Daisy’s Secret Crush

***Daisy’s POV.***

“Back off.” I say to the man who is not stopping.

“But you said please feel something. You can’t go back on your words.” He says.

“I will scream murder.” I say as I glare at him, which makes him stop but only for a second.

“Do you think I would have approached you with people around? They are far away and the music is loud too. Come on. Don’t get shy now. Let’s have some fun.” The man says and grabs one end of the knot.

“Don’t you dare? This is my last warning. What would come after this would be painful.” I say.

“Like a little lady like you could do me any harm in water. It is impossible to move fast in the water, dear.” He says.

“Not if you are trained by your own military retired father.” I say.

Then I pinch his hand hard, which releases my knot and entangle my legs around his foot and pull hard so he goes underwater. I jump over him and swim as fast as possible. It happens within three seconds that he doesn’t get a chance to react.

My Dad taught me well. He has trained me not only on the ground but also in water. He said self-defence would help me a lot. And it had, many times. I would have tackled that guy in the pub too, but Theo intervened and I was too happy to let him know I could handle it myself.

I come out of the swimming pool and look back to see that guy still pursuing me. It is better to find Toby and tell him about him. But before I could do that, I bumped into a hard chest and rubbed my head.

“What happened, Daisy?” A familiar voice asks and I look up to see Theo, who has his hands wrapped around my upper arms.

“Nothing.” I say and look back to see that man stopping when he sees Theo.

“Seriously. You are not going to tell me?” Theo asks and now I see that he has anger in his eyes which I missed noticing before.

“We should go in. I am getting hungry.” I say and try to move him, but instead, he pushes me into a seat to sit down and moves towards that man who was ogling at another girl to make her his next prey maybe.

I don’t feel bad for him when Theo punches him hard. He deserved it. I would have punched him too, but my priority was to not spoil Toby’s party. But when that man looked at the other girl, I knew he needed a lesson.

Toby and others come out after hearing the commotion and I explain things to him. When Theo keeps punching him, I intervene, as I don’t want him to get in any kind of trouble.

“Let it be, Theo.” I say.

“How dare he corner you like that and-” Theo says, but stops when he sees that now we have an audience. He looks at me and says with concern in his eyes, “Are you okay?”

“I am fine. Don’t worry. But you aren’t.” I say when I notice his knuckles which are scratched, “You are hurt. Where is the first aid box, Toby?”

“It is in the kitchen. You take Theo. I will look after this man here. And you all, please get back to the party and enjoy.” Toby says as he drags the man away.

I take Theo’s hand and go to the kitchen to apply something to the scratches. I find the first aid box while Theo washes his hand as per my order. I clean his hand with a towel gently then apply ointment on it. Then lastly put a bandage.

“There. Now you are good to go.” I say and look up only to find his face close to mine.

For a few seconds, none of us move. We just stare at each other. I can’t help but look into his eyes. The blue eyes which entrance me every time I look at them. He looks at my lips for a second, then in my eyes as if to warn me to back away, otherwise he won’t be responsible for what would happen next.

If my feelings for him had not been upgraded so rapidly, I would have taken this chance. But not anymore. I won’t be able to handle rejection anymore. I back away and go to leave, but he stops me by taking hold of my wrist.

My heart hopes for him to approach me and tell me he wants me, but instead, he says, “Thank you.”

I compose myself and turn around with a smile and say, “You’re welcome. And also thank you for earlier.”

I walk away from him and have a cool drink and try to get a grip on my emotions. I am suddenly feeling homesick. I want to see my Mom and just cuddle with her as she caresses my hair.

“How are you?” Toby asks me when everybody leaves as the night approaches and I come out after getting changed.

“I am fine. Has everybody gone?” I ask.

“Yes, except for Olivia, Theo, and you.” Toby says.

“I am sorry because we missed playing volleyball in the pool.” I say.

