BY THE TIME THE AFTERNOONsun beat down on her face, Daisy already felt exhausted. Her mom had scolded her, Sean had embarrassed her, Anna had a brand-new social life, and Daisy… well, Daisy had survived. Maybe freshman year was just going to be one long string of survival.
Daisy slipped into biology and claimed a second-row seat with a view of the football field. As the last bell rang and students shuffled in, she silently prayed that whoever took the seat beside her would be at least somewhat competent. Partner work was inevitable, and chances were, her partner would be whoever landed there.
It wasn’t that Daisy wanted to coast while her partner—God willing, a capable one—handled the assignments.
Quite the opposite.
She just wanted someone who would pull their weight so she could focus on her art without drowning in extra biology homework.
The chair next to her scraped. She turned—
And met those same baby blues from the cafeteria.
The kind that could change everything.
“Hey,darlin’.”
The word rolled off his tongue in a smooth lilt, the kind that made something ordinary sound covert.
Daisy wanted to shrink back at the casual endearment, but instead forced herself to meet his gaze and smile. “Hey.”
“Jameson Kingston.”
He extended his hand, and when Daisy took it, warmth shot up her arm, stealing her breath. Jameson noticed. Of course he did. He bit his lip, as though he was used to this kind of reaction.
“An accent?”
“That’s an odd name,” he teased.
She pulled her hand away.
“No, that’s not my name, I… oh.” Daisy frowned, realizing his little joke a moment too late. “Funny guy,” she muttered under her breath.
“Some may say. The accent is English, in case you were wondering. Born and bred in Surrey.”
Daisy’s eyes lit with curiosity. “That’s so cool. I’ve always wanted to go there. I heard England is beautiful.”
Jameson gave her his now infamous side smirk, one that made her insides turn liquid. “Ehh, it’s all right. Say if you ever go, I’ll give you a list of all the best places to visit.”
Daisy sat back in her seat, biting down a smile. “Yeah, that’d be cool.”
Jameson opened his mouth to say more, but their biology teacher’s greeting cut him short. They turned their attention forward.
Only a minute later, Daisy realized she’d forgotten something important. Her name. That fact gnawed at her.
Because she was an upstanding student, she didn’t want to whisper during class, so she carefully tore a piece of paper from her notebook and slid it his way.
Daisy Daniels
Jameson traced the letters with his fingertip, glanced at her, and smirked. “I know.”
After class, Daisy lingered, tucking her books slowly into her backpack. She had been wrong about her assumption; her tablemate wasn’t her official lab partner for the semester. When the teacher announced this, disappointment had stung sharper than she wanted to admit. At this point, it didn’t matter if Jameson was dumber than a box of rocks. She just wanted to be near him.
He fascinated her. Yes, he was handsome, but it was more than that. There was a maturity in his voice, a confidence in the way he carried himself that felt rare for a boy his age.
“Do you live close by?” Jameson’s question broke her thoughts.
“Uhh, not really. My mom usually picks my brother and me up. Why?”
