Midnight Daffodil (Poisonous Petals #1)

Chapter 20Luke

twenty

LUKE

T he light rain blurred the city lights. I sat in the passenger seat of the cruiser next to Aidan. The last few weeks were rough, with Olivia constantly on my mind.

That night, the streets were empty, leaving us in silence, broken only by the engines’ hum and the rustle of leaves.

“You still upset about the girl?” Aidan asked with a mouthful of taco. “Your face is gonna get stuck like that if you keep frowning so hard.”

For weeks, he’d given me shit about pouting. He didn’t know the whole story, but I might’ve let it slip that I spent the night with Olivia after the near car accident.

Aidan acted dumb, but he wasn’t stupid.

“She’s not just some girl ,” I muttered childishly. “And I’m not upset.”

“Right.” He gave me the side eye as taco meat dripped off his chin. “You’re more bitchy than usual. Did Rev piss on your shoes or something? If it isn’t her, then what the hell has your balls in a clutch the last few weeks?”

Aidan was irritating me to the extreme. The night had turned into The Inquisition . And him calling me bitchy? Just fucking great. I opened my mouth to rip him a new fucking asshole; my phone buzzed, giving me a momentary distraction.

I pulled out the phone and unlocked it; the screen lit up my face, nearly blinding me in the dark vehicle.

Who the hell was texting me? Pretty much the only person I gave enough shits about to even pass along my personal number to was Aidan.

A number I didn’t recognize had sent me a message. Curiosity piqued. My heart picked up as I looked at the short message in front of my eyes.

Unknown: hi

That simple message stopped there. I mentally ran through every option it could be before I settled on my gut feeling that she finally did it.

She finally reached out to me.

Did she leave Matt’s stupid ass? Was she somewhere hurt? Did she need me to go to her?

My heart and mind raced as I furiously typed out and deleted fifty messages before deciding what to send back. I didn’t want to pressure her, but I wanted, more than anything, to have her in my arms again. Hell, she’d already set up residence in my heart. I felt it in my bones; she was meant to be mine. My hands shook as I hit send.

Me: I’ve been waiting for you to message me.

The thrum of my heartbeat was loud as fuck in my ears.

“Who was that?” Aidan asked loudly, wrapping up his trash and tossing it into the fast food bag. Rev made a sniffing sound behind us, hoping we would drop an entire taco for him to devour.

“Mind your business.”

Aidan turned to face me, grinning with a dumb look on his face. “It’s her, isn’t it?” His voice cut through the quiet night.

Aidan only came in one volume. Ear splittingly obnoxious.

Impatience swept through me as I waited for a response back. What if it turned out to be a trap, and Matt actually texted me? I took a deep breath staving off the thought as Aidan reminded me of his damn presence by wrapping his arms around himself. His back was to me as he made kissing sounds, pretending to be making out with someone.

What a fucking loser, I thought, not able to stave off the blossoming happiness that bloomed within, watching him make a fool of himself.

What was taking her so long? I checked the time. I responded to her three minutes after she texted me. And now four. Was she playing hard to get ? Or was I playing hard to get rid of ? I just wanted to hear back from her. I considered sending her another text.

No, that’s crazy.

I can’t send her multiple texts when she only sent me one.

I couldn’t.

I shouldn’t.

I huffed in my seat for another five minutes before deciding I wouldn't send her another message.

I’d send eight more instead.

Cuz that was less fucking weird , Christ Luke; you are just as pathetic as the dumbshit sitting next to you . I whipped my phone back out to type out another round of messages furiously.

Me: I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you

Have you been okay? Do you need anything?

I’ll do whatever you want if you just talk to me.

You probably can’t leave to see me, but you deserve more than he could ever give you.

I should’ve stopped messaging her after the second. Then, after the third. I had that tingling feeling, the one I got right before I ended up seeing her. But this time, it felt different.

It felt like I was going to get to keep her.

Olivia belonged with me, and I would make her see that the next chance I got. The only hands she’d know were mine; the only dick she’d ever come on was mine.

