"Dolly, wait, wait, wait –" Breaking our kiss, Daryl took a step back, keeping his hands on my shoulders, as he stared down at me with an expression mixed with lust and confusion. "Did you just say what I think you just said?"

Knowing that he wasn’t going to let it go until I came clean, I shrugged uncomfortably. "Well… yeah."

The confusion in his eyes quickly morphed into anger. "Why would you say that, Molly?"

"Because that's how I feel sometimes," I offered honestly, moving to sit on the edge of Mercy's bed. "How I feel pretty much twenty-four-seven."

His frown deepened. "Since when?"

I shivered. "Since always, D."

"Where's this coming from?"

"Nowhere." I shrugged. "I mean, it's always been here. You're beautiful, Daryl, and sexy, and popular, and talented… It's a little intimidating to be the girl on your arm sometimes – especially when you have a body like I do, and know that there's dozens of beautiful girls just waiting in the wings to swoop in and take you off my hands."

"You're beautiful."

"I believe you think that."

"The fuck?" he growled. "You believe I think that? It's the truth."

"Yeah? Well, there's at least five hundred girls at school who think otherwise – and say so daily."

"Jesus Christ." Shaking his head, Daryl came and sat down beside me. "I don’t want you to feel like this." He turned to look at me. "I don’t want being with me to make you feel bad about yourself, Molly."

"You make me feel amazing."

"Apparently not."

"This is my issue, D," I told him, placing my hand on his knee. "My insecurity. It has nothing to do with the way you treat me or how you make me feel."

"Can we be real with each other for a sec?"

"Always."

He turned to look at me. "Your scars are there, okay. I get that. I see them, but only when you point it out. I ain't looking for flaws when I look at you. I'm too damn caught up in all of your perfections."

I sucked in a sharp breath. "D…"

"Your scars don't bother me, Molly, and I know for a fact that they wouldn’t bother Rourke, Reebs, Mase, Bear, or any other guy I know either."

"That's just not true…"

"I ain't lying, Dolly," he pushed. "Clearly, us guys aren't nearly as superficial as you girls think we are, because when us guys are with a girl, I can assure you that we're too damn busy thanking Jesus for the naked perfection beneath us, and counting our blessings, then to think about anything else."

"You're not serious."

"Oh, I'm deadly serious."

"You guys really think like that when you're getting laid?"

"Hell yeah, we do," he replied, grinning back at me. "You're beautiful, baby," he added, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ear. "You wouldn’t believe how many times I say 'thank you, Jesus' in my head when I've got you naked beneath me."