Chapter Six
Wesley
(One Month Later)
“Fuck, dude. Can you please stop moping? It’s really getting on my nerves now,” I growl, throwing a handful of popcorn at Eddie as we leave the movie theater.
We tried to cheer him up by taking him to the latest horror slasher flick.
It didn’t work.
Now we’re at the mall shopping for shit for his parents, and he’s still sulking.
Ever since he and Amber broke up, he’s been a miserable fuck.
Not because she cheated, because that definitely tore him apart, and not because they called their wedding off with only three months until D-Day.
He’s been a mess over that, too. No, the man is sulking in a pit of self-loathing because he finally caved and fucked Pippa the night he and Amber broke up.
Now the girl is even more obsessed with him, and he can’t shake her.
The sad part is, he thinks Rich and I don’t know, and because we care about the guy, we stay quiet.
“Sorry,” he mumbles, kicking at the dry Nevada dirt. “I’m just in my head again.”
“Well, get out of it,” I challenge, pushing him playfully. “You’re supposed to be having fun.”
“How am I supposed to have fun when I keep seeing her everywhere, Wes? That girl looks like her,” he says, pointing to a blonde cutie walking by.
“That girl could be her twin,” he adds, motioning toward a girl coming out of the Cheesecake Factory in a hurry.
“It’s exhausting seeing her in every woman I see. ”
But there really are two girls coming out of the Cheesecake Factory, and one of them I can’t tear my eyes away from… Poppy.
Rich clears his throat. “Um, I hate to break it to you, buddy. But that’s definitely Amber.”
Eddie’s head shoots up, his eyes narrowing when he sees two dudes chasing them down the steps. When one grabs Amber by the elbow, and we hear her scream something at him from across the parking lot, Eddie starts running.
“Shit, looks like we’re running now,” I shout, chasing after my friend. The last thing I want to do is rush over there and face Poppy after all these years, but Eddie’s leaving me no choice, and I’ll always protect the people I care about, even if it means putting myself in danger.
“Now you listen here, bitch. Nobody turns Finn Holden down and gets away with it. You be a good girl and give Daddy what he wants, or I swear—”
The guy’s arm is ripped away from Amber so violently I hear the breath leave him before his body slams into the concrete wall. The impact echoes across the parking lot as the few patrons on the balcony, watch us in utter fascination.
“Touch her again, and I’ll break your fucking arm.” Eddie says it with finality, like any second will be this dude’s last.
Amber’s eyes go wide, relief flashing in her irises when she realizes Eddie’s there to protect her.
The Finn guy tries to swing on Eddie, but he doesn’t stand a chance. Eddie ducks effortlessly and drops him with a single punch, crumpling the guy to the floor as blood spurts from his lip.
I step up beside him, Rich moving with me, muscle memory kicking in as we get ready to brawl. The guy wearing glasses takes a step back, stammering, “Hey, I don’t want any trouble,” as he’s pushing his glasses up his nose.
The man’s definitely intelligent.
My eyes flick her way, instantly navigating to the exotic girl with red tinted hair and freckles, hovering near the wall.
Poppy.
My Poppy.
Our eyes meet briefly, pausing for a breath we both need, the exhale slightly vicious and cruel.
We don’t say anything, just share a look before she moves straight toward Rich, slipping behind his tall frame like it’s instinct. Like she already knows he’ll protect her without question.
It shouldn’t hurt.
But it does.
I tell myself it’s because Rich is the safer option. That she doesn’t trust me because of my record, my reputation, the shit I’ve done.
Still… it stings worse than the cold air burning my lungs.
I clench my fists, stepping closer, letting the guy with glasses see exactly how much trouble he’s stumbled into.
“Well, buddy,” I sneer, “you just found a whole lot of it.”
He backs off immediately.
Finn scrambles to his feet and gets right back in Eddie’s face, running his mouth like he didn’t just eat concrete.
“You think you’re big and bad, huh? Well, try to fight me when I’m ready for you!”
He swings, barely budging Eddie.
“Fuck! Is your jaw made of steel?” He shakes his hand, grimacing in pain. “I think you fucking broke my hand!”
“Serves you right for touching my girl.”
My girl.
He says it like they never broke up, almost forgetting she cheated and broke him in two not that long ago.
I glance at Amber, then at Eddie, who’s vibrating with barely contained rage.
Finn smirks. “I see. You must be the asshole she cheated on. No wonder she looked elsewhere.”
Eddie’s fist tightens, but Amber steps in, placing her hand over his. “He’s not worth it, Eddie.”
For a second, I admire her strength. The way she grounds him. It’s actually kind of sad how their relationship ended; they’re actually pretty good for each other.
