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I stroked my hands over his chest and shoulders, desperate to feel more of his body. When one of his hands slipped under the back of my T-shirt and stroked my bare skin, I rocked against him with bigger movements. My brain was shut off and all I cared about was how good I felt.
Even if it wasn’t real, I felt sexy as Jude moved his hand around to stroke my stomach and just under my breasts. He gave me all the time in the world to push his hand away, but I wanted to feel his hand on me. I made a sound of pure neediness as his palm settled over my breast and he cupped me through my bra. His growl of appreciation pushed me over the edge and I cried out as an orgasm, my first from someone else’s hands in years, flowed through me.
My core pulsed and my heart raced as I pressed my forehead into Jude’s cheek, unsure how I’d even gotten there. The happy sensation I had rolling through me was broken when Bogie barked and Sam’s voice washed over me.
“I think we’ve proven that we can pretend just fine. Any one of us could take you to the wedding, Poppy Jo.” He gripped me under my arms from behind and lifted me from Jude’s lap. “I have a thing I need to do. Jude, Cyrus?”
As my mind cleared and I understood what had happened, I felt like finding a hole and jumping into it. I’d just orgasmed in front of my best friends. And on a random Sunday afternoon too. That part really got to me for some reason.
Cyrus stood to his full height of six and a half feet tall and looked down at me. “I have a thing to do too.”
I nodded quickly and moved to stand as far away from them as I could. I didn’t trust myself anymore. “Cool, cool. Well, thanks for coming by.”
Jude stood up and I couldn’t help glancing down at the hardness still evident through his jeans, and the wet spot I’d definitely left behind. He looked down at it, looked up at me, and hurried to the other side of the couch. “Yep. Just let us know who you pick I guess.”
I wouldn’t be picking anyone, because I’d be at the bottom of a sinkhole. I didn’t say that, though. I just nodded along and waved them away. “Yep, yep. See you guys later.”
They left faster than they ever had, and I immediately ran to my bedroom to throw myself dramatically into bed. I covered my face with my pillow and screamed. What the hell had I been thinking?
5
***Poppy***
“What’supwithyou?”Sara looked up from her tuna salad and gave me a stern look. It was her teacher look and I couldn’t help squirming under the heat of it. “You’ve been weird. I’ve been back from my vacation for two days and you haven’t said a thing about my hair.”
I looked higher than her eyes and saw that she was sporting several brightly colored hair wraps. They looked like small braids, and once I’d seen them, I couldn’t unsee them. “Oh, wow.”
She nodded. “See? That’s what I mean. Even that response is unlike you. You would’ve normally made sure to tease me about this juvenile thing I got drunk and did. Spill the beans. What’s going on?”
I looked around the teachers’ lounge and pushed my sandwich away. “I told you that Andrew was at the reunion.”
“And he’s marrying your awful cousin. Yeah, yeah.” She waved her hand like she was brushing away a fly. “That’s not what this is, though. That would normally result in anger from you. You’d probably still have steam coming out of your ears like a cartoon. This is something different. You’re being awkward and introspective. The Poppy I know is never introspective.”
I scoffed. “Thanks! I’m introspective plenty.”
“Bull. Now tell me what happened or I’ll go to the guys and see if they know.”
“No!” I glared at her as I realized she’d pushed me into exposing my secret that I’d sworn to take to my grave. Just that one reaction was all she’d need to chip away at me until I spilled everything. I swore under my breath and stood up. “I’m not telling you here.”
Her eyes lit up. “Oh my god. A secret too juicy to whisper in the lounge? This has to be good.”
I threw away my food and led the way to my next classroom. When I’d returned to Breeze Point, I’d been nearly broken and without work. By happenstance, a position had opened up at the high school at that exact time. The only problem was that Breeze Point didn’t have enough funding to have a full-time woodshop or home ec teacher. The job was for both positions. While I had no business teaching home ec, I would’ve done anything to keep working in the medium I loved. Carpentry was what had drawn me to Andrew and it was the reason I’d stayed as long as I had. I loved building things out of wood more than anything else in the world. If I had to suffer through a few hours of home ec each day, I saw it as a worthy sacrifice.
I pushed Sara into the room ahead of me and closed the door behind us. She hopped onto a table at the front of the classroom and watched me as I silently found the nerve to admit what I’d done. When I did finally get the words out, I watched as her mouth dropped open further and further with each word. By the time I finished, she almost looked like something out of a horror film.
She didn’t explode right away like I thought she would. She just quietly closed her mouth and crossed her legs. “Wow.”
I tightened my ponytail, ignoring the shiver that worked its way down my body at the memory of Cyrus’s hand pulling it. “That’s all you’re going to say?”
“I’m in shock. When you started here and we became friends, I gave you hell about having three best guy friends, especially three who are so hot. You nearly strangled me when I suggested you might have a thing for one of them. And now you tell me that you dry humped one of them to orgasm?”
I looked around the room, paranoid that someone else would hear. “Keep your voice down. I don’t want that getting out!”
“Why? You’d be a legend! Do you know how many women lust after those three?” She fanned herself. “And I get it. They’re smoking.”
“Jesus, Sara. Can you focus?” I pulled my T-shirt up to wipe the nervous sweat that had formed over my upper lip. “It’s awkward now. I’m awkward. I can’t face them again, but I can’t not see them. What am I supposed to do? We have our weekly hang this Saturday night and I don’t think I can do it. If I don’t do it, though, they’ll think I’m freaking out and make a bigger deal out of it.”
“Youarefreaking out.”
