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Jude forced a laugh. “Yeah. Yes. It’s with Sasha.”
“Good for you.” Poppy turned to me, dismissing Jude, and smiled with fire coming out of her eyes. “Ready to go? I’ll stop by Drew’s and grab sandwiches if you want to go on over and let Bogie out.”
“Will I need to use the spare house key?”
She sent me a dark look. “You’ll just have to see.”
I watched as she sent a wave over her shoulder at us before climbing in her truck and speeding away. I looked over at Jude. “What the fuck was that?”
He shook his head. “I don’t fucking know.”
Sam and I stood there after Jude left as well and looked at each other. He looked at his phone again but just shoved it back into his pocket. “That was weird.”
“What isn’t weird these days?” I pulled my hair back into a bun and rubbed at my temples. “I fucked up. I shouldn’t have pushed her and she never would’ve kissed us.”
“We all fucked up. Let’s just hope things smooth over soon.”
I thought of the things I’d been thinking about Poppy and grunted. A few dozen more cold showers and maybe things would smooth over. I wasn’t convinced, though.
13
***Poppy***
Cyruswasbentoverthe front of my truck, his focus on the engine. He’d changed into jeans and another sleeveless shirt, one with his name embroidered on the chest, and kept coming up every few seconds for another bite of his sandwich. While he was bent forward, though, I was caught in a daze.
The dark denim was taut over his ass and muscular thighs in a way I’d never noticed before. I’d never noticed what a nice ass he had, ever. With him bent over I couldn’t help noticing, and I quickly realized that I was a thigh woman. Staring at his thighs and remembering how they’d felt under my ass while I straddled him was dangerous, but my brain was broken.
Each time he moved back to take a bite of his sandwich, I watched the way his back muscles moved under his sweaty shirt. He was just so strong, and I’d spent some of that basketball game with him rubbing all over me. I couldn’t help it that I couldn’t think of anything else. Kissing them had unlocked the loose side of me that felt like humping the back of his thigh might be a good idea.
“PoJo? You listening?” Cyrus tossed his sandwich wrapper at me and grinned when it bounced off my forehead. “Can you come back to reality and get up here so you can watch me?”
To hide that my cheeks were heating, I pretended I was rubbing my face to wake up. “My bad. I’ve been out of it lately.”
He made a sound of agreement and used his booted foot to drag my step stool closer to his side. “Come here so I can show you this.”
I climbed on my stool and leaned over so I could see what he wanted me to. I followed his pointing and spent the next few minutes learning about my truck and how to change the spark plugs. There was a reason Cyrus was the head mechanic at Jude’s business. He was a damn good teacher and smart as hell. Not that I’d ever admit that to him. He also loved what he did. As Jude’s first investor, he didn’t have to work another day in his life, but wanted to.
“Loosen that.” His focused direction was easier said than done.
I struggled with the wrench until finally he put his hand over mine and shifted his body around me so he could help me without taking over himself. My hand went slack as soon as his front was pressed to my back, but if he noticed, he didn’t say anything.
“There you go. You finish it.” He kept his arms braced on the truck around me and chuckled when I didn’t immediately respond. “Something on your mind today, Poppy?”
I leaned my head back to rest against his shoulder before I understood what I’d done and jerked it back upright. “Um, the favors! I’ve been thinking about the favors I promised you three and I wanted to know if you know what you want me for yet.”
Cyrus moved away and wiped his hands on a shop rag. “Shit. I don’t have any fancy parties I need a fake date for.”
“For some reason, I didn’t think you would.” I turned to face him and smiled. “I’m not so great a person that I’m going to keep asking. This favor has a time limit.”
“I’m really not a fan of this whole talking thing.” He grabbed his bottle of water and downed it in one go. “The one complaint I get is that I suck at dating.”
I laughed until I saw his scowl. “You’re serious? How can you suck at dating?”
“Fuck if I know. How about you ask any of the women I’ve tried it with?” He shook his head. “Something about it not being romantic or some shit.”
The snort that escaped my mouth was anything but cute. “If they want romance, they should watchThe Notebook.”
“You going to help, or not?” He crossed his thick arms over his chest and sent a hard stare my way.
