Page 52 of The Disasters of Dating (Love Connections #6)

KEATON

Be willing to admit you may have been wrong. After all, you’re only human.

Learn Chinese: 我爱你 — Wǒ ài nǐ — I love you

I arrive at Spoons thirty minutes before I’m supposed to meet Poppy. I sit at a table in the corner and wait, my hand tapping nervously on the tabletop. Last night was the longest night of my life.

I was hoping Poppy would text Lincoln what she thought of the constellation picture.

But she didn’t. She just agreed to meet.

Which leaves me completely in the dark as to what I should expect from this meeting.

I don’t know whether she’ll throw the picture in my face and tell me she never wants to see me again or if she’ll actually come and sit down to talk to me. I’m gearing up for the worst.

“Uh, sir. This table is reserved for paying customers.” A pimple-faced teenager stands before me.

“Sorry, I’m meeting someone here. But I can wait in my car.”

I stand up slowly and move toward the door. Swinging it open, I shove my hands in my pockets as I step out onto the sidewalk. But I stop in my tracks. Poppy’s standing there, staring at me.

I swallow. “Hey, Alice.” It’s my less-than-stellar attempt to bridge the gap between Keaton and Lincoln.

Her face crumples, and I’m not sure what to do. Does she want me to hold her or is she crying because she hates me?

“Poppy?” I take a step toward her. But I don’t have to go any farther because she launches herself into my arms.

“I was hoping it was you.” She whispers into my neck.

I hold her a little tighter. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I wasn’t trying to trick you.”

“I think I’ve known for a while now but maybe didn’t want to accept it?” She shakes her head as I lower her to the ground. “Which makes no sense. But none of this makes sense.” She waves her hand between the two of us. She looks up at me from beneath her lashes. “Why, Keaton?”

I take a breath. “Do you want to talk about it over ice cream? Or do you want the explanation first?”

She pulls her adorable bottom lip between her teeth. “I think I need an explanation first.”

I’m so thrilled she hasn’t cut off all communication. I’m willing to do almost anything she asks.

“It started completely as an accident.” I sit on the hood of my car (don’t worry, it’s a rental), and Poppy sits next to me as I explain how Lincoln came to be. When I finish, she leans over and takes my face in her hands.

“Thank you, Keaton Lincoln Barrington.”

Whatever I thought her reaction was going to be, it wasn’t this.

“Whatever for?” I mean, I’m not trying to put ideas into her head, but I can’t help but wonder why she isn’t screaming at me. “I tricked you into telling me things for a month. How do you not hate me?”

She actually chuckles. I have a brief—very brief and don’t tell her about it—moment where I wonder if she’s high? What else can account for her reaction?

“Thank you for being a safe place for me to voice my feelings. Lincoln is—was—one of the only people who understood me. Ever tried to understand me. For the first time in a long time, I felt seen.”

I frown. “But why could you talk to him and not me? Why wasn’t I safe? I’ve tried to see you…to make you realize how incredible I think you are.” I’m not going to lie. I’m a little hurt by her confession. “Why was he so safe?”

“You did make me feel safe and seen. I wouldn’t have asked you to come to dinner last night, if you weren’t my safe zone.

” She releases a breath. “But Lincoln was different. I think because he was anonymous. I couldn’t see if there was judgment on his face.

And for the first time, I was talking with someone who didn’t see me as a hippie or flower child.

He just knew what I told him. No first impressions based on looks. ”

I nod. When she says it like that, I kind of understand what she’s saying.

She sucks in a shaky breath, and I see the tears coming again. I reach out and take her hand in mine, not sure what else to do.

“No one in the world would have known that was the picture to get me.” She wraps both her hands around mine. “But you knew. Whether as Keaton or Lincoln, you know me.” She leans against my shoulder.

“Poppy?”

“Hmm?” She hums against my arm.

“I think I might love you.”

She sits up and looks at me, a huge grin on her face. “It’s okay, Keaton. I think I might love you, too.”

I put my hands on her face and bring her lips to mine. It’s a soft kiss, shorter than the others have been. I think it’s because I know this isn’t the last time. There will be many more of these to come.

“There’s one other thing,” I say when I pull back.

Poppy drops her head to the side and looks at me with confusion. “What more can there be?”

I grimace. “I kind of promised Dan that Paisleigh would go out with him.”

Poppy drops her head back and laughs. “Dan? Why?”

I lift a shoulder. “It’s the only way he’d agree to be my delivery guy last night.”

She laughs. “My mom said he was the best-dressed delivery guy she’s ever seen. And had the nicest car, too.”

I take her hand and pull her off the hood of my car and toward the ice cream shop. “Do you think Paisleigh’s going to kill me?”

Poppy shakes her head. “Nope. She’s a pretty good sport. And if we double with them, she’ll at least have me there.”

We order our ice cream and sit down at a table.

As I take a bite, I look at Poppy, fully realizing what a gift I’ve been given.

I reach over and squeeze her hand. “Be honest. You’d realized it was me last night when you said that about Grandma Alice, right?

It was a joke? A mean joke, but a joke nonetheless? ”

She laughs, and I’m in heaven. Is it possible that this is my future?

“No. I’m not kidding. And it wasn’t just her. She had the groom-to-be with her.”

My jaw drops. “No. ”

“Yes.” She lifts one shoulder in nonchalance. “But I handled that contract like a boss.” She winks and I almost pull her to me for another kiss. This one not so soft and not so short.

I smile and lean over, settling for a kiss to her temple. “I’ve never doubted you could be anything less.”