Page 10

CHAPTER TEN

ONWARD AND UPWARD

POPPY

“Okay, let me see the outfit,” Marley says, motioning for me to move back from the phone.

I set the phone on my bathroom vanity and step back.

She frowns and shakes her head.

“What?”

“You can do better,” she says.

I sigh. “What if this is what I feel like wearing?” I pull down my long-sleeve T-shirt over my jeans. “It’s a good color on me, right?”

“You can do better,” she repeats. “Do we want Bowie to see you and keep giving you the ice man stare or do we want his mouth to drop and him to not be able to keep his eyes off of you?”

“I want him to stare at me, but me to go like this.” I wave my hand and then pretend like I’m shooing something away.

She laughs and rolls her eyes. “Okay, your boobs do look good in it, but turn around, let me see the view from the back.” I turn and she yells, “Absolutely not.”

“What’s wrong with the back?”

“It’s covering your tush and that thing is fine! No. Let me see something else. Something that shows off your assets. Come on, Poppy. This is not a work event.”

“I wear joggers at work,” I mumble.

“Which shows off your tush, I might add.”

“Why are you saying tush?”

“Eric’s mom is in the next room and you know how particular she is about language.” She leans into the phone and whispers, “She doesn’t like the word ass or butt, so it makes it challenging.”

I laugh as I pull a few shirts out of the closet and bring them back to show her.

“Ooo, I like that floral. Let me see it on you.”

“K, one sec. I wear a tank top under it?—”

“No tank top. Let’s see a little cleavage.”

I level Marley with a look and she gives it right back.

I put it on, ready to argue my point when she sees how low it is.

“It’s perfect,” she cries. “Yes. But I think you should wear it with those black pants you bought recently. Your bubble tush will look perfect in those. ”

I laugh.

“The jeans are good too…but do the black.”

“This outfit doesn’t scream here I am, take me ?”

“It screams I am here to rock your world, but I’m so unavailable to you now, buddy .”

My eyebrows lift. “Okay, that is perfect.”

She smiles smugly. “I’ve done my job.”

“Okay, I’ve gotta go. I’m already a little late.”

“Okay, love you. Text me tonight. Or better yet, tomorrow after you’ve had a wild night of passion.”

I scrunch up my face. “I’m unavailable to him now, remember?”

“Oh. We meant that?”

I groan. “Yes! Yes, we meant that.”

She sighs. “Damn. I was hoping Bowie would become my brother-in-law one day. After you chip away his icy reserves.”

“Sorry to disappoint. Not happening.”

“All right. Well, go make him suffer then.”

I grin. “Now, you’re talking.”

When I pull into Rhodes’ and Elle’s driveway, I gasp. Wow. I haven’t forgotten that I’m dealing with the rich and famous, but wow.

I knock and Elle opens the door.

“Hello! You look gorgeous. Come in, come in,” she says.

“So do you!”

I’m glad now that I went with this outfit because Elle is wearing a short dress and looks stunning. She motions for me to follow her, and I gush over how beautiful the house is. She takes me back to the family room with high vaulted ceilings where everyone is hanging out. I say hello to everyone and hug the girls, scanning the room quickly, but there's no sign of Bowie. The tension in my body eases, but I'm disappointed at the same time.

Elle takes me to the kitchen and there’s a massive taco bar set up.

“Bowie got a puppy today…actually, not a puppy. She's a little older, but he bailed.” She looks at me apologetically. “Sorry.”

“Oh no, don't apologize. I'm happy he's not here. I mean,” I hold up my hand, “not happy, but yeah. Just…no, it doesn't matter,” I stutter and laugh at myself.

She smiles like she knows exactly how I really feel and sighs. “Sadie is always able to pull off the matchmaking, but clearly I am not the best at making it happen.”

“Nothing needs to happen,” I say. “In fact, I don't want it to happen.”

“Really? From what you said the other night, I could have sworn you were really into him.”

“I was,” I admit. “But he kind of wrecked it.”

“Ah, not already! Give him another chance,” she says, smiling.

“He wrecked it pretty bad.”

“But he is such a good guy,” she says. “He just needs to be shaken. When it comes to relationships, he's been so burned. He needs someone to shake him out of it.”

“I don't doubt it. And I can be happy for him from afar when that happens.”

“Ugh, so you think you guys won't even be friends?”

“I’m nice to everyone,” I say. “But yeah, I don't know. He completely blew me off after a very intimate night. And I don't need that kind of person in my life.”

