Page 12
Story: Stealing Sunshine
Brody shrugs me off, unbothered. “It’s not for everyone.”
“What about you, Ice?” Poppy asks.
I stare at her, trying to analyze the barely there twitch of her lips. Bryce adjusts her posture beside me, her leg no longer bouncing.
“What about me?”
“You have an extra room, don’t you?”
Anna gasps before glancing between Poppy and Bryce. “Yes!That’s right. You said you were using it for what again? Your clothes?”
I don’t dare steal another look at Bryce. Not even when she shifts again, this time planting both feet on the floor.
“Would you do me this favour, Bryce? Please?” Johnny asks, excitement ramping with every word.
When I feel the weight of her eyes on my face, I look over. The vividness of the blue is startling this close up and without the dull, yellow lights of the bathroom to drown them out.
“It would only be for a couple of weeks,” I say softly.
Her tongue presses against the inside of her cheek. Everyone’s watching us, not a single word spoken. It’s eerie, and I itch at my forearm when my nerves become relentless. Something about this woman shocks my system. Makes me shy, almost.
Maybe I should just take Brody and Anna up on their offer.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake. Just say yes, Bryce,” Poppy mutters, the first to break the silence.
Bryce’s nostrils flare with her short sniff. “Fine.”
With a quirk of my lips, I offer her a thankful smile. She doesn’t return it before darting her eyes away and toward the bar. Then, she’s up and away from everyone.
Discomfort nips at me, but I ignore it. Bryce can hate me all she wants as long as I can sleep in peace. Besides, it will only be for a max of two weeks. Not a day more than that. We can deal until then.
“Sorry, Daisy. She takes her personal space seriously,” Poppy divulges.
“It’s okay. I get that.”
“I’ll talk to her. Straighten her out,” Johnny says.
Poppy twirls the tiny straw in her red drink. “No, I’ll do it. She’s just not the most welcoming to people she doesn’t know well.”
It’s a lie. I’ve heard the opposite from my brother and his girlfriend. If that were the case, Bryce wouldn’t have taken in both Aurora and Anna as easily as she did when they moved intotown. Yeah, she’s guarded and brutally blunt. That’s obvious. But rude? Down to her very core? That’s still to be decided.
It seems that I’m an exception to her usual behaviour, and I’m curious enough to want to know why. She can be warm to those she cares about as I’ve seen a handful of times, and I want to know why I’ve been written off as someone who can’t be tucked into that category the way my brother and everyone else has.
“Thank you, everyone. I appreciate you helping me out. And for offering me a place, Brody and Anna.”
“Anytime. We’ve got a soft spot for the Mitchells,” Anna says with a wink.
“If I didn’t mind the smell of cattle or being woken before sunrise, I’d have moved in without a second thought.”
“I’m with you, Daisy. When we stay in the guest house on the weekends, I’ve started wearing earplugs,” Poppy says.
Brody laughs. “You get used to it after a while.”
“Only if you want to.” Poppy finishes her drink and pats Anna’s shoulder. “I’m going to check on Bryce.”
“Want me to come?” Anna asks.
“No. I’ve got it. Just let me out.”
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12 (Reading here)
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155