Shit.
The naked woman with Lyric’s face tattooed on her stomach stepped out of her puddled dress and took off at a sprint down the carpet, headed straight forLyric.
There was no time to think. Like a middle linebacker rushing a running back who made it past the defensive line, Poppy charged, hurling herself at the streaker. She tucked her head and dove, catching the woman around the waist and dragging her to thecarpet, where they landed in a pile of limbs, Poppy’s face smushed against the lifelike tattoo of Lyric on the woman’s stomach.
Of coursenow, everyone was paying attention, cameras flashing wildly as the woman under Poppy shrieked and thrashed.
“Lyric!” the woman wailed. “Noooo! I have to see Lyric! Lyric!”
Poppy held her down as best she could—Jesus, this girl was strong. Or on something? PCP? Were bath salts still a thing? Poppy grabbed wherever she could and—wow, that was definitelynotan arm. Spontaneous naked wrestling wasnoton the curriculum back when she was getting her bachelor’s in Public Relations at UO. Not unless they countedexpect the unexpectedbecause there was no way anyone could’ve expected this, least of all Poppy.
Her own strength was beginning to flag when arms wrapped around her middle from behind and picked her up, lifting her off the woman. She let herself be dragged backward toward the security tent as no fewer than five guards descended on the streaker.
“I love you, Lyric,” the streaker sobbed through snotty tears, still naked as the day she was born, while security hauled her away in a different direction. “Just give me a chance and I swear I can make you so happy.”
“Holy shit, Poppy.” Cash—oh thank God, it was Cash who’d pulled her off the streaker—hugged her. “What the fuck was that?”
She pushed away from his chest, still trying to catch her breath. “I don’t—I don’t know I just—”
Rosaline stormed through the tent flaps, fury in her eyes.
“Are you insane?” Rosaline hissed, closing the distance between them. “What were you thinking?”
“I—”
“You’re not a fucking security guard, Poppy,” Rosaline snapped.
Poppy cringed. “I know. I’m sorry.”
“Screw security guard.” Cash laughed. “She was more like a linebacker out there. Should I start calling you Ray Lewis?”
“This isn’t funny, Curran,” Rosaline snapped.
He crossed his arms, smile slipping into a scowl to rival hers. “You think I don’t know that? Some stalker fanatic creep just tried to rush my girlfriend and I watched my best friend tackle her. Security hauled my girlfriend to a tent on the opposite side of the carpet and who the fuck knows when I’ll be able to go see her because it looks like they put the whole theater on lockdown.” He jerked his chin at the front of the tent where several event security guards stood blocking the entrance. “If I can’t find some tiny shred of humor in this entirely fucked-up situation, I’m gonna go ballistic.”
Rosaline pursed her lips. “Itwasa nice tackle.”
“Good form, right?”
“I think Poppy lied when she told me she was bad at powder puff.”
Cash shook his head. “No, no, she really was terrible.”
“Oh my god,” Poppy said, voice faint. “I think I have a concussion.”
She’d never seen Cash snap into action so fast off the field, grabbing her face in his hands and staring intently into her eyes. “What day is it?”
She slapped his hands away. “I’m kidding. I just feel like I’m experiencing some sort of, I don’t know, collective delusion. You two, talking about my latent football talent? Really?”
He frowned. “That’s not a day, Pop-Tart.”
Rosaline sighed. “Seriously, Poppy? What in god’s name possessed you to do that?”
She’d honestly love to know the same. “I don’t know. I was standing there, and suddenly, this woman starts stripping. Partof me thought I was seeing things. Then I spot this ginormous tattoo of Lyric on her stomach and there was no one close by to help and there’s no protocol for this kind of thing, okay? Then she takes off at a dead run and I just—” She shook her head. “I didn’t think, okay? I just—”
“Performed the greatest tackle to ever take place on a red carpet?” Cash chimed in.
“I didn’t know how dangerous she might end up being. What kind of threat she posed.” In the chaos of it all, that hadn’t crossed her mind. Which probably said something about her sense of self-preservation, but that was something to unpack some other time. “All I knew was she was heading straight for Lyric.”
