Page 79 of Special Delivery
Poppy seized on the change of subject. ‘Really?’ She gulped more brain-defogging water. ‘Henry didn’t mention he was coming.’
‘Yeah, saw him near the portaloos. He said his fiancée has been in Brisbane for a few months.’
Poppy frowned. ‘There’s something strange going on there. Henry has been acting a bit weird lately.’
Dani’s eyes lit up. ‘Ooh, I hope he turns up here. I’ll find out what’s going on.’
Poppy smiled wryly at her friend. ‘You do that.’ Poppy had no interest in the machinations of Henry-and-Willa. It had taken her and Henry so long to get back to a place of comfortablecompanionship, she didn’t want anything messing with the precarious balance they’d established, which was largely based on pretending Willa was some sort of asexual roommate.
‘Look who’s made it into the inner sanctum,’ said Dani in her David Attenborough voice again. ‘The male of the species, following a mere sixty minutes of separation, has renewed his focus on his target. He scans his surrounds for a female companion, ready to lure her in with his mating dance.’
At that moment, James spotted them and waved. He began making his way over.
‘Can we agree there’ll be no more chat about mating?’ Poppy pleaded. ‘At least, not in front of James?’
Dani sighed. ‘Okay. But I promise you, the sexual tension is on par with that silverback gorilla doco we watched the morning after my hens’ party. Remember those humping noises? I still hear them in my dreams. I mean, only my sexual dreams, obviously—’
‘Dani, stop!’
‘Stop what?’ asked James. His eyes were sparkling from the cold outside.
‘Nothing.’ Poppy glared at her friend.
A waiter in a black t-shirt arrived at their table. ‘Hi, guys, sorry to interrupt, but we need to move this table now. We’ve got to get the dancefloor ready.’
‘Finally!’ yelled Dani, punching the air. ‘This is what I’ve been waiting for. You guys coming?’ She was already adjusting her dress straps ready for the exercise. Dani prided herself on her energetic moves, which both dazzled onlookersandcounted as an aerobic workout.
‘I’m not dance-ready yet,’ admitted James.
‘Fine, you two stay here. I’ll go find April.’ Dani strode off before Poppy could answer for herself.
‘She definitely hates me,’ muttered James.
‘She’s just protective and opinionated, and a dancefloor fiend. There was no way she was going to be impressed by you unless you challenged her to a dance-off to MC Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This”.’
James smiled. ‘I’ll save that for later.’ He reached for Poppy’s hand and pulled her towards him. ‘Come on, McKellar, I’m buying you a drink.’
Poppy allowed herself to be led to the bar, enjoying the warmth of his hand on hers. Butterflies of …somethingpirouetted in her stomach.
Next to them, an older guy with a beard was yelling at the bartender while wobbling like an amateur rollerskater. James’s arm slid around Poppy’s waist and he steered her to the left, shielding her from the drunken man. Her skin crackled where he’d touched her and flashbacks from the stable suddenly flooded her. The pull of fabric, the tug of hair, the touch of his lips on her skin …Pull it together!she scolded herself.
Drinks in hand, they made their way back to the far corner of the room, where Poppy found a spare table and perched on a bar stool.
‘WhyisDani so protective?’ asked James as they sat down.
‘Oh, you know,’ replied Poppy vaguely.
‘Tell me.’
Poppy picked up a cardboard coaster from the centre of the table and traced the edge with her fingertip, trying tofind the right words. ‘She’s my best friend. She’s been the one constant since we met in first-year uni. Other friends and boyfriends have come and gone, but she’s always been there for me. She’s my ride or die, and she doesn’t want me to get hurt.’
‘And she thinks you’re in danger of getting hurt by me?’
‘No—and yes,’ Poppy admitted. She forced herself to settle the coaster on the table and placed her drink on top. ‘She thinks I’m vulnerable right now, and she thinks you’re interested in being more than friends, and she thinks I …’ Poppy trailed off and tipped her head to look at the strip lighting on the ceiling. The way it blinded her felt kind of good.
‘What else does she think?’
Poppy was suddenly exhausted. Exhausted from life, and today, and these heels … and most of all, she was exhausted from not knowing what to do. ‘She thinks the friends-with-benefits thing is dangerous. She thinks I’ll end up wanting more and getting my heart broken.’
