Page 40 of The Beginning and End of Everything
“What?” His brow wrinkled. “Of course, I do. What kind of stupid question is—”
“No, like, do youloveher?”
He sank into the beanbag and scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “She’s Poppy, Brandon. Of course, I do.”
“Jesus. Do you want to bang her, Con?”
That got his cheeks red. His gaze fell to his lap, and he pretended to fiddle with an imaginary string. “You don’t bang a girl like Poppy, Bran.”
“Fine.” I clenched my fist and thumped my thigh. “Do you want to marry her and have babies and shit?”
“I’m sixteen…” He was still messing with the imaginary string.
I exhaled a long breath, then closed my eyes because damn, I didn’t want to do this, but I had to. “Look, I need you to kiss her.”
“What is going on? I can’t kiss her. She’s our friend and—”
I looked at him. “I punched Poppy’s date tonight. Like, beat the shit out of him.”
The beanbag rustled when he fell back into it, his palm to his forehead. “Now you’ve done it, Bran. Now you’ve really done it.”
“And don’t give me that bullshit about her being a friend. You’ve been staring at her like she’s a giant Milkybar for years.”
He frowned.
“Look, no one is ever going to be good enough for her. Agreed?”
“Yeah…”
“Except you, Con. You’re the best person I know. She loves you. You love her…” I spread my hands in a ta-dah motion, forcing a smile while a part of me died.
* * *
The next weekend rolled around,and Poppy still hadn’t talked to me. I guessed I’d finally pushed her too far.
I skipped a fight to go to Hope’s party with the sole purpose of talking to Poppy, but instead, when she walked into the room, I just stared at her until I couldn’t any longer.
With my head down, sipping beer, I spent the better half of that party in the corner of the room. Then Lola perched on the arm of the chair, I pushed to my feet and walked away without acknowledging her. I grabbed a beer from the cooler, then hopped the gate at the back of the McGrath’s property and headed to the lake to clear my head. I didn’t even pop the tab on that beer, just chucked the can into the woods surrounding the property. If tossing alcohol didn’t say something…
Halfway between the house and lake, my steps faltered. Poppy sat at the end of the pier, her legs dangling over the edge with her back to the party. The clouds parted, letting the silver moonlight slip through. The way it bathed Poppy made her seem otherworldly, untouchable. And really, she was.
She didn’t look up when I started down the wooden walkway, and she didn’t say a word when I moved her shoes out of the way to take a seat beside her.
"Why you out here all by yourself, possum?" I folded my knees to my chest.
"Don't know." She dipped her toes beneath the dark water. The motion sent ripples across the surface, the movement catching the reflection of the moon. I wanted to tell her I was sorry, but instead, I said, "Connor was looking for you.”
"And Lola was looking for you.”
As selfish as it made me, I couldn't pretend that her jealousy didn't make me happy. Even though I would never be good enough for Poppy, she thought I was, and that was everything to me simply because I loved her.
"Well, she can keep looking," I said.
A slight smile worked over Poppy’s lips, catching my attention before I tore my gaze away. It was getting harder and harder with her.
"Wouldn't be jealous, would you, poss?" I scooted a little closer and wrapped an arm around her, drawing circles over her bare arm with my fingertip. I should drop it, but before I let go of that fantasy completely…
“I hate you,” she whispered, and I moved closer.
