Broken Ties, page 15
“Okay, okay.” He pulled away from me and covered his ears. “I get it. Point made.”
“You can relax, Dad. I can confirm me and Eli are not doing it.”
“Enough, enough already.” He pressed his hand over my mouth. “Let’s pretend this conversation never happened. Okay?”
I nodded, fighting another grin.
“Good.” He slipped his hand away. “I need to grab my things from the office. Meet me out front?”
“Sure, Dad.” I went to move around him but he called after me.
“Poppy?”
“Yeah?”
“I love you, sweetheart. And I hope you know that when you’re ready to… well, you know…” A pained expression washed over him. “Just make sure you’re doing it for all the right reasons.”
“Okay, Dad.” I skipped away with a smile pasted on my face.
But it was at complete odds with the hollow pit in my stomach.
“Lily, what are you—”
“Surprise.” She pulled me in for a hug. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hey, sweetheart.” He dropped a kiss on her head and moved around us.
“What are you doing here?” I asked, pulling away.
“Mom didn’t tell you? I thought—”
“Tell me what?” I glanced between them.
“We’re going out for Ashleigh’s birthday. Mom got us tickets for the spa.”
“No, she didn’t mention it.” Dejection swarmed inside me.
“I thought it would be a nice treat for you and Leigh, sweetheart. She’s been through so much and I know she misses you.”
“But Mom, we could have asked Poppy.” Lily shot me an apologetic look, but I waved her off.
“Don’t be silly. You should go and have fun with Leigh. Mom’s right, she’ll be pleased to see you.”
“You’re sure? We could change plans and do something—”
“Go,” I said, nodding. “I’m going to visit soon, remember.”
“You better. I want to show you around properly this time.”
“Are you staying?” I asked.
“Yeah, but I have to leave first thing to get back for an early lecture.”
“Maybe we can have breakfast before you leave.”
“I’m sure I can squeeze you in.” She beamed.
College looked good on her. She had a quiet confidence she’d never had before and I was so happy for her. But it was bittersweet. Because the more she settled in at University Park, the more she moved away from life here.
Lily’s cell pinged and she glanced at it. “Leigh is here. I’ll see you later, okay?” She kissed Mom and then Dad.
“Have fun, sweetheart. Say hi to Leigh for us.”
Lily disappeared and I stared at Mom.
“Oh, Poppy, don’t give me that look.” She let out a dramatic sigh. “I didn’t do it on purpose. I just thought it would be nice for the two of them to spend some time together.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to. Everything is not some great conspiracy against you.”
“Fee,” Dad said, giving her a warning look.
“What?”
“Babe,” he sighed. “You have to see how it looks.”
“It’s fine,” I said, heading for the door. “I have a ton of homework anyway.”
“Poppy, sweetheart, you don’t have to—”
I was already gone, slamming the door behind me the second I got in my bedroom.
She was so freaking clueless at times.
A second later, there was a knock at my door. “Poppy, it’s me,” Dad’s voice reverberated through my room.
“I’m fine.”
“Yeah.” The door creaked open and he stuck his head inside. “But I’m not.”
“Huh?”
“I need to hide out in here for a while before I say something to your mom I might regret.” A faint smile traced his mouth. “Room for a not so little one?” He glanced at my bed, and I rolled my eyes.
“Fine. But only because you’re scared of Mom.”
“Scared shitless.” He grinned and we both got on my bed, lying side by side. “She can’t help it, you know? When your mom worries about something it’s with her whole heart.”
“I know and I get it. I worry about Lily too, Dad. But it’s hard sometimes, never being the star in her eyes.”
“Sweetheart, that’s… You know you’re all your mom, right? From the way you love, the way you protect the people you care about. She doesn’t wrap you up in cotton wool because she knows she doesn’t have to. You’re so headstrong, Poppy. You know what you want and how to make it happen. We’re both so proud of you.”
I wasn’t so sure about that but I didn’t argue.
“So why are you up here apologizing for her?” I glanced at him.
His smile wavered a little. “I love your mom more than I have ever loved or will ever love another person on this planet. She’s it for me. I knew it the second we kissed for the first time. Fought it like hell but I knew it in here.” He laid his hand over his heart. “But admitting fault has never been her strongest attribute. She loves you, Poppy. So damn much. We both do.”
“I know that. It’s just part of me thought that when Lily went away it would bring us closer…”
“And it feels like the opposite?”
“I guess. Does that make me a horrible person?”
“Never, sweetheart. You have such a big heart, Poppy. Eli Hannigan is a lucky guy.”
“Dad!” I nudged him with my elbow.
“What? I’m just saying, he’s lucky—”
“Thank you.”
“Whatever for?”
“For being the kind of dad I can talk to about stuff. Even S-E-X stuff. Actually, while you’re here, I have a question or two.”
“Question?” He sat up, the blood draining from his face. “What kind of question?”
“Well, I know where everything goes, obviously.” I smirked, fighting back the laughter building inside of me. “But I wasn’t sure how to—”
“Whoa, whoa, now just hang on a minute.” He clambered off the bed and stood. “I’m not sure I’m equipped to deal with the technical questions. Maybe I should get Mom.”
