Chapter 48 Poppy
Poppy
Nick gives my hand a gentle squeeze as we walk up the driveway to his parents’ house.
“You doing okay?” he asks, his voice soft.
“Yeah.”
His gaze is watchful as he scans my face. “You sure?”
I stop walking and turn so I’m facing him. I smile up at him, heartened at how concerned he is about me.
I give him a soft kiss. “I’m sure,” I say against his mouth.
He grabs my waist, pulling me closer to him.
It’s been a month since I fell out with my dad, and Nick has been my rock ever since. When I told him about our argument that night, he held me in his arms as I cried. He told me that I was doing the right thing by advocating for myself and supported me one hundred percent.
And when I told him about my YouTube channel endorsements and the huge boost I was getting, he took me out for ice cream at Sweet Cheeks to celebrate. He told his teammates and friends about it, too. They’ve all been texting me to say congratulations.
He spends every weekend at my apartment, cuddling me in bed and cooking breakfast for me. On the days when we can’t see each other because I’m busy with classes, tutoring, and my YouTube channel, and he’s busy training or gone for an away game, he texts me cute messages throughout the day.
And now I’m spending Christmas with him and his family because he refuses to let me be alone on the holidays now that I’m on the outs with my parents.
He kisses the corner of my mouth, then my cheek, then my forehead. I swoon. I love it when he does that.
I stare up at his handsome face. A light snow falls around us, and I smile as snowflakes land in his thick, chocolate-brown hair.
“Let’s go inside,” he says, taking my hand in his and leading me up the porch steps.
When we walk in, I’m hit with the smell of cinnamon and sugar. We kick off our shoes, and Nick takes the bag of gifts I was carrying out of my hand.
“I can hold it,” I say. “You’re already carrying your own bag of gifts.”
He shakes his head. “Carrying your bags is a non-negotiable now that I’m your boyfriend.”
I grin wide and follow him into the main part of the house, which is a combined living room, dining room, and kitchen.
I forgot how cozy his parents’ house is during the holidays.
There’s a brick fireplace on the far end and a massive cozy sectional.
To the side is a Christmas tree covered in ornaments and a bunch of gifts under the tree.
Stockings hang over the fireplace, and there’s a cute toy Christmas village set up on the mantel.
It’s set up exactly how I remember when I would come over to hang out with Anna in high school.
“Oh, yay! You’re here!”
I turn around when I hear his mom’s cheery voice. She hugs Nick, then pulls me into a hug.
“I’m so happy you’re celebrating with us,” she beams.
I smile. “I am too. Thanks for letting me crash your family celebration.”
She leans back and holds me by the shoulder. “Oh my goodness, you’re not crashing at all. We love having you over, Poppy. You’ve always been like a second daughter to me.”
My chest swells. It means a lot to hear her say something so kind right now.
Nick sets out the gifts he brought under the tree while I follow Shannon to the kitchen. I smile when I see that she hung big red ribbons over each of the cabinets.
“That’s so pretty,” I say, pointing them out.
“Oh, I’m so glad you like them. I saw that on Pinterest one day, and I thought it was the cutest thing ever.”
“Very cute, and it took forever,” Nick’s dad Scott says when he walks into the kitchen from the hallway.
Shannon rolls her eyes, still smiling. She playfully smacks her husband’s arm. “You’re such a whiner. It took less than an hour.”
He just chuckles and kisses her cheek.
He turns to me and gives me a hug. “So glad you’re here, Poppy. Merry Christmas.”
“Thank you. Merry Christmas to you, too.”
I ask Shannon if I can help her with anything, but she waves me off.
“I’ve got this all under control.” She pulls two casserole dishes out of the oven along with a sheet tray of cinnamon rolls. “We’re having frittatas for Christmas brunch. One with bacon and one with veggies.”
“Sounds yummy. It already smells incredible in here,” I say.
“Scott is making his famous spiced beef stew for Christmas dinner,” Shannon says.
“My favorite,” Nick says as he walks into the kitchen. He grabs a cinnamon roll straight from the tray, then takes a massive bite.
Shannon sighs and shakes her head. Then she hands him a small plate from the stack of china on the counter. “Where are your manners? Use a plate.”
He says “sorry” around a mouthful of cinnamon roll.
She looks at me. “I swear I raised him better than that. You’d think he was brought up by cavemen given the way he eats sometimes.”
I chuckle. Nick grabs my hand and leads me to sit at the kitchen island with him. He offers me his cinnamon roll and I take a bite, humming at the richness.
“Your cinnamon rolls are the best I’ve ever had, Shannon,” I say.
She grins wide as she slices up the frittata. “Ryker and Madeline are on their way. Anna will be here soon, too. I guess she overslept.”
“She must be catching up on all the sleep she missed during finals week,” Scott says. “She studied nonstop.”
I nod, not at all surprised at how hardcore my best friend is when she studies.
“She made straight As this semester,” Scott says proudly.
