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Saturdaymorningcametoofast and I was startled awake by my phone screaming at me from right next to my head on my pillow. Reaching out blindly for it, I glanced at the screen before answering. “Yeah, Mom?”
“You didn’t go to work yesterday. Are you sick? What’s wrong with you?” She sounded like she’d been awake and alert for at least six hours already. “You never miss work. I was sure you were dead, but then I had a date with your father last night so I couldn’t check until right now.”
I slumped back into my pillows and sighed. “It was a scheduled day off, Mom. I went with Jude to a party Thursday night and I took yesterday off, just in case.”
“You went to a party with Jude? Where? Was it fancy?”
“Yeah, it was in some office building in the city. I even wore a dress.” I yawned and sat up, just to have my eyes land on Jude’s suit jacket hanging on the back of my door. It was a constant reminder of what we’d done. If I didn’t know how expensive it was, I would’ve thrown it out.
“A dress? Oh, Poppy! Did anyone take pictures?” She sounded so happy that I worried she was going to break glass with the shrillness of her voice.
“I think the guys took a few. I’ll see if one of them will send you one.” I hurried past the jacket, into my bathroom. Turning on the shower, I faced myself in the mirror and was met with the reflection of a woman who hadn’t gotten much sleep in days. Having recurring sex dreams about your best friends would do that to anyone.
“You’d better.” She made a tongue-clicking sound and I knew she was getting into the real reason she’d called. “You know the phone tree has been busy, Poppy. The family’s been talking.”
The phone tree was what we all called the rabid gossipers of our family. “When are they not talking, Mom?”
“Well, this time it’s about my baby. Everyone’s worried about you. Having Kaitlyn marry your ex is bound to be upsetting.”
I angrily covered my toothbrush in toothpaste. “It’s upsetting that my cousin would do that, yes. However, I’m not dwelling on it. What’s done is done.”
“Do you think you could sit down with Kait and talk to her?” Mom stopped for a moment. “Are you brushing your teeth? Are you just getting out of bed, Poppy? Is it the depression? Honey, if this thing with Andrew is that upsetting, I’ll talk to Bonnie and Kait. They’d understand you not attending the wedding.”
I spit into the sink and rinsed before responding. “I don’t havethedepression, Mom. I just slept in today. I do havethe anger, though. It’s beyond shitty for Kaitlyn to marry Andrew and expect me to be happy about it. So, no, I won’t sit down and talk with her. I’m too busy anyway. I’ve got to meet the guys for a game this afternoon.”
She sighed. “And the wedding? Will you be attending?”
I turned away from my reflection. I hadn’t been sure after what happened with Jude. I’d spent most of Thursday night and Friday cursing myself for ever coming up with the stupid fake date idea. I’d wanted to call the whole thing off. Knowing my family was expecting me to not show up because I was too heartbroken changed things, though. “Oh, yeah, Mom. I’ll be there.”
“But you won’t do anything crazy, right?”
I forced a laugh. “Mom, you know me. I’m levelheaded. I’m not going to do anything.”
She mumbled something to herself that sounded like part of a prayer. “I’ll make sure Patrick is ready to bail you out of jail if he needs to. Did I tell you he’s dating a judge now? A handsome judge too.”
Smiling genuinely at the thought of my older cousin finding happiness, I made a mental note to call him. “That’s great! I have to go, Mom, but I’ll call you later tonight. I love you.”
“I love you too, Poppy. You be good!”
I snorted after hanging up. There was nothing quite like your mother telling you to behave, even into the end of your twenties. I’d be thirty in a few months and it was still perfectly normal for my mother to treat me like a naughty child. Looking at my most recent behavior, I kind of understood, though.
I took a fast shower and tied my hair up in a wet bun before dressing for a basketball game. Checking my phone for the time, I saw I had a few minutes, so I grabbed a quick breakfast before heading out to the local park. The guys and I had always played two-on-two basketball growing up, and some things never changed. We hadn’t played in a while but the plans had already been made before I’d gone and kissed them all. If I’d had to make plans after that fiasco, I would’ve had us go to a dark movie theater where no one could see my stupid face of shame.
I was nervous about seeing Jude. I was going to do my best to be normal, but I had no experience with trying to act normal after swallowing a man’s come. The fact that I knew the taste of him and could still feel the silky heat of his dick against my lips made things more than a little strange. Not only that, but he’d seen me naked. He’d had his fingers inside me and he’d made me come like a magician. Andrew had never made me come so fast and never more than once. I wasn’t supposed to have thoughts like that about my best friend.
We were in uncharted territory and I was terrified of blowing up our friendship. They were three of the most important people in my life and they meant a lot to me. Losing them because I couldn’t keep my panties on would be the biggest mistake of my life.
The guys were already at the park when I got there. Forcing myself to join them and not act strange wasn’t easy. I wanted to look down and run away, but I wasn’t a coward.
“Hey, losers. Ready to get your asses handed to you?” I grinned as I came to a stop in front of them. Looking at each of them, I felt a jolt of awareness that I normally didn’t feel.
Cyrus stood tall and powerful, his signature scowl in place, with his hair pulled back from his face. His beard was full and the memory of it against my cheeks struck me. His shirt had the sleeves ripped off and his tattoo-covered arms were on full display.
Sam’s chocolate-colored curls were wildly curling all over the place with a couple of ringlets sitting over his forehead. He’d replaced his normal glasses with contacts and his bright green eyes were fully displayed under full brows and thick lashes. He was also in a sleeveless T-shirt and his forearms drew my attention. They were strong and had a few prominent veins running down their length. Something about them made my mouth water like never before.
Jude, with his trimmed blond hair and shadow of a beard, stared back at me through his pretty blue eyes with a smile that showed his dimples. His body was strong from working out and I knew intimately how his muscles felt. They rippled as he moved and the sight of his bare chest almost sent me running back to my truck.
They hadn’t changed, but I was looking at them differently. That was a big problem. I couldn’t see them that way.
