Chapter 27
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Usually, if a woman tells me to leave, I listen to her.
Right now, the last thing I intend to do is leave Poppy.
It goes against every rule I’ve always tried to live by.
I never wanted to be the pushy, possessive asshole type of boyfriend.
But here we are. I’m doing it. I might as well play right into the role.
“When was the last time you slept?” I ask Poppy.
“Why? Do I look tired to you, Sammie?” She rolls her eyes again.
“Well, my sister warned me never to tell a woman she looks tired so I know the right answer here is no. But, like I said, I don’t lie and the dark circles under your eyes let me know how tired you are.”
“You should listen to Imogen. She’s smarter than you,” Poppy fires back.
“She is.” I smile. “So, where’s the bedroom? Let’s go sleep on this and we can continue the argument when we wake up. Because I gotta be honest, babe, I haven’t slept much since you left either.”
“You haven’t?” Poppy’s expression softens a fraction. “Actually, I don’t care.” She turns around and walks down a small hallway.
Following her, I stop at the threshold to the bathroom she entered, watching as she switches on the tap and washes her face. “You don’t care?”
“If I did, I wouldn’t have left.”
“You didn’t leave because of me. You left because of a lie,” I remind her.
Poppy doesn’t say anything. She picks up a towel and dries her face before turning and shoving me backwards as she walks out of the bathroom. “I’m sure you can afford a hotel, Sammie. Go and find one. Because you’re right. I am tired and I’m going to bed.”
I follow her into a bedroom. Her bedroom. When she gets into the bed, she pulls the covers over her. As much as I want to climb in beside her, I shouldn’t…
“Fuck it,” I growl as I pull the shirt over my head and kick off my shoes.
“What the hell are you doing?” Poppy asks, her eyes wide.
“Getting into bed with my girlfriend.” I pull the blanket back and climb in next to her.
Once I’m lying down, I reach out and pull her against me. She pushes at my shoulder, but I don’t let her go.
“Relax. Just close your eyes and sleep. Please. You can go back to pretending to hate me in the morning over breakfast.”
Poppy’s body relaxes. “I’m going to figure out how to get rid of you in the morning.”
“Okay.” I laugh, pressing my lips against her forehead. “I missed this,” I whisper as I hold her tight against me. She doesn’t respond, but she does snuggle in closer.
I slept like a fucking log. I haven’t slept that well in…
since she left. Thankfully, when I wake up this time, she’s still in my arms. I roll her over.
As much as I want to wake her up with my mouth on her pussy, I can’t do that until I know she’s really back in this with me.
Which is why I settle for peppering her face with kisses—very PG-level kisses.
“Argh, what are you doing?” Poppy swats at my face, trying to get me away.
“Kissing my girlfriend good morning,” I tell her.
Poppy surprises me by taking hold of my face and pressing her lips against mine. Her tongue slides into my mouth, circling around. I groan as my hips press into her core. My dick already hard and begging to sink into the heaven between her legs.
“Fuck.” I move my lips away from her mouth, trailing them down her neck. “I really fucking missed this.”
“For future reference…” Poppy pushes at my shoulders, and I roll over. “When you do actually have a girlfriend, that’s how you kiss her good morning.” Poppy climbs out of bed. “I hope my morning breath was utterly disgusting and made you want to vomit.”
“I fucking love your morning breath. There isn’t a damn thing about you that would ever make me want to vomit,” I tell her.
“You barely even know me yet, Sammie. Give it time,” Poppy grumbles.
I can’t help but smile wider. She said yet and give it time, which means she isn’t done with me. That’s all I need to know.
Jumping out of bed, I grab hold of her and throw her back down on the mattress, covering her body with mine. Poppy lets out a squeal but her legs open, allowing me to position my body between them.
“What the hell are you doing?” she huffs.
“Giving my girlfriend a good morning orgasm,” I tell her.
“Just one?” Poppy raises a brow at me with a smile on her face. And then, as quick as it was there, it’s gone. “Wait, no.” She shakes her head. “Get off me.”
Like a bucket of cold water was just tipped over me, I jump off her, taking a few steps backwards. “Okay, so that’s a no to the orgasms then?” I hold up my hands in surrender.
“Orgasms, as in plural?” Poppy questions. “Wait… It doesn’t matter. No, I don’t want an orgasm or orgasms from you. I can give those to myself just fine.”
“Show me.” I lean back against the wall.