“But I thought you wanted me to talk to you about this stuff?”
His brows crinkled as he stared down at me. “I am here for you. I am prepared to kick the ass of any guy who doesn’t treat you right. But, sweetheart, there are some things a father never ever, under any circumstances, needs to hear.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Aaron
“I got us Homecoming tickets,” Zara said the next morning when she accosted me outside my locker.
“You did what?”
Her brows furrowed with annoyance. “I got us Homecom—”
“I heard you the first time, Zar. You thought that would be a good idea. Why exactly?”
“Because it’s senior year, and I’m the cheer captain and you’re the football captain so it makes sense for us to go together. Besides, who else would you go with?”
Who else indeed.
My eyes searched the hall for any signs of Poppy but I hadn’t seen her yet.
Or Hannigan.
“So I was thinking we should coordinate colors. Obviously, Raider blue and white but I don’t know if I should do a white dress with blue accessories or— Aaron.” She jabbed me in the ribs. “Are you listening to a word I”m saying?”
“W-what?” I blinked down at her, and she let out a little huff of exasperation.
“It doesn’t matter. We can figure it out. We have time.”
“Right.” What the fuck was she going on about? Her voice grated on me like nails on a chalkboard. I couldn’t think straight as it was and she wouldn’t shut the fuck up.
Jesus. It was too early for this shit.
“We just need to find Cole a date now.” She went on oblivious to the irritation coursing through me. “Maybe Madison or Beth will want to go with him. Although Madison was kind of put out the other week when he blew her off.”
“I don’t think Cole will be bothered about going without a date.” Like I wasn’t bothered, but telling Zara ‘no’ was more hassle than it was worth.
Even if I did have to survive… this.
“Yeah, but we’ll be together, and Ezra has Ashleigh, and Poppy is going with Eli.”
My spine went rigid. “What did you say?”
“She didn’t tell you?” Zara pouted, twirling the ends of her curled ponytail around her finger. “Guess it slipped her mind. Oh, I know. Cole and Sofia could go together.”
Any other day the idea of my sister going on a date with Cole would have freaked me the hell out, but I was too caught up on the part where Zara said Poppy was going to Homecoming with Eli.
Together.
On a date.
Didn’t seniors hook up after Homecoming?
Fuck.
“They’re definitely going together?” I blurted.
“Well, that’s what Eli told his friends on the swim team. I heard them talking about it earlier.”
“Right.”
My stomach dropped into my fucking toes. She was going to do it. Poppy was going to go on a date with Eli and hook up with him just to hurt me for hurting her.
What a clusterfuck.
“I need to go,” I said, moving around Zara.
“Aaron,” she called after me but I took off down the hall. I needed to run suicides or hit the gym or do something physical. But if I wanted to protect my shoulder, I couldn’t do any of those things, so I settled for slipping out of the building and heading for the bleachers. The one place I’d always been able to think.
The weather had turned the last few days, the cool wind chasing off the lingering warmth of summer. But I welcomed the bite in the air. It grounded me.
I’d had so many plans for this year. So many hopes. But nothing was working out the way I’d anticipated. And maybe I’d been a fool to think it would. To think that Pittsburgh would want me. Or that Poppy and I would continue dancing around one another without the added complication of other people. It was a mindfuck, to suddenly want her. When I’d ignored the chemistry between us for so long.
Friends.
She was and always would be my friend first. I wasn’t even sure I could ever cross that line with her—hypothetically, if it was a possibility.
It wasn’t.
But there was no denying that the boundaries of our friendship had begun to fray over the last year or so. Poppy had grown into a beautiful, confident, warm and kind young woman. She was the type of girl you brought home to meet your parents. The type of girl you settled down with. Except, my parents already considered her like a daughter.
If we ever crossed that line—and we couldn’t—there would be no keeping it from our families, no gradual getting to know each other or taking things slow and steady, because our lives were entwined. Deeply, intrinsically woven together.
It would be like dating family.
Except I’d never kissed a family member or dreamed about doing downright dirty things to them.
What the actual fuck?
I slammed my fist down on the bench beside me. I needed to get a fucking grip. There was never going to be an ‘us’ so I didn’t need to worry about it.
Poppy was my friend.
That’s all.
Anything else was irrelevant, and didn’t warrant me sitting on the bleachers by myself, hiding out like some pussy.
She could go to Homecoming with Eli and I could survive a night as Zara’s date. It would be fucking strange, watching her with a guy. Watching them flirt and dance and kiss. But I needed to get used to it, because if she couldn’t be with me, I couldn’t expect her to be with no one else.
No matter how much I hated the idea.
“Sofe, you awake?” I bellowed up the stairs, taking two at a time.
“I am now, jerk face,” she yelled back.
A smirk tugged at my lips as I knocked on her door.
“Come in.”
“Hey.” I slipped into her room. “How are—”
“I swear to God. Aaron, if anyone asks me one more time how I am, I’m going to lose my shit.”
“Mom been checking in?”
