Chapter 5
Poppy
Hey. Are you on campus? We need to talk.
My stomach drops when I see the text from my ex, Brody. I’m in the middle of walking across campus from my last class to study group for my International Relations class.
I shove the phone back in my pocket and ignore his text. I don’t want to talk to that jerk, especially after the way he broke up with me this summer.
Brody and I had planned to spend the whole summer together.
But then, one night when I was staying over at his apartment, I woke up alone in bed in the middle of the night. When I got up to go use the bathroom, I saw him in the living room sending a dick pic to some other girl.
I remember how I couldn’t breathe; I was so shocked. And heartbroken. And then it all came out.
How he had been exchanging sexy texts with multiple women. How he never saw a future with me. How he only started dating me because I was smart and a good study partner, and helped him do well in his classes.
After I lashed out at him, I broke up with him right then and there.
I haven’t spoken to him since, not even when I saw him at the law office where we both interviewed for that ultra-competitive internship.
He’s tried to text me a few times over the past few months, but I ignore him every time. I don’t want anything to do with that scumbag.
An ugly feeling settles in the pit of my stomach when I think about how naive I was with Brody. We dated for all of sophomore year, and I thought he was the sweetest guy. I even lost my virginity to him…
That ugly feeling burrows deeper. If I had known what a cheating bastard he was, I would have never slept with him.
I spot the student union ahead and walk inside, heading straight for the coffee shop. When my stomach is this upset, the only thing that settles it is a coffee with lots of frothy milk.
I get in line to order.
“Hey, you.”
When I look up, Nick is standing in front of me, grinning.
I sigh. “Hi. What are you up to?”
“Just getting ready to order a ribeye steak.”
I frown. “But this is the line for coffee…”
His smile widens. “I’m joking, Poppy.”
“Oh. Right.” I let out an embarrassed laugh. Thinking about Brody really threw me off.
I clear my throat and cross my arms over my chest. “How are things going with the essay? Have you been following the outline I helped you make the other day?”
“Yeah, it’s been awesome. You were really helpful. Thanks again.”
I flash a genuine smile, heartened at his praise and glad that he’s having a better time completing this assignment.
We move up to the register, and Nick gestures for me to order.
“It’s okay, I can pay for my own coffee.”
“I know you can. I want to pay for yours.”
I quirk an eyebrow at him. “Is buying me coffee your way of trying to bribe me into tutoring you again?”
He lets out an easy chuckle. “Nope. I just wanna be a gentleman and treat you to a coffee.”
I bite back a smile and tell myself not to get too giddy. He’s just being his normal suave self.
I tell the barista my order. Nick orders a cold brew, then hands over his credit card.
We step over to the other end of the counter and wait for our drinks.
“Thank you for the coffee,” I say.
“My pleasure.”
While we wait, I notice a handful of female students gaze longingly at Nick. Can’t say that I blame them. As cocky and smug as he is, he’s also undeniably handsome, especially the way he looks right now.
He’s wearing a hoodie and joggers that do little to disguise how ripped his shoulders, back, biceps, and quads are. And he’s wearing a Hollis U hockey team baseball cap backwards, his dark hair sticking out the sides. He looks like every college girl’s fantasy come true.
He reaches up an arm and stretches, offering a peek of his ab muscles and the trail of dark hair disappearing underneath his waistband. I swallow hard. I feel so mismatched standing next to him. At five-foot-five, I barely reach his shoulder. He clears six feet by a handful of inches.
He yawns, seemingly oblivious to all the stares he’s getting.
My phone buzzes. When I see another text from Brody, I exhale sharply. I read it.
I’m serious, Poppy. I need to talk to you. There are some things I need to say to you clear the air between us.
A spark of hope ignites inside of me. I don’t want to get back together with Brody.
What I do want is the apology I deserve from him.
I want him to say sorry for shattering my heart.
For going behind my back and sending endless sexy texts and photos to other women.
For taking my virginity. For lying to me. For using me.
Maybe his conscience finally caught up to him.
“Everything okay?” Nick asks.
“Yeah, it’s fine. It’s just…my ex keeps texting me.”
When I look up at Nick, his smile is long gone. His brow is furrowed in concern.
“Why?” he asks.
“I don’t know. I made it clear to him that I don’t want to talk to him ever again after we broke up.”
“Is he harassing you?”
I shake my head. “It’s nothing that serious. He probably just wants to talk it out one last time so he doesn’t feel like the bad guy.”
Nick’s gaze hardens. “What did he do to you?”
I stare up at him, surprised by the growl in his voice. Before I can say anything, the barista calls out our orders. We walk over and grab our coffee cups.
I glance past Nick’s shoulder, and my eyes go wide. Brody is walking into the student union.
A second later, he sees me.
“Shit,” I mutter.
“What’s wrong?” Nick asks.
“My ex Brody just walked in and saw me. He’s walking over right now.”
Nick’s square jaw bulges as he bites down. He turns around, moving in front of me. The move is almost…protective. Like he’s using his body as a buffer against Brody.
I swallow hard, thrown off by how much I like it.
“Want me to get rid of him?” Nick asks as he eyes Brody.
“No, it’s okay.”
“Want me to kick his ass?”
I roll my eyes. “Seriously?”
“I’ll do it.”
“I’m not cool with fighting, Nick.”