The thought sent a jolt straight to my cock. Damn. I couldn’t get hard now, not with Aidan’s goofy ass in the driver’s seat and Rev’s fishy kibble breath on my neck. The combination of the two softened me instantly.

The minutes ticked by at full volume in my brain, scenarios ran through my head, turning me into a clingy mess.

What was she doing? Does she feel as nervous as I do?

I couldn’t bring myself to care how pathetic I was. I didn’t want to scare her off by coming on too strong, but that was impossible when I knew how she tasted.

Me: I’m sorry if I’m coming on too strong, I just, I hate knowing you’re there with him.

My fingers itched to send more, but Aidan finally focused on the job and crept behind a sketchy vehicle with a blacked out license plate. I needed a good work distraction to keep my dumbass from blowing up her phone.

After stalking her neighborhood, I knew I was obsessed. Now that I had her number, I wasn’t sure if I could stop the need to protect her from taking over, driving me insane.

Aidan flicked on the lights, making the stop, which was anticlimactic. We wrote out a citation and took the usual fuck the police attitude, and made our way back to the car. I left my phone behind, hoping I’d get a message if I stopped looking at it.

And sure enough, I did.

“You got it bad,” Aidan jeered.

“I’ll remember this when you’re in the same position.”

“The only position I ever plan to be in is on my back while a hot chick gets me off.” He laughed.

God.

“Ah, so you're lazy in bed and at work. Got it.”

I didn’t have time for his jabs anymore. I opened Olivia's messages and read them several times, etching every single word to memory.

Her: I thought you’d be angry with me.

I shouldn’t have left you. I was so stupid.

I wanted to ask what had happened that night. What kept her trapped? A gut feeling told me I probably didn’t want to know the details. Matt was a violent man, so one could only guess. I should’ve forced her to stay with me. I should’ve followed Vera’s car and made her listen to me. I didn’t care if that made me just like him .

I would make her stay.

The possessive, primal, uncivilized being inside of me pounded its metaphorical hands on its metaphorical chest, claiming her as his.

Claiming her as mine.

I should’ve fucking killed Matt that night.

I pondered over how to respond as Aidan pulled around the block, just driving casually, seeing what else the evening had to offer. The slow nights we’d had recently gave me ample time to think about Olivia.

I typed out a response to her as we drove in silence with nothing but the sounds of the purring engine.

Me: I could never be angry with you. I just want you to be happy. I want you to be safe.

She responded immediately. I pictured her back in my bed, in my t-shirt, in those tiny white panties I wanted to rip off her.

Her: I want to be happy too.

kinda think I could be happy with you ;)

I nearly dropped my phone reading the message with the cute winking emoji. So this wasn’t one sided after all. For nearly a month, she stayed silent as she plagued my mind. I replayed that night over and over like a broken record. Everything was insanely right until it all went colossally wrong.

Our texts continued into the night. We flirted back and forth, our feelings for one another budding into something perfect. We talked about her hometown in Dover, Delaware, where she met Vera. She told me about college and the monster she ended up with, following him halfway across the world without a second thought. Matt tried to isolate her, that much was clear. When Vera followed them across the United States, he’d probably been pissed as all hell.

I told her more about growing up in the trailer park with my mom. She wasn’t the best, but she tried her hardest, kinda , up until she passed away when I was serving in the Marine Corps. Aside from the men my mother brought around, a father figure had always been absent for me. But those men were just after a couple of things. Drugs, and sex.

The military became my escape, my chance to prove myself—just a scrawny kid from the trailer park. I told her how I tested civilian life before joining the police force, realizing that a desk job with four walls wasn't my calling. Law enforcement felt like second nature, just like she did in my life.

Fate had a plan for us. Our paths were meant to cross.

She revealed that after getting her college degree, she never worked. She missed out on many typical experiences for her age. Her beauty and intelligence were undeniable, and she deserved far more than life had given her.

That night, I felt closer to her than I had to anyone in my entire life. I wanted more of her. I craved more of her.

And I was going to get her.