AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She closed her eyes and gently blew, sending the eyelash fluttering away. When she opened them again, her honey-brown eyes were misty. She blinked quickly and leaned away. “Um. Help. I could help by…I could go with you.”
My stomach sank. Easing myself off the couch, I walked toward the door. “You could go with me?”
“Like a double date?” She stood up and stepped toward me. “I mean…it could help to have someone else there to break the tension…”
I narrowed my eyes at her and shook my head. Frustration threatened to strangle me as I listened to her ask to help me date someone else. It was the last thing I fucking wanted. Since I couldn’t have what I actually wanted, I blew out a breath and shrugged. “Fine.”
“Sam?” Poppy moved even closer but stopped when I held up my hands. “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head again and forced a smile. “Nothing. Nothing’s wrong, Poppy. Why don’t you plan the date? To make it interesting, how about I bring a date for you?”
She wrapped her arms around herself and frowned. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
I pulled open the door and stepped out onto the porch. “Yep. Just let me know when and where for the date. Feel better, Poppy.”
I shut the door before she could say anything else and moved back across the street to my own house. I felt like I was moving in slow motion as I shut my own door behind me and sank into my couch. I scrubbed my hands down my face and groaned. “Fuck!”
That fucking kiss had messed everything up. I was having a harder and harder time pretending like I felt nothing for Poppy. I was going to ruin everything if I wasn’t careful. Being that short with Poppy was already so far removed from how I normally acted that I knew she was probably overthinking everything she’d said to me in an attempt to figure out what she’d said to offend me.
Feeling like shit, I pulled my phone from my pocket and scrolled through my contacts. Not only did I have to go out on a date with some random woman, I had to go on a date with some random woman while watching the woman I’d loved for most of my life date someone else. If I had to do it, I was going to make sure I didn’t watch Poppy fall for whatever fucker I brought along with me. If it made me an asshole to guarantee she had a bad date, then so be it.
24
***Poppy***
IsatacrossfromCharlie at my parents’ dinner table, glaring at him over the carcass of a chicken. “I wasn’t drunk, Charlie.”
He snorted. “That’s not what I heard. I heard you were hammered. Someone said you were crying about some guy and his muscles.”
Mom finished her wine and sighed. “Oh, Poppy. Is this about Andrew? If this wedding is making you drink yourself stupid, maybe you shouldn’t go.”
I grabbed a roll from my plate and threw it at Charlie’s head. Of course, he caught it and took a bite out of it while laughing. “I wasn’t crying about any man! God, guys. I was just having a good time with the guys.”
“I wish you’d start hanging out with men you might actually marry and reproduce with.” Mom sighed even more dramatically. “I love the guys but I want you married.”
“Oh, great.” I heard Paulie snort and glared at him. No one was safe. “What are you laughing at? You’re older than me. Why areyoustill single?”
Mom reached over and pinched his cheek. “Leave Paulie alone. He’s still immature. He still needs his momma.”
Paulie groaned. “Mom! Come on!”
“Don’t raise your voice at me, Paulie. You know it’s true. I had to do your laundry yesterday. You’re helpless. What woman would want you like this?”
Dad rubbed his temples and finished his glass of milk. “Can we call this dinner finished?”
Mom waved him off. “We’re talking about your daughter being drunk in public, crying over her ex. This is important.”
I swore. “I wasn’t crying over my ex! I wasn’t crying at all!”
“Watch your mouth, young lady.” Mom leaned closer to me and started preening my hair. “I wish you’d wear your hair down. You could look so pretty. Wear a dress once in a while. It wouldn’t kill you.”
Charlie grunted, the joke losing its humor for him. “Ma, leave her alone. If she doesn’t like dresses, she doesn’t like dresses.”
Paulie nodded along. “And no one ever tells us to watch our mouths. Let her be.”
Mom stood up and pointed at the three kids of hers who’d made it to family dinner. “You’re all ungrateful brats.”
I laughed and rested my elbows on the table. “We love you, Mom. Isn’t that enough?”