“I knew she would,” Nick says. He downs half a can of sparkling water and wipes his mouth with a napkin.
“How’d you end up doing?” Scott asks him.
Nick grins. “I got Bs in all my classes.”
“That’s so great!” Shannon says.
Scott pats his back. “Have you ever gotten such high grades since you’ve been in college?”
Nick shakes his head before turning to me and flashing a smile. “Nope. This is the best I’ve ever done. And it’s all because of Poppy. She tutored me. Helped me get my grades up.”
He laces his fingers in mine and kisses my cheek. A moment later, the front door opens, and Anna appears.
“Merry Christmas!” she says before setting down the bag of gifts she’s carrying and hugging her parents.
She runs over to me, smacking Nick on the shoulder along the way.
“What, no hug for your twin brother?” he jokes.
“I’ll hug you later.” She smiles at me. “I’m so happy you’re doing Christmas with us.”
“Me too.”
Her smile fades after a second. “I’m sorry though that things with your dad are bad,” she says softly when we break apart.
The day after I fell out with my dad, I called Anna and tearfully spilled what happened. She’s been checking on me a bunch since then.
“Yeah, so am I,” I say.
“Has your mom called you at all?” Anna asks.
I shake my head, both sad and upset that my mom hasn’t reached out. She’s always been a united front with my dad my whole life, but I was hoping that this time she’d break from him to support me. But I guess that’s not going to happen.
Anna tugs a hand through her hair. “This is so messed up. Your mom should have your back.”
I just shrug. “She’s always supported my dad. I shouldn’t be surprised.”
Anna crosses her arms and shakes her head. I’m heartened at how she’s upset on my behalf, but I don’t want to bring down the happy holiday mood by talking about my family drama.
“I’m happy I get to be with you guys. Your family’s the best.”
She grabs my hand and leads me to the Christmas tree. I help her unpack her gifts and set them under the tree.
“So how goes fake dating my twin?” she teases.
I bite back a smile. “It’s going well. Like, really well.”
She stares at me for a second. “Wait, what’s that look for?” Her eyes widen and she gasps before I can answer her. “Hang on…your smile…you’re smiling like you like him.”
“I like him, Anna. A lot. We’re dating for real.”
She gasps again and tackle-hugs me. We land on the nearby couch, and I can’t stop laughing.
“You two okay in there?” Nick hollers.
“We’re perfect!” Anna says before sitting up and pulling me with her. “Are you serious? You and Nick are dating for real? He’s your boyfriend for real?”
I laugh at her reaction. “Yeah.”
She shakes her head and presses her eyes shut, like she’s in utter disbelief. “But you couldn’t stand him. He annoyed the crap out of you since we were in middle school. And what he did in high school, how he asked you to the prom as a joke…”
“It wasn’t a joke. He asked me out for real.” I explain how my lack of a reaction led to him trying to save face and how we both read the situation wrong, and since we never talked about it, it led to a years-long misunderstanding.
“Oh my gosh, I had no idea,” Anna says.
“I didn’t either until we talked,” I say. I explain to her how Nick and I admitted that we both had crushes on each other when we were younger.
“After spending so much time pretending to be a couple, it just started to feel real,” I say. “It got harder and harder to deny our feelings for each other.”
I glance up at Nick, who’s helping his dad prep the ingredients for the stew. He looks over and winks at me.
I feel my cheeks heat and turn back to Anna. “Your brother can be really sweet and romantic.”
An amused smile flashes across my best friend’s face as she looks over at Nick, then me. “Really?”
I nod. “He makes me breakfast on the weekends. He takes me out for ice cream to celebrate whenever I hit a milestone on my channel. And he always falls asleep cuddling me.”
Her smile softens. “Okay, that’s cute.” She lets out a breath and shakes her head. “This is wild. I never would have guessed you’d ever end up with each other. It’s perfect though. He’s a dumb jock. You’re brilliant and beautiful. I guess opposites really do attract.”
We both laugh. “You’re really okay with this? With me dating your brother?”
She nods, her expression warm. “Of course I’m okay with this. My best friend and my brother are together. How perfect.”
We hug again, then head back to the kitchen. Scott and Shannon head to the garage to grab extra chairs for the dining table for when Ryker and Madeline walk in.
Anna gives Nick a quick hug.
“I heard the news. You and Poppy are the real deal,” she says.
He grins proudly. “Yup.”
She pats his chest. “Be good to my best friend, okay? Otherwise I’ll kill you.”
He nods once, like he was expecting his sister to say that. “I will.”
When she walks off to grab a cinnamon roll, Nick slides his arm around me. “You know, usually it’s the other way around. You threaten the person dating your sibling,” he teases, then kisses my temple. I chuckle.
Anna rolls her eyes while fighting a smile. “Poppy is a gem and would never hurt anyone. You’re lucky to be with her.”
Nick looks at me, his gaze warm. “I know.”