“Only every hour. She’s insufferable.” Sofia let out a weary sigh. “How was your day? Please tell me it was better than mine.”
My brows crinkled. “Apparently I’m going to Homecoming with Zara.”
“Ew. That’s… Ew.” She faked shuddered.
“She kind of railroaded me into it.”
“Ah yes, she’s known for her steamroller qualities.”
“Apparently Poppy is going with Eli,” I said casually.
“Good for her.” Sofia stared me dead in the eye, a challenge written all over her expression.
But I didn’t take the bait.
“Right? She deserves the full senior year experience.”
“And you’re okay with Eli being the one to give it to her?”
I shrugged. “If it’s not Eli, it’ll be someone else.”
“You’re an idiot.”
“Gee, thanks, Sis. Love you too.”
“Honestly, I could bash your heads together. She loves you, Aaron. She’s in love with you.”
I ignored her words, refusing to let them touch my heart.
“It’s not like that for me. I care about her, but that’s all it is.”
“That’s all it is.” Bitter laughter rose inside her. “You know what they say, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.’ And someone, whether it’s Eli or the guy after him or the one after that, will come along and steal her right out from under you.”
“She’s not mine to take.”
“You’re a liar, Aaron. A really bad one at that. And I hope that when you finally realize that the two of you can’t escape each other, she’s moved onto someone who deserves her. Someone who will fight for her.”
Her words hit their intended mark, blasting through my defenses, but I maintained my neutral expression.
“Anyway, I didn’t come here to argue about Poppy. I came to ask you a big favor.”
“Go on…”
“I need you to go to Homecoming… as Cole’s date.”
“No. Absolutely not.”
“You have to. He won’t go with Madison or Beth, and Zara’s insisting he has a date.”
“What’s it got to do with her whether he goes stag or not? And since when do you give a shit about what Zara Willis wants?”
“I don’t know the inner workings of her mind. She probably wants us all to coordinate or something.”
“I’ll say it again, since when do you give a shit—”
“I’m trying to keep the peace.” I blew out an exasperated breath.
“Is that what we’re calling it?”
“Sis, come on. You know how she gets. She didn’t give me a chance to say no.”
“Ask Poppy.”
“What? No! Are you deaf? I’m going with Zara. Besides, like I said, Poppy is going with Eli.”
“Ahh, I see.” A knowing smirk tugged at her mouth. “That’s what this is really about.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“No? So it’s not one big game? Poppy goes with Eli to try and forget all about her feelings for you. You go with Zara to try and prove a point that you’re not jealous about Eli. It has disaster written all over it.”
“You’re wrong. I’m not—”
“Aaron, if you tell me you’re not jealous, I will scream.”
“Fine, I’m jealous.” I threw my hand up. “Is that what you want to hear? That seeing them together drives me in-fucking-sane.”
“It’s a start,” she said smugly.
“It doesn’t matter, Sofe. Don’t you get it? Me and Poppy together, crossing that line, is a mistake. We’re friends. We’re family for fuck’s sake.”
“What are you scared of?”
“Losing her,” I breathed, a heavy weight plunking in my chest. “I’m scared of losing her.”
“Aaron, that’s—”
“I love you; you’re my sister. You’re literally part of me. But you’ve got to stop with all this bullshit. I love Poppy. I will always love her. But the same way I love you or Mom. That’s all it is.” That’s all it can ever be.
“Fine. I won’t say anything again.”
“Thank you.” I ran a hand down my face. “So about Homecoming…”
“Shouldn’t Cole be the one asking me to go?”
“It’s not a real date, Sofe. It’s just a favor.”
“A favor, right. And what if I have an actual date lined up?”
“Well, do you?”
“No.” Her expression dropped.
“So it’s perfect. We can all go together after the game.”
“I can hardly wait.” She rolled her eyes. “How is your shoulder feeling?”
“Sore but okay.”
“Still no word from Connecticut or Iowa?”
“Nothing.” My teeth ground together as I stared at the wall.
“Maybe you should—” My eyes snapped to hers and widened. Sofia held her hands up. “Forget I said anything.”
“You think I should broaden my horizons? Look at other schools?”
“I can’t tell you what to do, Aaron.” Pity shone in her eyes and I hated it. I fucking hated that everyone felt sorry for me.
“I wanted Pittsburgh so badly.”
“I know. But it’s one college. There are other opportunities out there.”
“Says the girl who knows exactly what she’s doing with her life.”
“Aaron…”
“Yeah, yeah. We can’t all be academic geniuses like you.” I blew her a kiss and she scrunched her nose at me.
“You’re a real pain in the ass, Brother.”
“The feeling is entirely mutual, Sister.”
We both laughed, and it was the first time in days I felt lighter.
Now if only I could figure out what to do about Poppy…
And my future.
“Didn’t expect to see you two here,” I said to Ezra and Ashleigh as they slipped into the man cave later that evening.
After my heart to heart with Sofia, we’d come out here to hang. I’d texted Cole and Ezra inviting them, but I hadn’t actually thought Ezra and Ashleigh would show.
