AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I didn’t lie,” I said defensively. “A couple of weeks is soon.”
Sort of.
Her lips quirked in a tiny smile. “Where are you going this time?”
I let out a slow, measured breath. “Spain. It’s a hiking trip I’ve always wanted to take. Never figured out the best time to do it.”
Her eyebrows rose slowly. “Spain? That’s … a long flight.”
“Long trip, too.”
She shook her head and smiled. “You must have triple the vacation time as everyone else at Wilder Homes.”
I pushed my tongue into the side of my cheek and didn’t say one fucking word.
The tense silence that built between us had my chest squeezing uncomfortably. There was no one to say goodbye to when I disappeared for weeks or months on end. No one who needed to know my comings and goings. No one who cared enough to pay attention, at least. I had a lifetime of practice for that.
And I waited to see what Poppy would do—if she’d ask to see me when I got back or how long I’d be gone. But she visibly straightened, her gaze direct and her resolve iron-strong. “Well, if I don’t see you before you leave, be safe,” she said.
I nodded. “Always am.”
Her phone dinged, and she glanced at the screen again. “My ride is almost here.” She tucked her phone in her purse. “I should go.”
Why did I feel an anxious tingle in my hands, a buzzing in my ears at the thought of her leaving like this after a night like the one we’d had? Frantic thoughts crawled through my brain like a line of ants, and I couldn’t squash them, no matter how hard I tried.
“Are you,” I said, “are you okay after last night?”
The rough sound of my voice made it sound like someone else was speaking. Someone with a pinched throat. A ragged sort of desperation there that I didn’t recognize.
Poppy softened, and she closed the remaining steps between us, lifting her hand to cup the side of my face. My heart thundered wildly at the gentle touch. In her eyes, there was something I couldn’t define, and trying to only would’ve led me further down into that insanity I’d already felt.
“More than okay,” she told me. “I would never regret you, Jax.”
The words, so casually spoken, speared through some unseen weak spot between my ribs, slicing straight into the pit of my chest. With my chest thundering, she rolled up onto the balls of her feet and placed a featherlight kiss on my cheek, resting her forehead against my face before pulling away.
My hands curled into fists at my side to keep from snagging her wrist and pulling her close. I could hardly breathe the way I wanted to.
Was this easier for her than for me? And how? I was always the one walking away.
Poppy hooked her purse strap over her shoulder and gave me another long, unfathomable look before she opened the door.
“Thank you,” she said simply. And then she smiled, bright and wide, and I felt it like a blow to my chest.
Somehow, I managed a nod and watched her disappear through the door, then walk out to a dark blue sedan idling in front of my house. The woman behind the wheel gave me a thumbs-up through the windshield, and I muttered a curse under my breath.
Then they drove off, and I wondered when the lingering ache beneath my ribs would disappear.
Chapter 7
Poppy
Patrice dropped me off at home with a high five and a mischievous gleam in her eye. Half our drive home was her begging me for salacious details, and I only gave her the bare bones (no, he didn’t kick me out; yes, things happened; no, I am not telling you my sex story; you’re a stranger), which seriously compromised our friendship, according to her.
“So it was worth it?” she asked as I opened the door to exit her car.
My answering grin had her laughing heartily.
God, I floated all the way to the front door. My body was the best kind of sore, and to my utter delight, I didn’t feel any embarrassment or regret. This was no morning-after walk of shame, I’ll tell you that.
