Page 45 of The Disasters of Dating (Love Connections #6)

You’ve seen pictures without me?

No, Evan. Don’t say it… Don’t mention the?—

Evan

No. I saw Keat kissing her on a kiss cam during the Utah football game.

Lowell

WHAT?!?!?!?

Son of a biscuit! Evan is a dead man.

Alix

PDA? Are you sure? That doesn’t sound like Keaton.

Dad

I think this discussion has gotten away from us.

I hurry and pull up the picture of Poppy and me at Solitude Lake and send it to the group.

Okay, guys. I’ve got to go. See you tonight at Dad’s!

Before I set my phone down, I see Lowell send a lips emoji to the picture of Poppy .

I drop my face in my hands and shake my head. Why didn’t I just have my dad text everyone individually?

A knock sounds on my door, and I look up to see Evan standing there.

“So about the board meeting…” He comes and settles into the chair across the desk from me. He pulls his ankle up and crosses it over his knee.

If I wasn’t worried about him being mad about the board meeting, I’d totally come uncorked on him for bringing up the kiss cam. But he has his boss face on.

“I was going to talk to you about this. All these plans just came up. But I need to be with Poppy on Saturday night. It’s important.

And I didn’t see the point of flying home on Thursday night and then turning around and flying back on Saturday morning.

” I tip my head to the side. “I’m trying to save the company money. ”

Evan narrows his eyes at me as he crosses his arms. “How about you inform me before you save the company money and let me decide because I’m sure the days in the hotel will offset the cost of the flights?”

My eyes widen as I remember I haven’t shared that news with him. I lean back and fold my arms. “Actually, it won’t because I signed a lease on an apartment and I can take possession of it on Monday.” I pretend to drop a mic to the side of my chair. “No extra cost to you.”

“You did it, then? You pulled the trigger and got an apartment?”

I release a sigh. “Yeah. I can’t do the hotel thing anymore. It’s exhausting.”

Evan nods. “I get it.” He uncrosses his legs. “Where did you decide on?”

“Herriman,”

He nods. “Nice area.” He winks at me.

He has no idea. My apartment is only, like, ten minutes from his new house.

“Okay, so you’ll call into the board meeting?”

I nod. “Yep. Which shouldn’t be a problem, right?” I give him a look. Evan sometimes thinks that anything that isn’t his idea is a problem.

“You must like her.”

I nod. “I do. I don’t think I’ve ever liked anyone as much as I like her.”

His brows slowly rise. “That much?”

I nod. “Yeah. ”

“What about her? Does she feel the same?”

I frown. “Sometimes I think so. But there’s something holding her back. I just don’t know what it is.”

“I don’t want to see you hurt.”

I nod. “Thanks, Evan.”

He lightly pounds his palms on the arms of his chair before standing up. “Okay, I’ll plan on you calling in for the meeting.” He smiles at me. “See you at Dad’s tonight.”

I nod. “Are you heading out?”

“I think so.” He stares at me. “Why don’t you leave, too? You put in more hours than most of us.” He grins. “Or you did until you found a girlfriend.”

I laugh. “You’ll be happy, then, that she starts back to school and work?”

My phone vibrates, and I pick it up, ready to defend myself against whatever Lowell has just texted. But it’s Poppy calling. I grin.

“Oh, man. I know what that smile means. I’ll leave you alone to talk with her.” He closes my door behind him.

“Hey, I was just talking to my brother about you.”

There’s hesitation on the other end. “Is that good or bad?”

I chuckle. “It’s good. Don’t worry. You’ve got Shay’s seal of approval, which means you’ve got Evan’s, too.”

“Oh, good.” I can hear the smile in her voice. “Listen, Keaton.” My stomach drops. No good conversation starts with ‘listen.’

“Yeah?” I say tentatively.

“My mom wants to have a family dinner with my brother and sister, to introduce Adam. You remember him, right?”

“Uh, how could I forget Adam?”

“I know,” she says. “Seeing them on the couch is burned into my retinas.”

I laugh. “I bet.”

“Anyway,” Poppy continues. Is she going to ask me?

I don’t think I’ve ever anticipated anything so much.

“My mom asked for you to come. I told her that it wasn’t likely you could fly in early, but I have to admit, I wouldn’t mind having you come.

It’s going to be soooo awkward. And after all, you discovered them with me.

So I think it’s only fair that you share in the awkwardness, right?

” She takes a quick breath. “Which is the very impolite way of asking if you could please fly in early?”

I laugh out loud. It’s only partly because she makes it sound like I’m partially responsible for the Adam thing.

But then I release a sigh of relief. I’m so happy she asked me!

But I’m also nervous. I’ll basically be meeting her whole family.

Well, except for maybe Grandma Alice—which I’m fine to miss—and the elusive cousins who warned her away from me. Or rather from Lincoln.

Lincoln. What am I going to do about that?

I can’t drag it out much longer. I’m getting in too deep with her to have that secret hanging between us.

I suck in a breath as an idea hits me. Maybe I can start giving small clues in Lincoln’s and my texts so that she’ll figure it out? I’ll have to think more about that.

“What? Why are you laughing?” She asks.

I smile at my phone. “It almost sounded like you were blaming me for Adam.”

She sighs. “I wish I could blame him on someone. Other than my mom. But I can’t. And I shouldn’t. He was very nice.”

“Yeah, he was.” I’m not sure how I would have reacted if I’d been in the man’s shoes. I mean, meeting one of my girlfriend’s kids under those circumstances? No thanks. “It’s partially why I’ll remember that night.”

“How about if we forget about that?” Poppy asks.

“Ugh, no way. Why would you want to do that?”

“It was a pretty awful part of the date,” she says in a defeated breath.

“It wasn’t awful. Slightly awkward? Yes. But awful? Not even close.”

She scoffs. “You’re sweet. Even if you’re a big fat liar.”

“Hey,” I growl. “I’m going to ignore the fat comment. I have had a lot of ice cream lately…”

Poppy laughs, and I feel lighter than I have all day.

“So about the dinner…” Her voice trails off.

I already know when the dinner is. Maybe this is where I drop some clues about who I am? Or rather, who Lincoln is?

“It’s on Saturday night, right? Of course, I can be there.”

There’s a pause. “Did I say it was on Saturday? I don’t remember mentioning a day.”

This is a lead in that I could totally tell her everything, right? But she seems a little vulnerable. I mean, she’s asking me to be there for moral support. How supportive is it to drop the Lincoln bomb on her right now? Not very.

“You asked me to fly in a day early, right? So I assumed it was Saturday.” Yes, I’m a chicken. A big, ice cream-stuffed chicken.

“Oh, that’s right.” Her voice holds a disbelieving tone. She had mentioned it in our conversation, right ?

Dang! This is going to be harder than I thought. Maybe dropping clues will be easier in texts where I don’t have to hear her voice.

“So, I guess I’ll see you on Sunday night?” I think it’s best if we move off the dinner subject.

“Yep,” her voice sounds much more like the Poppy I know and love. “Unless your flight comes in late again! Fingers crossed it comes in on time.”

“No kidding,” I smile. “Hey, if you could put in a good word with the universe for me, I’d appreciate it.”

“Consider it done,” she says with a note of authority.