Page 125 of Broken Ties (Rixon High 4)

“I just think you deserve a girl who can give you her full attention.”

“And your attention is elsewhere?” There was no judgment in his eyes and it only made it harder because he was such a good guy.

When I didn’t answer, he asked, “Does he know?”

I nodded. “But he doesn’t… It isn’t like that for him.” The words got stuck in my throat.

“I see. Well, it’s his loss, Poppy. I hope you know that.”

“That’s very sweet of you to say.”

“You know, if you want to go to Homecoming, I still would love to go with you. As friends.”

“Wouldn’t that be… awkward?”

“Well a bunch of the guys from the swim team are going. It can be a group thing. You’ll be going with Sofia anyway, right?”

“We plan to go still, yeah, so we’ll see you there?”

“Absolutely.” He stood, and I was relieved he didn’t want to drag this out any longer than necessary. “And Poppy?”

“Yeah?”

“Save a dance for me?” His lips quirked, and for a second, I wanted it to be Eli.

I wanted him to be the one my heart wanted.

“I will.” I smiled.

“I’ll hold you to that. I guess I’ll see you around?”

“Yeah.”

His gaze lingered for a second and he looked about ready to say something else. But someone called his name and he glanced over to them.

“That’s my cue,” he said with a small wave, and took off.

Sofia skipped back over to me, her brows raised. “So…”

“It went surprisingly well.”

“That’s a good thing, right?”

“Yeah. He even said we could hang out with him and the swim team at Homecoming.”

“That’ll give Aaron something to sulk about.”

“Sofe, I’m not trying to play games.”

“I know.” She laced her arm through mine. “Senior year sure isn’t working out how we thought, huh?”

“There’s still time for it to get better,” I said. “How are you feeling today?”

“Okay, I guess.”

“Did you tell them?”

“Poppy…”

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