“Chocolate chips.” I touch the tip of my nose to hers. “I know. I know everything about you, Poppy.” My breathing picks up again. “I know that blue is your favorite color. I know you secretly love Mondays because you get a fresh start and a chance at a brand new week. I know you love the way the world smells after it rains even if you did compare it to my old sweat socks once.” Her lips part as she sighs into me. “I know you love the sound of my mother’s doorbell, or at least you used to because you’d sit on it whenever you’d show up.”
“It chimes for almost two minutes!” She bubbles with a laugh. “And it sounds like church bells. Who doesn’t love church bells?”
“You love basement parties. Getting donuts at three a.m.” I press a soft kiss to each of her eyelids. “You love fishing, but you’d never tell your girlfriends in fear they’d call you a tomboy. And, of course, you love me.”
A choking sound comes from her throat.
“That’s okay, Pops.” My chest thumps wild. “I love you, too.” I land my mouth over hers, and my body makes its way inside her.
Poppy and I heat those sheets long into the night. We set the room on fire on our own terms. Her body is made for loving, and as much as I want to keep doing just that, I know that our time is about to come to an end.
I know just how it feels to miss someone so much it’s like a knife to the heart.
I missed Poppy every damn day she was gone.
The pancake breakfast is a bust. Poppy and I eat on the fly because I’m late to a meeting that I forgot all about. That’s what Poppy does to me. She makes me forget all about the world and all of its irrational demands as I turn my universe, my laser focus right onto her.
By the time the meeting wraps up, I’m winded, tapped from a night of no sleep, but still plenty buzzed from taking one too many hits off the girl of my dreams. Without meaning to, that goofy grin she inspires keeps bouncing to my cheeks. I’m more known for my scowls than I am my smiles, so I do my best to turn down the volume on my newfound exuberance.
“Stade.” Conner catches me as I’m passing his office. “You have a minute?”
“For you? I’ve got half,” I tease as I step into his lair. He’s got the entire room painted a depressing dark gray, with way too much furniture and not enough light. Every time I step in here, I can’t shake the feeling I’m about to get shanked. “What’s up, my man?” I fall into the seat across from him, and he pushes a bottle of water my way.
“You look like shit. Rough night?”
“You guessed it.” And that’s about as far as I’m willing to journey with him down that thorny road laden with his sister. Conner and I have engaged in our fair share of locker room talk, but Poppy is off limits. I don’t need a road map to tell me that it’s a deal-breaker as far as our friendship goes.
“So, who was she?” He leans back in his seat, his fingers meeting at the tips as he stares intently at me. That emphatic glare clues me in on the fact he knows exactly who she is.
Shit. Conner knows better than this, doesn’t he? I get it. He’s pissed. But Poppy is a woman and I’m a man—not that I’m about to make those facts known to him.
“Come on, I don’t care. I know what’s going on between you and my sister.” He loosens. “You had me going there for a second.” He blows out a breath. “Mack filled me in on it yesterday at lunch. I was about to dig you a fresh grave, and she sort of helped bring me back to Earth. Why didn’t you tell me this was all some show to piss off our mothers? Dude, it’s fucking brilliant.” He picks up a pencil and lobs it at me, nearly missing my ear.
“Yes. Brilliant.” A thousand thoughts sail through me. In reality, I had long forgotten this was just a ruse. The only here and now I’m wrapped up in is the fact the clock is winding down on Poppy’s visit. I forgot the fact there aren’t any strings attached to this little setup. “Our mothers will be fuming.”
He barks like a seal with a laugh. “You have no clue. All we heard growing up was the fact the two of you should be together. They never gave you any other option, but I’m glad neither of you bought into that crap. That would be like me marrying Poppy. It’s freaking nuts.” He shudders. “Besides, she deserves to be happy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I’m tired and a touch hungry, which probably explains why his words pissed me off.
“It means she needs someone who’s there for her. You know, someone very unlike you. She needs someone who’s going to treat her like a queen, cater to her. She’s high-maintenance emotionally. My parents really did a disservice to whomever it is she ends up with. She demands to be worshiped.”
Worshiped. That’s exactly what I did last night. I got on my knees and paid homage to the only girl I ever wanted to love in that way. Poppy isn’t just some random bedmate. She’s my girl. She always has been, and if I’m as smart as I think I am, she always will be.
“She’ll be out of your hair soon enough, though.” He pulls out his phone and starts rifling through it. “I’ll miss her. Always do. I guess she doesn’t really have a reason to hang out around here, though. L.A. has the magic that Oak Grove seems to be missing for her.”
“Sounds like it.” Poppy and I had magic last night. Hell, we have it each time we’re together. What doesn’t she see about that? I force myself to get up before this conversation takes any left turns. “Keep that stuff about the two of us close to the vest, would you? I’d hate to ruin the big reveal.” I grunt at the thought of pulling the rug out from underneath our mothers. I’m not sure how I ever thought this would be a good idea. Yes, their pranks would hit hard at times, but they were just that, silly gags. This is something more we’re doing in return. We’re essentially about to rip their hearts out. And most likely mine, too.
“I’m not saying a word, dude. You two are on your own with that one. And, hey, Stade?” he calls out just as I hit the door, and I turn to find that jovial look on his face all but gone. “Keep your greasy mitts off my sister, or I’m going to have to kill you.” He nods at the bitter reality.
A brief visual of Poppy sitting on my face bounces through my mind.
“Will do, buddy.” I head out to my office and bury myself in paperwork.
How the hell did I grow to be such a liar?
As it turns out, things with Poppy aren’t feeling like such a lie anymore.
