“I’m just worried about you, Poppy. You look stressed out.”
Her glare intensifies. “If I look stressed out, it’s only because I have to share a car with you, Wesley Dover. The last few years have been relatively peaceful without you invading my space.”
“You’re the one who decided to jump in my car, Poppy. You made this choice.”
She pauses for a second, mouth scrunched up in frustration, then turns towards Rich. “Always a pleasure seeing you, Rich.” Her attention then morphs back to hostile; that familiar frown creasing the corners of her lips. “I’d say it was a pleasure seeing you, Wesley, but it really wasn’t.”
And there it is…
The hate.
The sharp little one-liners she wields like knives. The kind I used to pretend didn’t get under my skin, even though they sometimes did.
She still thinks of me as her enemy, but the truth is, I’m just the guy who knocks down all her walls, whether she likes it or not.
I force a grin, even though it aches. “There it is!”
Poppy’s nose scrunches just a tad.
“There what is?”
“The Poppy I know all too well. I was afraid you went soft on me after all these years apart.”
She snorts. “Nope, I can still fire insults faster than your little brain can keep up with.”
“That may be true, but here I am, still waiting for your go-to insult. Come on, Poppy. Hit me with it.”
“I’d roast you, but the justice system already beat me to it,” she shoots without warning.
Rich laughs. “Ouch! She got you with that one, Wes. Is it sad that I kinda missed this?”
Poppy opens her door in an angry huff. “Well, don’t get used to it. He’s not worth the energy.”
How wrong she is!
“Careful, Kiplinger. You’ve been wasting energy on me since senior year.”
She rolls her eyes when I wink at her.
“Well, I’m gonna go now before I have to hide a body.” Her gaze darts to me, causing me to laugh.
“Are you really going to murder one of the men that saved your ass tonight?”
She crosses her arms. “You didn’t do anything tonight, Wesley. At most, you were a paperweight.”
Ouch. That one stings a little.
“Didn’t say I did,” I retort, trying to seem unfazed. “Tonight was all Eddie. My man went full knight-in-shining-anger on that stupid guy you were with.”
“I wasn’t there with him, I was there with the other guy, but that’s beside the point. My point is, you didn’t personally do anything. So, don’t act like you’re some kind of hero.”
“I’m not,” I reply casually. “I’m more of a morally questionable background character.”
She scoffs. “That’s the most accurate thing you’ve ever said.”
“Aww, I knew you still loathed me, Poppy.”
With another final eye roll, she exits the car.
