Resignation, not anger, settled in his features. He knew. He’d always known.
“Do you really think being with him will work?” he asked finally.
“Honestly,” Daisy whispered, “I have no idea. All I know is that I can’t be with you, Matt. And it’s not because I don’t love you. It’s because I do. You deserve someone who can give you everything, not someone who’s still…”
“Still what?”
She swallowed hard. “Still in love with another man.”
Matt flinched. His eyes flicked past her to Amelia’s closed door. His voice softened. “Tell her I love her. And that if she ever needs me, I’ll be there.”
Tears burned down Daisy’s cheeks. “I will. But she already knows.”
She hesitated, voice cracking. “Thank you, Matt. For loving her—and me—the way you did.”
He pressed his lips together, nodded once, and stood in silence for a moment. Then he pulled his shoes back on, grabbed his coat, and opened the door.
Just before stepping out, he turned. One final act of tenderness. He stepped forward, placed a lingering kiss on her forehead, and whispered, “Goodbye, Daisy.”
The door clicked shut behind him, the sound sharp and final.
“Holy hell, Double D!”
Anna sat, shocked, on the edge of Daisy’s couch.
Daisy slumped in the chair across from her, hands rounding the base of her head as she recounted the last few weeks—the LA kiss, Margot’s warning, last night, Jameson’s confession… and then Matt’s ring and the breakup.
All of it.
“Are you, like… okay?”
Daisy peered up at Anna, who wore a somber expression, genuine concern softening her eyes.
“I think so.”
“I mean, this is wild shit, Daisy. Heavy shit. How are you managing it all?”
Until this moment, Daisy had kept it all in, not telling a soul about the war inside her heart.
“I feel… liberated, I think.”
Anna didn’t look convinced.
“I’ve been lying to myself. Acting like life could go on as per usual, that he would never knock down the boundaries I’d set up, the barrier around my heart.” Daisy stood and began to pace. “But the funny thing is, I don’t think I ever let him out. He’s always lived there. Quietly. And now… I don’t have to lie about it anymore.”
Anna stood, too. “So is this it? You and Jameson. Is this endgame?”
One simple, direct question, and Daisy knew.
She had found her soul mate when she was young, unaware how rare that truly was. The past was now irrelevant. Her band boy had never really left her; he’d been there all along, subtly strumming chords that spoke to her soul.
“I have to go.”
“What—where?”
“I have to explain. He thinks Matt’s back, that I’m still figuring things out. He needs to know the truth.”
“Daisy…” Anna grabbed her shoulders. “Are you sure? It’s obvious to anyone with eyes that the boy is mad about you, but still—his life, his fame, Amelia… I just want to make sure it’s worth it.”