He turns back to me, his gaze softening. “Okay, no fighting, but Poppy, if this guy makes you uncomfortable, you don’t need to be around him. I’ll make sure he leaves you alone.”
A warm feeling puddles in my chest at how protective he is of me.
I shake my head. “It’s fine. I’ll see what he wants, and then I’ll be rid of him once and for all.”
Nick’s jaw tenses as he nods. I can tell he’s not happy about the decision I’ve made, but he doesn’t push.
“I’ll be sitting over there if you need me, okay?” He nods to a stool against the wall, by the big window overlooking the campus quad.
I offer a small smile. “Okay. Thanks.”
Nick walks off. A second later, Brody comes up to me.
“There you are. Finally.”
I stare up at Brody, annoyed at how exasperated he sounds.
He glances over at Nick, who’s sitting on the stool, staring intently at Brody and me.
Brody frowns. “Is that Nick St. George? The hockey player?”
“Yeah. We were talking a second ago.”
Brody’s frown morphs into a glare as he stares at Nick. I think back to the one time that he and Nick met. It was during a joint birthday party for Anna and Nick sophomore year. Brody didn’t like how cocky and outgoing Nick was. He thought he was immature and loud, too.
“I thought you didn’t like him,” Brody says.
“I like him more than you right now.”
Brody exhales sharply and frowns at me. “There’s no need for snarky comments like that, Poppy.”
“There’s also no need for you to bombard me with texts after I broke up with you for sexting another woman behind my back, but here we are.”
He leans back, clearly shocked by the bite in my words.
He runs a hand through his short blond hair. “I just wanted to talk to you. I’d like my laptop bag back. I think I left it at your apartment last semester.”
I stare at him. “That’s what you wanted to talk to me about?”
“No. There’s something else.”
He hesitates, and for a split second, I’m hopeful. He’s going to apologize for the way he treated me, I’ll get the closure I’ve wanted, and then I can stop feeling like a failure and move on.
“You know that internship at Hulston, Powers, and Dwyer?”
I frown, confused. “Yeah?”
“I got it.”
That sucker punch feeling lands in my gut once more. “What?”
“I got the internship,” he says. He’s not smiling, but I can spot the glee in his blue eyes. He can barely contain his excitement.
“I just wanted to tell you thanks.”
I gawk at him. “For what?”
“For all those times you studied with me when we dated. All those times you helped me with my homework and projects. I think all that work you put into me helped me get that internship.”
“What?” I sound like a broken record. But I can’t help it. I can’t find any other words to describe how stunned I feel. And stupid. Very, very stupid.
All those times I stayed up late to help him study for exams. All those times I helped him write essays and research papers. I was giving him a leg-up over me.
I gave my cheating ex-boyfriend an advantage over me, which helped him get the internship I wanted more than anything.
A sick feeling bubbles up in my chest.
He lets out a surprised chuckle, shaking his head. “I honestly can’t believe it. I thought for sure you’d get it.”
I grit my teeth, the urge to tell him to fuck off hitting hard. I hold back and take a long sip of my coffee.
“You must have been slacking, huh?” He chuckles. When I don’t say anything, his smile fades, and he clears his throat. “I was joking.”
A weird sensation courses through me. It’s determination and something else. A second later, it hits me.
I want to be petty. Really, really petty.
I glance over at Nick, who’s looking down at his phone as he sips his coffee. The most delicious lie sparks on the tip of my tongue.
I smile at Brody and laugh. “You’re right. I was slacking a bit, and that’s probably why I didn’t get the internship. Too busy hooking up with Nick. Everything else kind of fell by the wayside ever since we got together.”
Brody’s jaw plummets to the floor. His eyes look like they’re about to pop out of his head.
It takes all my strength not to laugh out of sheer smugness.
“Y-You and Nick St. George are dating?”
I nod, grinning even wider. “That’s the G-rated way of describing what we’re doing.”
Brody’s mouth turns down in disgust. Then he coughs. He hunches over, coughing even harder. After a second, he straightens up. His face is red, and his eyes are watery. He looks over at Nick, who’s still on his phone, oblivious to what we’re talking about.
Brody turns away, rests his hands on his hips, and looks up at the ceiling. He looks like he’s trying not to puke.
I bite the inside of my cheek and try not laugh. Oh, he’s jealous. SO very jealous.
This is so, so good.
“Never figured you’d go out with a guy like him. I thought you were smarter than that,” Brody mutters.
I just chuckle. “Even smart girls like guys with ripped muscles and big dicks.”
Brody starts choke-coughing again. This time, it’s so loud that half the student union turns to look at him.
“I have to go,” he chokes out.
“I’ll bring your laptop bag to class next week,” I say as he walks off.
I watch him scurry out the doors and stumble through the quad. The most satisfied, smug feeling bubbles up inside of me. Yeah, that was petty as hell, but it felt so good to humiliate my ex to his face after what he did to me.
I glance away, my gaze catching on Nick. The logical part of my brain catches up.
I just made up the most outrageous lie. I can’t back down now. Not when I have a class with Brody the rest of this semester. If he finds out I lied about dating Nick to make him jealous, that will be even more humiliating than losing out on the internship to him.
As I rack my brain for a solution to a problem I created myself, Nick looks up and catches eyes with me. He flashes that pretty boy grin. And that’s when the craziest, most outrageous idea pops into my brain.
I just hope I can convince him.