Page 14 of Wicked Love

and I am here for it.

I like that our kids will witness healthy

love and marriages…

from someone besides me.

So cheers to you, my brave brothers,

for carrying this mantle.

I salute you.

~Bowie

I’m not a cynic about love, despite my disastrous experience with it. I can appreciate that my friends are finding it and can be happy for them, while still not going within a ten-foot pole of it.

When I see that Poppy Keane is at Weston and Sadie's wedding, I think,Well, Sadie got her way after all. She knew I wouldn’t bring a date, so she found a way to deliver one to me.

What I end up saying to Sadie is simply, “Really, Sadie?Really?”

She laughs her ass off and she can do that because it’s her day, and she gets whatever the fuck she wants. I don’t even begrudge her matchmaking busybodyness all that much, but it’s not going to work.

After our initial interaction, I don’t look Poppy’s way again until after Mrs. McGregor takes Becca to the three-bedroom suite we’re sharing and puts her to bed. Becca got todance her heart out and was exhausted from all the wedding festivities.

Now, several drinks in, I’m watching Poppy out on the dance floor looking all kinds of sexy in the deep blue dress that matches her eyes perfectly, and I'm not so aggravated with Sadie.

There's just something about Poppy that I'm drawn to. I can’t explain it.

Yes, she's beautiful. She's charming and quirky and kind.

She’s incredibly sweet with my daughter, which softens me every time we see her.

But I’ve met beautiful, kind women before and I have not been moved.

What is it about her?

Tonight, for once, I don't feel like second-guessing it. So when we end up dancing in the same space on the dance floor and she grins up at me, I dance with her. Before I know it, the floor gets crowded and my hands are on her waist. Next thing I know…her arms are looped around my neck and we’re staring at each other as we move in time.

I’ve been burned before. Goddamn, have I ever been burned.

But having a woman as beautiful as Poppy in my arms tonight…it makes me want to set all of that aside for a few hours and just enjoy this.

Neither one of us talks. We just move from one dance to the next like we were made to do this together.

Until the end of the night when the music stops and the few of us that are left help see Weston and Sadie out the door. They’re staying at the lodge tonight, so there’s no big fanfare, but there are hugs all around.

“Love you, man,” Weston says.

“I love you too. It was a beautiful wedding. Let me knowif you need anything before you take off for your honeymoon.”

“Thanks for everything. Sutton and Felicity are taking us to the airport tomorrow, so we should be set. You’ll see us again at brunch though.”

“Oh, that’s right. See you then.”

They walk out and the rest of us stand there blinking in the bright lights. The staff of the lodge are bustling to get things back in order now that it’s clearing out.

“Great night,” Rhodes says, putting his hand on my shoulder. “You guys looked flawless out there.” He smiles at me and Poppy.

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