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There’s no stopping my laugh, though. It tears free and fills the bakery, loud and strong. It’s the first time I’ve laughed like this in months. The realization of that is a sucker punch to the gut. My laugh slowly trickles off.
Bryce halts her croissant tapping and instead places her hand over mine, squeezing. “No. Wherever your head went just now, the answer is no.”
“A cheating man is not worth that frown. No man is, cheating or not,” Poppy adds.
Bryce nods. “It’s one of the reasons I haven’t dated one since college.”
I blow out a pitiful breath. “I haven’t been well and truly single in a long time. Before Stewart, I dated pretty frequently. Maybe that’s part of my problem.”
“There’s nothing wrong with dating a lot despite what society thinks of it as long as you’re happy. And I don’t just mean happy with dating. I mean with everything. Dating, your life, you in general. You have to love yourself first, obviously, but I don’tthink the only way to get there is to be alone. Not completely anyway,” Poppy says, expression soft.
I’m suddenly struck with the realization that these girls are going to be incredibly hard to let go of if they decide later on that they don’t want to be my friends. One pole class and snack date together and I’m ready to make us friendship bracelets.
“That was so incredibly wise of you, Pops,” Bryce sighs, her eyes a dimmer shade of blue than usual.
The pole instructor fits with her a sharp look. “Are you being sarcastic?”
“Surprisingly, no. That was solid advice.”
“Solid enough for you to take it too?” Poppy counters.
I try not to pay too much attention to that comment and pick at the gingerbread cookie on the brown napkin in front of me instead. It’s really damn good, but all this talk of Stewart and loving yourself has my stomach shrivelled up.
Poppy sets her hand over Bryce’s and, in turn, mine before asking, “What do you say we do something fun this weekend? The three of us.”
“Yes. Absolutely yes,” I agree.
Bryce flashes two rows of sparkling white teeth and nods her agreement. Pulling her hand back from where it lay sandwiched between Poppy’s and mine, she adds, “In town or out?”
“Doesn’t matter to me. I haven’t been outside of Cherry Peak since I moved here,” I tell them.
“Have you been to Peakside yet?” Poppy asks, eyes on me.
Bryce groans and pushes the rest of her croissant away, as if she’s no longer hungry. “We’re not taking her to Peakside.”
“You just don’t want to see Vic. Even you can admit that it’s the best place to peruse for a possible rebound. All the firefighters go there on Saturday night.”
My interest piques at the new name. “Who’s Vic?”
Bryce opens her mouth to answer me, but Poppy beats her to it. “Bryce’s ex-girlfriend. The owner of Peakside’s daughter. We’ve been avoiding the place formonthsnow since they broke up. I’m having withdrawals.”
“You’re just horny,” Bryce grunts.
“And? You’re horny too, but you refuse to move on. This is only a prime example of that.”
I try and keep up with their back and forth, storing away the information they reveal. For this Vic to be worthy of a woman as beautiful and kind as Bryce, she’s bound to be someone that’s hard to forget.
“How long ago did you break up?” I ask.
My question drags both sets of eyes in my direction. It’s Bryce that answers, her skin paling a bit. “A long fucking time ago.”
“Four months and three days, to be exact,” Poppy adds.
Bryce grimaces. “Should I be scared that you know that?”
Poppy waves her off. The corner of my mouth lifts the slightest bit. “It might not be my place to say anything, considering I literally moved provinces to get away from my ex, but I think that going out will help. Both of us. There’s no time like the present, right? It’s not fair to us not to live our lives because of someone else.”
Bryce studies me for a moment, features smooth and calculating. Her thick onyx hair is tucked behind her ears, and I find myself counting the number of studs along her right one before moving to the left—ten in total. I don’t even have my earlobes pierced. Maybe I’ll make an appointment at a jeweller to get that done soon. I’ve always wanted to wear cute earrings.
