Page 98 of Lucky Mother Pucker

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I push gently on Anna’s leg as I stretch her hips. “How does that feel?”

She closes her eyes and sighs happily. “Amazing. Oh my god, I didn’t know my muscles were this tight.”

“Sitting all day at a desk can definitely take a toll on your body.”

I finish with her stretches, then move on to Briar.

I grab the small bottle of massage oil I brought with me to Poppy’s apartment, then dab a little onto my palms and rub them together.

I sit behind her. “You said your neck is tight, right?”

“Yeah. It’s been aching all week.”

I start with smooth strokes to warm up the muscle, just like I read in the packet that Paula gave me.

When I finish, Poppy sets out some snacks on the coffee table in the living room. She pops open the bottle of wine that I brought and pours us all glasses.

I take a sip, feeling happy that I was able to treat them tonight after how kind and generous they’ve been to me. Just a few months ago, I couldn’t have imagined being able to do something like this—hang out with friends and buy a decent bottle of wine. But I’ve been able to save a lot from working both of my jobs, so I feel comfortable spending a little money now.

“That massage was amazing,” Poppy says, raising her glass. “Cheers to Lucy for getting that knot out of my shoulder blade. And stretching out my IT band.”

“Thanks for letting me practice on you guys,” I say.

“Anytime you want to have another massage and stretch session, we’re always available,” Anna says.

We all sip our wine and dig into the snacks.

Anna turns to me. “Okay, now you need to tell us what happened between you and Leo at the gala.”

Chapter 37

Lucy

Itake a breath. “We kissed.”

Three sets of eyes go wide at exactly the same moment. They all let out happy squeals.

“I knew it! I knew he would go crazy when he saw you in that dress,” Anna says.

“I saw the way he was looking at you at the gala. He was totally smitten,” Poppy says.

“Don’t get too excited,” I say with a weak laugh. “Nothing else happened. And nothing else will ever happen.”

“What? Why?” Briar asks.

I pop a potato chip in my mouth. “Because Leo and I realized that it would be a bad idea to cross that line. I mean, he’s become a really good friend of mine. And yeah, hooking up with him would be hot, but…what if it makes things awkward between us? What if our friendship changes? What if things are so weird that we can’t be around each other? I’ll have to move out.”

They all look at me, their hopeful expressions long gone.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” Poppy says.

We all quietly sip our wine.

“Can I offer a different perspective?” Briar asks, her tone soft.

“Yeah, of course.”