I felt like I’d been waiting my whole life for and which finally came…two days before he left me. “Daisy—” he started.

  “Tieg!” Beth’s shout from behind me cut off whatever he was going to say and I watched as Tieg’s eyes rounded in surprise as my littlest sister ran past me and lunged toward him.

  He caught her just in time or she would have face planted into his chest.

  I groaned quietly as this moment just went from bad to worse. I hadn’t thought Beth even remembered Tieg, she’d only been four when he’d left, but apparently he’d made an impression.

  “Beth, stop,” I said.

  But I was drowned out by Tieg who let out the best laugh in the world—it was genuine and low and rumbly and so very heartfelt. He was looking down at the little girl in his arms like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “Little Bits?”

  I almost forgot myself and laughed when he called her by her old nickname. My mom had dubbed her Little Bits because that was how it sounded when Beth said her full name, Elizabeth.

  “It’s Beth,” she said now, pulling her head back to look up at him. “I missed you.”

  My heart just about crumbled right there on the spot and I saw the emotion on Tieg’s face when he answered. “I missed you too, Beth.”

  Beth’s beaming smile brought me back to myself. “Beth, go help Eliza with dinner.”

  Beth pouted over her shoulder at me.

  “Now!” There was no way I’d let Beth get hurt and that was exactly what would happen if she decided Tieg was her new favorite person only to watch him get on a plane in two days’ time and never return.

  And that was precisely what would happen.

  The moment Beth left, Tieg and I were left in that awful silence. But this time I refused to wallow in the old memories. I wasn’t that girl anymore and I had a family counting on me to be strong. Crossing my arms, I fixed him with a stare. “Why don’t you say what you came here to say and then we can all move on.”

  His throat worked as he swallowed and I kept my gaze fixed on his Adam’s apple. I couldn’t meet his gaze any longer, not if I wanted to maintain my sanity.

  “I’m sorry.”

  My eyes shot up to meet his, and I felt his remorse all the way to my bones. I saw his regret, could practically feel his shame.

  “I’m so sorry, Daisy,” he said, his voice gruff and low. I took a step forward to hear him better and…and because I couldn’t stop myself. He’d always had this effect on me, like some crazy one-man magnetic force, and it seemed like it had only gotten stronger.

  “The things I said before I left…” He shook his head. “I didn’t mean them. I didn’t mean any of it.”

  Tears filled my eyes even though I ordered them to go away. They didn’t listen. Neither did my heart which was pounding like crazy.

  He looked anguished, and he wasn’t even trying to hide it.

  “I didn’t mean it,” he said again.

  “I know.” I managed to get that out through a throat that was painfully tight as I fought back tears. I remembered every callous word, every nasty insult. He’d set out to push me away and he’d done a heck of a job.

  “You know?” he asked, his voice hopeful.

  I nodded. “You were pushing me away.”

  He shook his head. “I’m so sorry, I just thought…I thought you’d be better off without me.”

  I nodded again because I didn’t know what else to say. The truth was, I’d always known that he’d left because he thought he was bad for me. In the weeks leading up to him going, I’d gotten into trouble for sneaking out, for skipping school to find him when he’d ditched for the day, for kissing—yes, my dad had caught us kissing when he’d come to pick me up from the campsite where we used to hang out with our friends. He’d given me a lecture that still made me blush.

  But that kiss had been worth the lecture, and every bit of trouble I’d caught for trying to be with Tieg had never felt like a sacrifice. But I always knew that he’d put me on this pedestal, and he always thought so poorly of himself. “It didn’t take a psychiatrist to see what you were doing,” I said, my voice raw with emotion as I shrugged. “I knew it that night…I knew you thought you were doing right by me.”

  “I’m so sorry,” he said again.

  “I accept your apology.” My voice was stiff. Stilted. The silence that followed was heartbreaking. This was what I’d wanted. For more than a year after he left, this was everything that I’d wanted—for him to show up on my doorstep and admit that he’d been wrong. To say those words, I’m sorry.

  If he’d come back then, I’d have thrown my arms around him and kissed him with everything I had. I would have forgiven anything and been grateful to have him back.

  When my mom died, all that changed. My world had collapsed. My family had suffered. And where was Tieg?

  That was the point when I stopped wishing for him to come back and started to block any and all memories of him from my mind. He didn’t deserve my thoughts, he didn’t need my concern, and he sure as heck didn’t want me in his life.

  I went to turn, but his hand on my arm stopped me. I jerked away from his touch because it burned. His touch was electric on my skin, making my nerves crackle and sizzle.

  “Hey, Daisy, you doing okay?” Keith asked from the kitchen.

  I looked back and met Tieg’s eyes. His gaze was pleading. He wanted more from me, but I had nothing left to give him.

  “I’m fine,” I said to Keith, because I didn’t need my younger brother fighting my battles. Besides, there was nothing left to fight. Tieg was a stranger now. He was nothing to me.

  I lifted my chin and met his eyes evenly. “Thank you for coming here to perform,” I said, my voice distant but polite. “The town appreciates it.”

  “Daisy, I didn’t come for the town, I came—”

  “Because you feel guilty,” I finished. “Yeah, I get it. But the past is the past, right? I’ve moved on and you should too.”

  “I don’t want things to end like this, Daisy Lou—”

  “Don’t,” I snapped. He and my mom were the only ones who ever called me that. My mom in a sweet nickname sort of way and Tieg whenever he was teasing. I didn’t want to be reminded of either memory. Not right now when my heart felt like it was s
tuck in my throat.

  I could hear the noises coming from our kitchen, but this thing between us felt louder. I could hear his breathing, I could hear my own heartbeat. As if no time had passed at all, I could feel us.

  That probably sounded crazy, but I’d always thought what he and I had between us was tangible. The kind of connection that was inexplicable but so very real that it couldn’t be denied.

  And I felt it now.

  I felt it, and it terrified me.

  I was over him…I was supposed to be over him.

  “Daisy.” He murmured my name like a prayer, and I wasn’t sure who moved first. All I knew was one minute we were standing there in the doorway inches apart and the next I was in his arms. His face was buried in my hair, his breath hot against my neck. I clung to his shoulders because as much as I wanted to hate him, as angry as I was…he still felt like home. He smelled like my childhood and he felt like my safe place and his touch was heaven.

  I squeezed my eyes shut and let myself drown in these heady, familiar, totally new sensations until I was brought back to reality by the sound of another vehicle on the drive.

  Brady. I didn’t have to look to recognize the sound of his pickup truck.

  I pushed away from Tieg, but he didn’t immediately let go. He held onto my arms and his eyes were dark. So very dark. I could have drowned in the emotions I saw there.

  My heart clenched painfully and it took everything in me not to lean into him.

  Not to kiss him.

  Brady was out of his truck and halfway up the drive by the time I tore my gaze away from Tieg’s. I felt Brady’s heavy arm wrap around my shoulders. “All okay here?” he asked.

  I almost laughed, but I swallowed down the hysterical sound. For a second there Brady had sounded just like his father. And now as I looked between the two of them, it was once again a rift in time. We could have been kids again. We could have been hanging out waiting for my mom to call us in for dinner…

  My mom. I swallowed as I looked up into Brady’s concerned eyes. Years of friendship had me reading his thoughts as if he’d spoken. He was worried about me.