“ Really . I didn't know that it got that far. When you said something happened, I was thinking just a little…maybe a little kiss or something. ”

“No,” I laugh, cringing. “But it's okay. I know that football players are different than real people. Sorry.” I shake my head. “God, I’m putting my foot in my mouth all over the place tonight. I’m not insinuating Rhodes and Henley and Weston are or were any kind of—” I shake my head and she laughs.

“Don’t worry. I know. And you’re right—a lot of professional athletes are the biggest players. They have every opportunity to be. But that doesn’t mean they’re all like that.”

“I know, and I’m not shaming Bowie for ghosting me after sex. It's just not for me. I am not normally a one-night stand kind of girl. That was actually the first time I’d ever done anything like that and I’m twenty-seven freaking years old.”

She makes a sympathetic face. “I hear ya. I’m so sorry it went that way. The thing is, he's not that way either. Like, yes, I think that’s happened occasionally, but I don't think he just goes around being a player…at least not from what I’ve heard him and the guys say. I’d say he is the opposite of a player.”

I think about that. “Maybe it was just me then...that he regretted. And it’s okay. Whatever happened…the whole thing turned me off of him. So I'm good. I don't need this in Silver Hills anyway. Like, I shouldn't have gotten involved with someone in this small town. I can stick to going out with guys who live in Denver, so I don't have to see them on a regular basis if it doesn’t work out.”

“This is going to be uncomfortable for you. I hate that.”

I shake my head and add a dollop of sour cream on my taco. “No, I’ll get over it. I'll be fine. I am fine.”

And I am absolutely fine…until he walks into the party an hour and a half later. By that time, I’ve thoroughly relaxed an d had the best time talking with all my new friends. It’s like the air sucks out of the room when he walks in and looks right at me.

Marley was right. I do think the outfit helps. His eyes roam down my body, almost like he can’t help himself. Maybe he didn’t hate what we did after all. My ego wants to believe that anyway. But he doesn’t come search me out either, so there’s that. I meant it when I told Elle I was turned off...it’ll just take frequent reminders to myself for a while when I see him. And I don’t mind if he feels a little regret when he sees me. I don’t mind that at all .

It gets awkward when we’re all talking about how we’re ready for the weather to get warmer.

“We need to have a pool party soon, Bowie,” Penn says. “I’ll bring a few palm trees…see if that makes it feel tropical.”

“I’m game,” Bowie says. “Let’s do it.”

“Bowie has an indoor pool, Poppy,” Rhodes says, grinning at me. “You’ll love it.”

I open my mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. I glance at Bowie and he looks as awkward as I feel. Pretty sure Bowie didn’t intend for me to be in on that invitation. When the conversation moves on, I go into the kitchen to get a glass of water. I hear something behind me and nearly spill the water when I see Bowie.

“Sorry,” he says.

“No problem, just jumpy, I guess.” I fill my glass a little more, pulling back once it’s full.

“Uh, Poppy. Can I say something?”

I turn toward him and he looks painfully uncomfortable. “Of course.”

“I don’t normally drink. ”

Not what I was expecting him to say. I nod when he doesn’t say anything else. “Okay.”

“My dad is an alcoholic and I haven’t struggled with addiction, but I usually avoid it anyway.”

He takes a deep breath and runs his hand through his hair. His waves fall back into place and one thick strand lands against his cheek. He’s so gorgeous.

“I also don’t make it a habit of…sleeping around. Last weekend was…very out of character for me.” He swallows hard.

I press my lips together and nod slightly. “It was very out of character for me too. I’ve… never done that actually. I mean, sex, yes, I’ve done that.” I laugh nervously and his lips lift slightly. “But never when it’s not…someone I’m…you know, going out with or whatever.”

If a hole could come along right now and let me fall into it, I’d be so grateful.

“I didn’t handle everything very well afterward,” Bowie says.

“It was a little weird,” I say, letting out a strangled laugh that is just awful. I feel like I’m in high school all over again, trying to be cool but failing miserably.

There’s a painful silence.

I eventually clear my throat and forge ahead.

“How about we just forget it ever happened and move on?” I hold out a hand and he looks at it like it’s a foreign object, but then he shakes it slowly. My skin burns from the contact. “Since we’ll be running into each other around town and all.”

He’s quiet for a moment and his jaw clenches slightly. I kind of think I disgust him or something. Whatever I felt having sex with him, all the rainbows and butterflies and bliss…he did not feel the same .

“Okay,” he says simply.

He lets go of my hand and leaves the room. It takes me a good ten minutes to work up my nerve to go back to the party, and when I do, he’s gone.