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I open my mouth, and everything comes out.

From our chats, Poppy already knew the details about the arrangement and the money Patrick planned on giving me. Has given me. I found the check in my work bag, right next to my letter of resignation, but I couldn’t stand to look at it last night, at Patrick’s tight, neat scrawl on the memo line, which just read services rendered.

It was a punch to the gut.

I tell Poppy about more than just what we did in Finland, but that thing between Patrick and me that seemed to hang in the air. An electric buzz. The sort of gravity that just seemed to pull us together.

She sits and listens patiently as I tell her about the snowball fight, falling into the snow together. About Patrick blowing up on me about the letter of resignation.

Poppy nods, like that means something to her. “It sounds like he didn’t want to lose you.”

I stare at the table, knowing I have more information than she does. Poppy is at a completely different part of the story. She doesn’t see the bad ending coming yet. Or maybe she does, considering the fact that I’m sitting across from her, makeup not done, in sweatpants.

“I think he didn’t want Dunne Tech to lose me,” I clarify, sitting up a little taller in my seat. “I’m their top account manager. Was their top account manager.”

Poppy winces. “Did you already send in that letter?”

“I emailed it to HR the moment I got back. I knew there was no way I could handle going into the office and seeing him there. Or not seeing him there. I mean, either way, the office is the last place I want to be right now.”

“Fair,” Poppy says, nodding and crossing her legs so she can bounce one foot. Looking me up and down, she says, “So, what happened, Cami?”

I swallow, glance away from her. “You know how we were on the phone?”

“Yes.”

“And I hung up really fast?”

“Right, yes, I was there.”

“Well…before that, a few days before that, Patrick and I kissed.”

Poppy blinks at me, then bursts out laughing. “Oh my God, Cami, is that it? I thought it was going to be something way worse!”

“We kissed, and I kind of thought that it was real, but then when I was on the phone with you, the speaker was connected, and everyone heard that the entire thing was fake!” The words come flying out of me, like I’m a little kid desperately trying to tell a story before people stop paying attention to me. “Everyone. The entire Moreno family heard it. Chris—the grandpa, the guy Patrick was trying to get the company from—he was so disappointed. And Gloria, his wife, just straight up told us to take the first flight out.”

Poppy is grimacing. “Okay, I can see how that wouldn’t be ideal, but I don’t understand⁠—”

“Patrick told them that everything between us was fake. The kiss during the northern lights—he was very clear about that meaning nothing. About all the feelings being an act.”

I watch as my best friend presses her lips together. “Okay, but Cami, don’t you think it’s possible that he was just reacting poorly in the moment?”

“I mean, he didn’t talk to me when we were packing or when we were on the plane. It was like he couldn’t even look at me. I think if he did have feelings for me, he would have tried to say something.”

“And do you have feelings for him?”

I open my mouth to answer, but nothing comes out. Instead, mortifyingly, I feel a single tear slide down my cheek. Now who’s the actress?

“Oh, honey.” Poppy scoots her chair around the side of the table and throws her arm around me, pulling me in close. It’s a bit awkward to try and hug her around her baby bump, but we manage it, and I leave an embarrassing wet spot on her shirt.

Pulling back, I sniffle and wipe at my face, glad that I decided not to wear mascara, because it would definitely be running everywhere if I had. “I didn’t want to have feelings for him. I mean, before, when we were working in the office together, I was like…aware of him. I knew he was handsome, I mean—everyone knows he’s handsome. But everyone else in the office thought he was mean. I just saw him as being a little uptight, a little controlling, but…I liked his confidence. And then this whole thing happened, and it’s like feelings came rising up inside me. An ambush.”

“That’s always how they feel.” Poppy laughs, scooting her chair back and taking a sip of her decaf latte. “I really think you should try to talk to him, Cami. Maybe he was just worried or felt like he’d dragged you into something. I mean, if you have feelings for him and you didn’t say anything on the plane, I don’t think him not talking is irrefutable evidence.”

My laugh comes out wet with tears. “I hate that you’re a lawyer. You always have to sound so right.”

“I don’t sound right. I am right.” Poppy shoots me a smug smile and takes another sip of her drink. “And I need to let all this litigating energy out somewhere. I miss the courtroom.”

I roll my eyes at her, and we drift into talking about other things. Poppy’s maternity leave and how the other guys at the firm are constantly emailing her, apparently unable to handle cases without her. How excited her mom is about becoming a grandmother. Curtis’s surprise for her—the baby room completely finished and painted a light pastel green, just like she wanted.