“Daisy, this is Lenny, Kyler, and Jameson.”
All three of them entered the room.
“And this is my little sister, Daisy.”
“I’ve seen you around school. You hang out with that rowdy girl, right?” Lenny stated, his accent much thicker than Jameson’s.
She giggled at his description of Anna. She wasn’t surprised to be associated with her. She was, after all, Daisy’s only friend at school.
Daisy had heard of Lenny and Kyler. Jameson had mentioned his cousins once in biology.
“Yeah, Anna can be pretty ‘rowdy,’ but she’s a good friend.”
“And hot,” Kyler mentioned from behind Lenny.
Daisy smiled, knowing the compliment would send Anna through the roof with joy.
Out of the corner of her eye, Jameson wandered, gaze roaming over her paintings like they were relics in a museum. When Daisy’s eyes found his, he stepped closer.
“You said you liked to paint,” he murmured, voice low, “but, Daisy… this is just… wow.”
Her cheeks flamed. His next whisper was softer, meant for her alone. “You’re incredible.”
More incredible than Rochelle Higgins?she wondered, but immediately shook the insecure thought from her head.
Before she could gather a reply, Sean’s arm slung around her shoulders.
“Sister dear, I need to ask you a favor.”
She looked up into the brown eyes of her brother. He was giving her a sweet look. A look that was typically followed by him asking for something she wasn’t going to like.
“What?”
“Can we use your studio?”
Daisy cocked her eyebrow. “Come again?”
“Look, we need a place to practice, and Dad said to ask you if we could use your studio a few times a week since it’s far away from the house.”
Rubbing her hands down her face, Daisy asked, “Practice what, exactly?”
“It’s for our band,” Sean replied.
“Yeah, our rock band,” Lenny chimed in. “You can obviously appreciate that—we heard you jammin’ in here to Guns N’ Roses.You’ve got sweet taste.”
Daisy knew they were trying to flatter her. But while she may have been a pushover in other areas, when it came to her art, no one could push hard enough.
Crossing her arms over her chest, she held her head high. “Yeah, that’s gonna be a hard no.”
“Come on, Daisy, don’t be like this.”
“Like what? This is my studio. All of my art is in here—art people actually pay for.”
“You can paint anywhere. We can’t play anywhere but here.”
“You can play in the garage. And since when are you into music? You can’t even carry a tune, Sean.”
The other guys chuckled, while Sean snickered.