“I’m not showing you. Now, if you don’t mind, I have stuff to do. And you are not on my list.” Poppy rolls off the bed, walking past me and out the door.
Well, if I’m not on her to-do list, then I’ll just add myself to it. Following her out to the living room, I start opening drawers.
“What are you looking for?” Poppy asks from the kitchen.
“I need a pen and paper,” I tell her.
“Oh my god, stop.” She opens a drawer in front of her and pulls out a notepad and a pen. “Here.” She slams both down on the counter. “You’re very annoying. You should know that.”
“Annoying?”
“Yes, annoying.”
“I’ll take that under advisement.” I smile, picking up the notepad and pen. I write at the top of the page: Poppy’s to-do list.
Underneath it, I make a single bullet point. And write the one thing that should be at the top of her to-do list: Sammie Russo Junior.
Turning the paper around, I slide it across to Poppy. “Here you go.”
“What is this?” She picks up the notepad. “Seriously, Sammie?” The corner of her mouth tips up at one side. She’s fighting the smile that wants to spread across that fucking beautiful face of hers.
“That should be at the top of your to-do list always. Because you have a permanent spot at the top of mine,” I tell her.
“Really? It took you a week to actually contact me,” she fires back.
“Did you want me to contact you? You left, remember?”
“Yeah, I left for a reason. Which is the same reason you should leave now.”
“I’m not leaving,” I tell her.
“Look, I get that you think your uncle’s organization had nothing to do with my mother’s murder. But it doesn’t change anything.”
“We’re going to figure this out.” My phone rings from where I left it on the coffee table. Walking over, I snatch it up. “Shit, it’s Imogen. I have to take this.”
“Take it,” Poppy says. She pulls down two cups from the cabinet as I answer the call.
“Imogen, how are you?” I ask my sister.
“Good, ah, your test results are here. The doctor brought them to the house. I have the envelope, but I’m too scared to open it.”
“Did Mom and Dad get theirs?” I ask her.
“They’re not a match. Mom isn’t taking it very well at all.”
“Yeah, I can imagine.” I really need to call my mother. “Okay, let me switch it to video. You can open the envelope and show me,” I tell my sister. After switching the call, I sit on the sofa.
“Is Poppy there?” Imogen asks.
“Yeah,” I tell her.
“Hi, Imogen!” Poppy calls out.
“Hi! I’m sorry you’re getting stuck with him for this. Just know, if it’s not a match, you’re still my favorite person in the whole world, Sammie J.”
“Right back at ya,” I tell my sister. “Now open the envelope.”
I wait and watch. Imogen takes her time reading the single piece of paper.
“What’s it say?” I push her.
“Ah… You’re a match.” She sighs.
“That’s great!”
“Look, I want you to know that just because you’re a match, I don’t expect you to be a donor for me, Sammie J. I’m sure someone else will turn out to be a match too.”
“What the fuck, Imogen? I’m going to be your donor. I would donate my heart to you if you needed it.”
“That’s drastic. Don’t do that.” Imogen huffs. “Okay, well, I guess we move on to treatment, right? Shit, I should have listened to what the doctor said was next.”
“Imogen, take a breath. It’s going to be okay,” I tell my sister.
Poppy comes over to the sofa and sits down next to me. Her hand lands on mine, and she squeezes.
“Okay, it’s going to be okay,” Imogen repeats. “But seriously, can you call Mom before she goes all Harley Quinn on the city?”
“Calling her now. Love you.”
“Love you too,” Imogen says, then cuts the call.
I hit my mom’s number right away. I might as well get this over with.
“Hello?”
“Mom, I need your help,” I tell her.
“What’s wrong? Where are you? Your father said you went to LA to find Poppy? Is she okay?”
“Yeah, she’s okay. It’s… ah… I need you to come to Texas with me. Poppy’s mother was murdered. I need to find out who did it,” I explain.
Poppy takes her hand off mine, stands, and walks back to the kitchen. My eyes don’t leave her.
“Okay, did Imogen call you? You’re a match.”
“Yeah, she called. It’s good, and as soon as they need me to be at the hospital, I’ll be there. Until then, I’m heading to Texas to find out what happened to Poppy’s mother. Can you help me or not?”
“I’m coming with you, obviously. When have I ever said no to you, Sammie J? Besides, I could use the distraction. Send me the details of where and when you need me.”
“Okay, thanks. Love you. I’ll text you.” I put the phone down and stand. Slowly making my way into the kitchen.