“She was second in her entire senior class,” Betsy said. “Can you believe that?”
“Uh-huh.” Spider concentrated on eating his roast, glaring at Emmie when Betsy was distracted.
The last thing he needed was Emmie or Betsy playing matchmaker. He had enough stress in his life without thinking about Daisy harboring a crush on him and anyone encouraging her. Emmie was imagining things, and Spider didn’t need the trouble.
Because even if she was interested, Spider knew he was the last thing a girl like Daisy Rivera needed.
Chapter 3
Daisy stood outside the Ice House on the corner of 7th and Main with Roni while Olivia argued with Stan, the guy doing security out front of the bar.
“We’ll keep track of Roni, okay?” Olivia was the most reasonable of her cousins. If anyone could talk them into the bar, it was her.
Roni leaned against the painted cinder block and looked down 7th Avenue. “Do you think any of the guys from the tattoo shop are inside?”
Daisy’s mind immediately jumped to Spider. “I have no idea. It’s not like I come here all the time or something.”
“Some of those guys are kinda gross, but a couple of them are way hot.” Roni kicked her feet against the wall. “You know the one with the buzz-cut hair?”
Daisy bit her lip, grateful to see Olivia waving them over. “Oh look. Come on.”
Stan held up his hand before the girls could enter. “You” —he pointed at Roni— “do not go anywhere with any of these dudes alone. Do you hear me?”
Roni rolled her eyes. “Oh my God, Stan. I’m just here to hang out and have a beer.”
“No fucking beer.” Stan glared at Olivia. “You told me—”
“She’s kidding.” Daisy tugged on Roni’s arm and stepped on the edge of her shoe. “Kidding. She’s just being a brat. We’re not drinking; we just want to hang with Olivia.”
Stan was still suspicious. “I’m not worried about you, Daisy.”
Olivia walked up and put her arm around Roni’s shoulders. “We’ll keep her in line. And we won’t sit at the bar. Promise.”
He raised one finger. “No slipups and no problems. You don’t get a second chance.”
“Okay!” Daisy shuffled Roni into the bar before her little cousin could get another word in. Technically, the Ice House was eighteen and up, but since Roni was close and Stan was best friends with Olivia’s older brother, he usually let them in as long as the bar was quiet.
“Don’t give Stan a heart attack.” Olivia laughed a little. “Roni, I swear you’re going to get us all arrested one of these days.”
“You’d be so bored without me.” She fiddled with one of the gold hoops that danced up the shell of her ear. “So what can I drink?”
“Not beer.”
“I don’t want to look like a baby or something,” Roni hissed. “I promise I won’t drink, but—”
“I’ll get you a soda with a slice of lime.” Olivia pointed to one of the tall tables near the old-fashioned jukebox. “No one will know the difference.”
“Just a root beer for me,” Daisy said.
“Okay, cool.” Olivia put her purse down in the seat and headed toward the bar. “No boys, Roni.”
Roni looked around the bar and crinkled her nose. “It’s not exactly like there’s a ton of options tonight anyway. Why aren’t there more cute guys in Metlin?”
“Give it time.” Daisy put her purse on the empty seat and leaned her elbows on the table. “Most guys look better when they get older.” She glanced at Olivia, who was leaning on the bar and whispering to Nestor, the reason they were there. “What do you think about Nestor?”
“He’s okay.” Roni shrugged. “I don’t like that goatee thing he grew, but his body is nice and—”
“Oh my God, Roni.” Daisy laughed. “He’s Olivia’s boyfriend. I’m not talking about his looks.”
Roni blinked. “So what do you—?”
“Like, do you think he’s nice? Do you think he’s good for her?”
Roni frowned. “How should I know? I mean, who has she been with besides Nestor? Would you want to buy the first car you ever drove?”
Daisy felt her cheeks get hot. “Definitely not.”
Her first sexual experience with a boy had been anything but memorable. She’d left with a vague sense of awkward embarrassment and a burning curiosity why the world was so obsessed with all that.
“See? Nestor is, like, the only guy Olivia’s ever dated. Boring. I don’t want to get married until I’m, like, thirty at least. I don’t even want a boyfriend until then.”
Daisy raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Oh really?”
“I mean, I’ll hook up with a hot guy, but I’m not gonna let him tie me down.”
The door swung open and a group of men entered, one of them laughing so loud that the entire bar turned to look.
“Nice.” Roni smiled. “Tattoo boys.”
Daisy’s eyes landed on Spider, who was drifting near the back of the group, his inked skin vivid next to his bright white T-shirt, a worn flannel slung around his waist. It wasn’t often that she saw him wearing short sleeves, but the warm fall evening was just barely cooling off.
“I think they hang out here most nights.” Daisy knew it. She’d seen them when she worked evening shifts at the café. “It’s right across the street.”
“That really hot guy in back?” Roni leaned closer as Olivia approached with their drinks. “They call him Spider, and I heard he’s from LA and he’s in a gang and everything.” Roni sat back in her seat, her eyes wide as if she’d just dropped a bomb.
“Don’t be dumb.” Olivia set their drinks down. “Metlin boys only think they’re in gangs.”
“I said he was from LA.”
Olivia leaned her elbow on the table and dropped her voice. “Keep your voice down, idiot. You think a real gang member is gonna move up to Metlin and start working at Bill and Ruby’s tattoo studio? That guy has been in Metlin for years.” She jumped onto the tall chair. “He’s friends with Betsy Elliot. He just started working at the tattoo place; he used to work at a ranch or something. Nestor says he’s cool.”
Daisy couldn’t take her eyes off him. She kept looking away, but inevitably her eyes would end up back on Spider, who’d taken a seat at a long table in the far corner of the bar. His arms were crossed over his chest, and the dark cross that covered one elbow pointed toward her.
Daisy watched him pick up a beer bottle and pour it into a glass before he lifted the drink to his lips. His throat moved as he swallowed, and the dark flourishes on his neck moved like waves. He set down his drink and his eyes scanned the bar, falling on her before she could look away.
She jerked her gaze away from him but felt as if his eyes were burning her skin. She looked at Olivia, who was talking about something Nestor had told her at the bar.
“Daisy?”
“Hmm?” She looked at Roni.
“Why is the hot tattoo boy staring at you?” Her cousin was smiling like she’d discovered a secret. “Do you know him?”