“Fucking hell, Poppy. Are you ready?” he asks, then looks at me. “You’re on her shit list, too?” He holds out his hand, and I shake it.
“Apparently.”
Poppy stares at him as if he’s her history teacher in high school, the most boring person she’s ever met.
“Ready?” he asks, not entertaining her piss poor attitude. I like his style.
“Maybe I’m not gonna go with you,” she says with an abundance of sass.
I feel as if I’m at a tennis match with my head moving back and forth.
“You are. Go get your sweater.”
Fuck, these two are entertaining. My head volleys back over to Poppy.
“I’m only going because I don’t want to miss out.”
“Noted.” Poppy disappears inside, and Nash leans against the porch railing, crosses his ankles, and stuffs his hands in his pockets as though he doesn’t have a care in the world. “She’s mad at me, not you. Actually, she’s just mad at men in general because she’s pissed at me. Don’t sweat it.”
Poppy comes out, sliding her sleeves into her sweater. “Romy will be down in a second.” She shuts the door.
“Jesus, Poppy, let the poor guy wait inside.” Nash pushes off the railing, waiting for her to head down the stairs.
“Superstar likes traditional roles where the man has to protect the woman because she’s defenseless. He should wait outside to make sure there’re no predators lurking about.”
Nash shoots me an apologetic look, and they head down the porch stairs.
I open my mouth to say something back, but the front door opens again, and I forget all about Poppy. I’m here for Romy.
Romy raises her finger, her phone plastered to her ear. Then she waves me inside and holds the door open all the way. She’s wearing panda pajama pants and a cropped T-shirt that shows just a sliver of her stomach. I don’t see any sign of a baby bump, but she mentioned the other day that her clothes were getting tight.
I step in, and she disappears through an archway, but I can still hear her talking. “I’m not going. Why? You know why. I’ll go over and walk Mack… do not come over here. Zander just got here, I gotta go.” She groans and comes back in the room, holding the phone. “Sorry, that was Lottie. She’s demanding I go to The Hidden Cave tonight.” She smiles. “Way to work on Beau. You get to go off the ranch.”
“You’re not going?” I’m sure she can hear the disappointment in my tone.
“No. Then I’d have to explain to people why I’m not drinking. It’s better if I just stay home.”
I chew on the inside of my lip. “Your entire family is going, and you’re going to stay here?”
“Yeah. If you and Beau want this little one to be a secret, I cannot show up there and not drink. And obviously I’m not going to drink.” Her hand runs along her stomach. Every time she does that, a flicker of the caveman inside me lights up.
“So, if you weren’t pregnant, you’d be going?”
She sits on the couch and tucks her legs under her. “Well, yeah.”
No way am I going tonight without her. Either I stay here with her, or she comes with me. I think we both need a night off of the ranch to just have fun. Beau is supplying the most trusted spot he can right now, so we’re doing this together.
“All right, get up,” I say, holding out my hand.
“Not you too?” She groans.
“Come on. You’re not missing out because you have to explain why you don’t have a drink. Let’s go.”
“You’re being bossy. Poppy would have opinions on that.” Her cheeky smile says she’s joking. Thank God she has a better opinion of me than Poppy does.
“I don’t give a shit. Now get your sweet ass upstairs and get dressed to go dancing.” I gesture with my hand out, using a little more force this time so she’ll get the point to grab it.
“Zander, they’re going to notice.”