“Are you kidding me? I don’t care about that stupid game. I care about you. You are my friend, Izzy. A very good friend. It is my fault to let my friend invite another friend to my party. I am sorry. Please forgive me.” He says with a cute pout and I smile.

“It is okay. But it is still not late.” I say.

“No, Izzy. We are not playing that game. You can’t guilt trip me for it and we are just two people. That game needs more than three people to make it interesting.” Toby says as we come into the hall after a few minutes.

“But I really want to play that game and forget what happened today.” I say with a pout.

“What happened?” Olivia asks.

“Izzy wants to play the ‘Never have I ever’ game instead of accepting my apology.” He says. I planned this to know what Olivia feels for Toby.

I talked Toby into it and told him to act, so they joined us too. I am unsure about Theo and my feelings. But I am sure about Toby’s and Olivia’s relationship more than anything in the world. I know what Olivia is feeling right now. She is just too stubborn to admit it.

“So, what is wrong with playing a few rounds? Even I want to drink something.” Olivia says and Theo enters the room.

“Okay. If you and Izzy are in, then I am too. Would you like to play too, Mr. Anderson?” Toby asks.

“What?” Theo asks.

“Never have I ever.” He says, “Izzy insisted, as she wanted to make up with me and also wanted me to play as an apology.”

“I am up for a game, but I have to limit my drinking as I am driving.” Theo says.

“Don’t worry. My driver would drop us all.” Olivia says.

“And I will have my driver bring your car to your villa.” Toby says.

“Okay.” Theo says.

We all sat around a four-seater round table. Toby is opposite of me because Olivia took a seat on the left of me before he could as he was busy bringing drinks for us and Theo sat on my right side.

“I will go first as alphabetically as I am first.” I then say, “Never have I ever gone skinny dipping.”

And all of them take a sip of their drink while I look at them open-mouthed. Olivia looks flushed while Toby looks smug about it. Okay, maybe the skinny dipping is something they did and I don’t want to think further.

“How does it feel?” I ask.

“Great.” Toby says with a smirk.

“Maybe I should try it.” I say.

“You forgot I have a pool.” Toby teases me.

“My turn.” Olivia interrupts us intentionally, “Never have I ever kissed a friend.”

I smile at her question and take a sip and wink at Toby. Olivia and Theo both look at me in shock, then at Toby, who takes a sip too. Olivia said, kissing but didn’t mention lips. I kissed Toby’s cheek and also Theo used to be my friend too. So technically I am good to go. Theo takes a drink too.

“Never have I ever ignored someone’s feelings.” Toby says something which I didn’t expect him to say.

Olivia fidgets in her seat but a second later takes a sip, which makes Toby look at her with a hurt look in his eyes, but then he looks away. Olivia has guilt in her eyes. Good question Toby, that means Olivia does acknowledge Toby has feelings. I look away from them only to see Theo put down his glass. Did he take a sip too? I take a sip too, just as I have ignored Theo’s feelings somehow.

But before I could think of it, he said, “Never have I ever been in love.”

He looks at me, and I look away. Toby and Olivia both take a sip of their drink while I keep my hands to myself. What is the point of drinking? I am not in love and I am still in the stage of falling in. I can also fall out. And when did Theo start talking about love?Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“Your turn.” Toby says and I nod.

“Never have I ever played strip poker.” I say and Toby and Olivia take a sip. I don’t know why and maybe I exactly know why, but I was relieved when Theo didn’t take a sip.

“Never have I ever had to take a walk of shame.” Olivia says and only Toby takes a sip, which astonishes her.

“Never have I ever snuck in somewhere.” Toby says with a smirk and I take a sip as I snuck into the fashion department once in university as a bet. Olivia takes a sip too, and so does Theo.

“Never have I ever slept with a friend.” Theo says and I take a sip.

Once again, he forgot to mention specifically what sleeping involves. Toby takes a drink too, but Olivia doesn’t. I know why Toby took a drink because we are like-minded. He winks at me this time, and I giggle. Theo gets up suddenly.