Then Finn opens his mouth again. Big mistake. “Yeah, listen to your little bitch, big man. I’m not worth it.”
Jesus Christ.
Eddie snaps, unleashing a punch that brings that bastard to his knees. Once on the ground, Eddie grabs him by the hair, forcing the bastard to look up at him even though he seconds away from pissing himself.
The fear is in his eyes, and Eddie’s consuming it.
“Let’s get one thing straight, asshole. Amber is the furthest thing from a bitch, and if you ever try to talk to her or touch her again, I’ll do more than break your hand; I’ll send you to the fucking morgue. You got me?”
Finn spits blood on the ground, smiling like he’s got nothing left to lose. “Yeah, big man, I got you. I was only on this date because Gideon promised me that I’d get laid afterward, but I can tell a prude little tease from a mile away. And that bitch screams cock tease.”
Eddie lets go of his hair just long enough to elbow him square in the nose, the cartilage crunching, the sound invigorating.
“Get the fuck out of here. Both of you.”
The two idiots limp off, and it takes everything in me not to race after them. But this time it wasn’t my fight. It was Eddie’s.
He turns toward Amber, his hand tracing her cheek lovingly. Nothing has changed for him. He still loves her, staring at her like she’s the only thing securing him to the ground.
“You okay?”
She nods, her voice a bit shaky. Too shaky for me to care because all I can see is Poppy.
Her fingers curl into Rich’s jacket. The fear in her eyes from earlier now turns to frustration because she has to interact with me. She feels safer with Rich, and it hurts to swallow that realization down.
Somewhere in the last few minutes, they’ve agreed to go back to the mall with us, but I didn’t hear any of it.
I was too busy staring at Poppy and trying to figure out how to talk to her after all these years.
Now we’re all walking across the parking lot together.
Rich out in front as I fall behind a few steps.
Poppy ends up beside me without meaning to.
The air between us crackles. I don’t touch her or crowd her, knowing my existence is enough to make her run.
She glances at me once, but only once.
And God help me, it’s almost worse than if she hadn’t looked at all.
Because there’s something there.
Something unspoken.
Something unfinished.
And I know, deep in my gut, that choosing Rich tonight doesn’t mean she wouldn’t have chosen me…
Just that she didn’t think she could.
The tension in the car is crazy. She hasn’t said a single word to me since jumping in the car with me and Rich at the mall. All of us knew Amber and Eddie needed to be alone, but now so were we… sort of.
Rich smiles at me when he catches me glancing into the rearview mirror, mouthing the words, “Say something,” when Poppy’s not looking.
When I don’t say anything, he breaks the silence.
“So, Poppy, I hear you’re about to go to Stanford,” Rich exclaims, making me shift cautiously in my seat.
She nods. “Yup, just got the acceptance letter last week.”
For some reason, her smile doesn’t reach her eyes.
“That’s awesome,” Rich compliments. “Congrats.”
Poppy forces a smile. “Thanks.”
He misses it, but I see it plain as day.
“What’s wrong with Stanford?” I ask her, breaking the silence between us.
Her head shoots up, eyes searching mine for reasons I can’t give her. I just know her better than she thinks.
“It wasn’t my first choice.”
“And what was?”
She sighs. “Yale. I got into it after we graduated, but my grades haven’t been as good at UNR, so when I reapplied, they didn’t accept me.”
Rich is still oblivious to everything.
“And how do your parents feel about that?” I ask her, sending her into shock.
“My dad wasn’t happy about it.” She studies me for a few seconds before hugging herself.
She thinks I don’t know about her dad and how he favors Pippa over her.
But I saw it at graduation, how his father posed with an arm proudly draped over Pippa’s shoulders as Poppy hovered near them both, her mother snapping the pictures without a care in the world.
Neither of her parents really sees her like I do.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper, knowing how hard that must be for her.
“It’s okay. I went to UNR to stay near Pippa and Amber. It’s my fault for not accepting their offer when I got it.”
Rich can’t read a room. “Hey, where is Pippa, anyway? Why did you ask Amber to come out tonight and not her?”
“She apparently had something to do. She’s been a bit secretive lately and won’t really tell me what she’s doing anymore.”
Rich laughs. “Probably because she’s afraid you’ll tell Amber.”
Damn it, Rich.
My glare slices through him, but he ignores it.
“Tell Amber what?”
“Oh, come on,” Rich scoffs. “Don’t pretend like you don’t know, Poppy.”
“Don’t know what?” she asks in confusion.
Rich finally meets my glare in the rearview mirror, realizing what he’s done. “Never mind, it’s nothing.”