“Mmhmm,” Mom responds, rereading a direction in her knitting book because our mom can’t knit to save her life, much less to keep anyone warm, but she’s been trying to knit a blanket since before the scandal with our dad broke out, and seems determined to complete it.
“I’ve been seeing someone,” I tell her.
Mom looks up, peering over the frame of her glasses at me. “I know.”
“You know?” I ask.
Grandpa smirks. “You act like we don’t watch your games. We’ve been waiting for you to say something since we’ve been watching you kissing Poppy at the end of every game for a few weeks.”
Rae’s lips teeter with another smile that she tries to fight.
“Well, in that case, forget my announcement,” I say. Even Lincoln grins.
Mom’s smile is wider. “I’m happy for you, Pax. You know we adore Poppy, and there’s nothing I want more than for my kids to be happy.”
There’s a but coming. I can hear it in how her voice has transitioned into “teacher mode,” overly diplomatic and neutral. “But?” I prompt her when she remains silent.
Mom’s brow lifts, and she takes off her reading glasses, staring at me head-on. “There’s not a but—it’s just Poppy’s special. She’s special to our family. I think it’s important that you’re certain you’re done with your past relationship to ensure no one gets hurt.”
“What your mother’s saying is, don’t make us pick sides. You won’t like the verdict,” Grandpa says, winking at me.
“Candace and I have been broken up for nearly four months.”
Mom nods. “I know. And, honey, I’m glad you’re with Poppy. I mean, it’s a little crazy that you’re with Rae’s best friend and she’s with your best friend… I mean, it has a little bit of a…”
“Don’t go there, Mom,” Rae says.
Mom smiles, and for the first time in nearly a year, it doesn’t look fractured. She looks happy, teasing and joking around like we used to do when we gathered at home for dinner and spent time together. “You guys could open a dating service and start one of those shows.”
“Rae could pick the girls, and Pax could pick the guys,” Camilla says.
“Not a chance,” I say.
“For the record, I was so much better about accepting you dating my friend,” Rae says.
“You freaked out when Poppy told you.”
“That was when you guys were fake dating,” Rae says.
“Speaking of which, when did you guys flip the switch and decide it was real? Didn’t you say it started right after Halloween?” Mom asks, looking at Rae.
My gaze steers to my sister, accusation in my stare.
She lifts both hands. “What was I supposed to do? Your kiss made the news while I was here. I wasn’t going to lie. Plus, I couldn’t talk to Poppy about how weird it was that my best friend was dating my brother.”
“You could have given me a heads up.”
“It was fun to see you sweat a little.” She smiles.
“This is why Maggie’s my favorite sister,” I say. But this only makes her break into laughter.
When the doorbell rings a moment later, Grandpa looks at me. “For the record, I approve.”
Sarcastic retorts sheath my words, but none of them make it past my thoughts because it’s not approval that I see in his gaze but something far more significant that feels like pride and happiness.
Poppy is on the other side of the door, eyes wide like a cat.
I grin, sensing her trepidation. “They know,” I whisper.
She winces. “How’d they take the news?”
“Poppy!” Grandpa calls. “I hope you’re hungry. I made chili and jalapeno cornbread.”
Her lips slowly spread into a hopeful smile that I reciprocate without thought. “They already knew.”
“They did?”
I nod. “And they officially like you more than me.”
Her smile grows. “I’m so nervous.”
“Why? You shouldn’t be.”
“Because I love your family. I care what they think, and I really want this to go well.”
My thoughts don’t deviate to Candace often. I try not to compare the two with anything, but this is such a stark difference that it makes my entire chest tighten with regret for not having cared about this significant difference before. I didn’t need Candace to like my family—it would have been okay if she didn’t get along with them—but she never cared enough to even try.
I lean forward, sliding her hair behind one ear. “I need you to come inside so that I don’t drag you back to my house because right now, I want to put my mouth between your legs and feast on you.”
Her breath comes out in an uneven gasp. I straighten and pull her inside.
29
Poppy
I slip into Modern Political Thought with seconds left to spare, my stomach filled with pizza and my cheeks aching from the smile that’s been consuming me for the past couple of hours while I spent time with Paxton at Mario’s Pizzeria. Wednesdays are still one of my favorite days of the week because it’s guaranteed to be slow, and I get Paxton nearly alone to talk about anything and everything. Today when we talked about things we could and could not live without.
“Poppy,” Mike says, interrupting my thoughts of Pax that have me smiling.
I debate if I should keep going and pretend like I don’t see and hear him. But before I can decide if he’d believe the farce, Mike calls my name again, this time louder as he starts to stand up, making my decision for me. I slip into the seat beside him, working to ignore the niggling in my chest that tells me this is a bad idea.
“I heard a new band this weekend,” he says. “They’re out of Portland, and they’re crazy good.”
“That’s cool. Did Maddie go with you?”
Mike weaves his pen between his fingers, then tucks it behind his ear. “I also found a new bar this weekend that’s attracting a bunch of new talent. Supposedly some label execs like to
