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Chapter One
Poppy
Def Leppard’s ‘Pour Some Sugar On Me’ greets me as I step inside Mason’s Bar. I glance around the dimly lit interior to see if Shelby is here yet. Spotting her sitting at a table across the bar, I head over to her. She stands up with an excited squeal as I approach, pulling me in for a bone-crushing hug. Although we’ve spoken regularly on the phone, we haven’t seen each other for almost three months.
Shelby and I have been best friends since the first day of kindergarten when she asked if she could sit next to me. Nobody knew anyone that first day, but Shelby chose me from a sea of kids. She didn’t care that I was reserved or that my clothes were on the threadbare side, and from that day on, we were best friends.
“I missed you!” I say, hugging her back fiercely.
Shelby went to New York three months ago to spend some time with her grandfather, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given only months to live.
“I missed you, too. It’s good to be back,” she says, beaming at me as she pulls away. “I got us both a beer,” she says, indicating the bottles sitting on the table.
“I’m so sorry about your Grandpa. I know you two were close,” I say as we both take a seat. “How’re you holding up?”
Shelby shrugs. “I’m doing okay. The last few weeks were the worst, but I’m glad he’s not suffering anymore.”
“At least you got to see him, spend some time with him before he passed,” I say with an understanding smile. “Are your parents still in New York?”
She nods her head. “Yeah. They’re staying a little longer to tie up a few loose ends.”
I pause to take a swig of beer and then look at my friend expectantly. “So? Don’t keep me hanging. Let me see!”
Shelby grins and lifts her left hand, waggling it so that the ring on her finger sparkles as it catches the light.
“Oh, it’s beautiful!” I gush, grabbing her hand to get a better look. “My best friend goes to New York for three months and comes back engaged!”
“Believe me. No one is more surprised than me. I never expected to meet the man of my dreams there,” she says, shaking her head as if she still can’t believe it.
An unwelcome thought suddenly occurs to me. “Please tell me you’re not going to live in New York.”
“I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right here in Houston,” Shelby reassures me, brushing her long, blond hair over her shoulder. “Anthony is moving here right before the wedding.”
When Shelby called me from New York to say she’d met someone, I wasn’t surprised to hear he was a lawyer. With a surgeon for a father and a doctor for a mother, it makes sense that she’d fall for the kind of high-flying career guy her parents would approve of. It’s a wonder she and I are friends at all, considering our upbringings couldn’t be more different. I never knew my real dad, and I watched my mom destroy her life with drugs and bad choices in men.
“You’re going to love him,” Shelby says dreamily, her blue eyes soft.
“Of course, I will,” I grin. “I can’t believe my bestie is in love and getting married.”
Shelby’s never had a long-term boyfriend, and I can’t wait to meet the guy who’s stolen my best friend’s heart. Anthony sounds like the real deal, and I’m truly happy for her.
Shelby pauses to take a swig of her beer. “Anyway, how are you doing, honey? How’s work? How’re things with Jeremy?”
“Meh. You know,” I reply with a careless shrug.
What else can I say? My job is mind-numbingly boring, and I spend most of my time fighting with my boyfriend. But I’m not about to offload my shit on Shelby when she’s only just come back.
“Poppy Parsons, we’ve been friends since kindergarten. I know when something’s wrong. Are you guys fighting again?” Shelby asks in her bossy voice.
I shrug again, fighting back the tears. “It’s all we seem to do these days. I’ve asked him outright if there’s someone else, but he swears there isn’t.”
“Why would he be messing around with someone else?” she asks with a frown.
“Because he’s a man and, well, I’m not exactly putting out, am I?” I point out.
“I know you’re not ready to have sex with him yet, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do other things,” she says with a cheeky grin. “Besides, he understands why you want to wait, doesn’t he?”
I nod, taking another sip of beer. “Mom had more men than hot dinners. I think she confused sex with love. It left me with a pretty trashy impression. It probably sounds silly, but I want my first time to be special, you know? I want it to mean something.”
