Page 41 of The Beginning and End of Everything
“Nah, I think you love me.”
“You wish.”
She was so damned close. Her lips inches from mine. Out of all the times I’d wondered whether Poppy would taste sweet like candy, I’d almost given in a handful. But this time, when she closed her eyes and leaned in ever so slightly, I couldn't talk myself out of wanting her. I just couldn’t, so I brushed her thick hair away from her neck. Before I gave her to Connor, before I lost any chance I had, I wanted to know what it was like to kiss her.
Just one time.
I wrapped my hand around the back of her neck. My thumb swept her jaw, and when I so damn slowly pressed my lips to hers, the world stopped. For one second, all the noise and pain subsided.
Our tongues brushed against each other, and I fought back a groan. God, she was everything—every-fucking-thing I would never have, which was why, as difficult as it was, I tore away from her soft lips.
"Shit…” I pushed up, pacing the pier with the taste of her still on my tongue, then,without another word, I turned tail.
21
Poppy
Brandon had kissed me and walked off.
I stared across the quiet lake, halfway floating, but mostly plummeting.
It was everything I’d imagined—brutal and raw. The taste of his mouth was still on mine, and I pressed my fingers to my lips, trying to savor it to keep from crying.
“Poppy?” Connor’s voice echoed over the water, and I quickly blinked away the pathetic tears building in my eyes.
"Down here.”
A few seconds later, footsteps sounded over the wooden planks. "Why are you out here by yourself?" The warmth of his jacket draped around my shoulders when he settled behind me and pulled me to his chest. "Just tired, I guess." But I wasn’t. I was devastated. Brokenhearted.
"I’ll take you home. I'm bored anyway."
* * *
That night,I stared at my window, waiting for Brandon to crawl through, but one o’clock came and went. Then two, and my bed was still empty.
I tried to force sleep, but every time I closed my eyes, all I saw was the look of regret that washed over Brandon’s face after he’d kissed me. No matter whether either of us wanted things to change or not, they had. And there was no coming back from that. At a quarter to three, I threw the covers off, slipped into a pair of shorts, and my shoes, then climbed through my window.
I’d always taken him in when he was hurt, and now it was his turn to return the favor.
The roads between my house and the Gypsy camp were empty. The metal gate clanked when I climbed over it to weave my way between the dark trailers.
I stopped outside of Brandon’s caravan, forgetting Sean wasn’t there to bark anymore.
The blue haze from the TV lit up the living room window. When I raised my hand to knock, I hesitated, wondering if he may have a girl in there. The thought of him going from me to someone else made my skin heat, and I pounded my fist over the door.
A shadow appeared through the glass. “Poss?”
The latch clicked, the door swung open, and I didn’t even care that he was in nothing but a pair of low-slung jeans, or that he looked like every bit the bad boy he was. I couldn’t take the time to appreciate any of that because he’d hurt me. And that was one thing Brandon was never supposed to do.
He scrubbed a hand through his messy hair, stepping to the side to let me in before he closed the door. “You okay?”
I was anything but okay. But how could I even begin to tell Brandon he was the reason I wasn’t when I feared it may end everything we were to each other?
“No.” My voice caught, and his brows furrowed. “I’m not.”
“Tell me who, and I’ll…” His fists clenched at his side. Brandon O’Kieffe, always eager to defend his possum. The only irony was that he couldn’t possibly protect me from the pain being in love with him caused. Not when he was so oblivious to it.
“Poss?”
