Chapter fourteen

Theo

Mana

Pos eisai?

Kalo. Pos eisai?

Kalo

Patera?

Kalo

Na se kala

Na se kala agapi mia

That was new. She hadn’t called me my love since she went back to Greece. That, coupled with the fact it was 4:00 am her time made me uneasy. Mana often texted late at night my time, but not before 6:00 am hers.

My phone buzzed again but instead of Mana I had a group text from Lauren, Cammie, and Rowan.

Lauren

Theo, did you know Poppy is on a date with that new guy at Marked?

I didn’t want to be part of this conversation. I felt sick when Aries told me he was meeting Poppy for coffee tonight. Max seemed excited that Aries was making friends and gave him another twenty. He gave me a stern look until I unclenched my fists and headed to the back to lose myself in a custom sketch for one of my regulars.

Cammie

Did you know he did time for A&B?

Now, I did. My hands started to sweat as I typed.

Yes to the date. No to the A&B. Domestic?

The muscles in my neck and shoulders bunched as I waited for Cam to reply.

Lauren

WTF! You knew she was going on a date and you didn’t stop her?

Cammie

If he won’t date her, he can’t stop her from dating other people

Why are you texting each other? Aren’t you together?

Lauren

Focus, Theo. Poppy, your Poppy, is on a date with a guy who checks all her boxes. He’s a bad boy with an actual rap sheet. The girl is attracted to toxic like a moth to flame. She’ll be putty in his hands

Rowan

Agreed. She has never once expressed interest in anyone decent until Theo

Lauren

Thanks for finally joining us. If they try to leave together, should I stop her?

Rowan

Yes

No

Cammie

So, you don’t think Aries is dangerous?

Lauren

They were sitting together at one of Karma’s small bistro tables. Poppy looked gorgeous with her bold eyeliner. I’d never seen her wear that sweater before. It dipped just low enough to give a peek at the tops of her perky tits. She’d clearly put in some effort for the date, and Aries looked like he’d ironed his shirt with the iron I’d never used in the apartment. They were so close their thighs touched, and my stomach soured when I saw their hands entwined.

Rowan

That’s a definite yes, Lauren

Lauren

Rodger

I left the chat. I never should have been part of it to begin with, and if I saw another picture of Poppy and Aries together, I might break my promise to Cal and Aiden and hurt myself. Sometimes the only way to dull the pain in my chest was to pull it from my skin. I cut, tattooed, or pierced away the ache until I was a walking testament to it, my scars as real on the outside as they were inside.

I paced from one end of the house to the other and finally ended up in the studio. Aiden and I had spent the better part of the afternoon searching for a table to replace the one Poppy lost. I’d also bought a couple floor lights since the one overhead sucked. The studio was ready for her to move in. I pulled my phone from my pocket and snapped a picture. I was just being a good friend, letting her know she had a place to work whenever she wanted. I typed a quick text, but my thumb hovered over the send button for one minute, five minutes, as I debated why I was sending it now. I finally broke and hit send.

I knew I was torturing myself. The longer the text went unanswered, the more I let my imagination wreck me. I’d just started picturing them kissing when someone knocked on the front door. I expected to find Rowan or Cal on the other side, but instead Poppy stood on my porch with a huge cardboard box. I’d never felt more relieved in my life.

“You sure you want all this in your house?”

she asked, squeezing past me, her flowery scent jolting my cock to life.

“Of course,”

I said. “Is there more in the hearse?”

“Yeah,”

she shouted, still walking toward the studio.

I ran outside and sucked in a lungful of frigid air, forcing my body to calm down. I pulled two more boxes from the back and stacked them.

“I’ll get the rest,”

she said as she held open the front door for me. I set everything down and returned to the living room as she came back with a large plastic bucket hooked to her arm. I shut the door behind her and followed her to the studio, admiring the curve of her shapely ass in the leggings she wore and the sliver of pale skin where her sweater rose up.

“I’ve always wanted one like this,”

she said with a huge smile as she spun the sculpture modeling stand I’d bought for her. “But I never had the floor space. This is perfect.”

She was perfect, the best mixture of sass and sweet, strong, yet delicate. Not that I could ever tell her that. “You’re welcome anytime. Aiden ordered the door. It should go in next week.”

“Thanks, Theo,”

she said, aiming that powerful smile at me like a cannon.

“So, um, how was your date?”

Damn it, I really was a masochist. That was the last thing I wanted to talk about with her.

“You knew about it?”

she asked, something like hurt sneaking into her expression before she squashed it down.

“Aries wouldn’t shut up about it.”

“I like him. We’re—”

And that’s when I lost my damn mind. Before I registered what was happening, I’d taken her face in my hands and crashed my lips to hers. She tasted like lavender and sugar, impossibly sweet. Poppy let out a shocked yelp before she started kissing me back.

The thought of anyone else touching her made me crazy. Her lips were made for mine. And the rest of her body. Fuck. I lowered my hands to her ass, finally gripping it like I’ve wanted to for so long. She gasped into my mouth when I lifted her, but quickly wrapped her legs around my waist. I pressed her against the only real wall in the studio to free my hands, the need to touch her more desperate than taking my next breath.

When I broke the kiss, both of us were panting. “I want to make you feel good,”

I said, my voice strained.

She nodded. I ran my hands down her body, gripping her breast with one and dipping past the waistband of her leggings with the other. My fingers slid across her soft, wet skin until I found the bundle of nerves that had her moaning my name.

She gripped my shoulders, arching against my touch, taking her pleasure. I kept my thumb on her clit and pushed two fingers inside her in time with her movements. She squeezed her eyes closed and her grip on my shoulders tightened just before she found her release. I’d never seen anything more beautiful than when she shattered in my arms.

Her green eyes locked with mine when they opened, and she said my name with such tenderness my heart clenched. I loved her. I had from the moment she walked into my class. I loved her, but I couldn’t let her look at me with affection I’d never deserve.

“I’m sorry,”

I said, pulling away and lowering her gently to the ground. “I shouldn’t have done that. It won’t happen again.”

“Don’t you dare,”

she said, smacking my chest. “You give me the best orgasm of my life and ruin it with an apology?”

“Because I am sorry,”

I said. My chest grew heavy with an overwhelming sadness. “I can’t be with you. Not like this, no matter how much I want to.”

“That doesn’t make fucking sense. Why not?”

“Because I can’t be with anyone.”

The ache in my chest deepened. What had I done? She should walk out of my life forever after what just happen. But being a selfish prick, I let the panic of never seeing her again take over my mouth. “Please, Poppy, I don’t want to lose you as a friend.”

She studied me a moment, the hurt and confusion raw on her face, then nodded. “On one condition. You have to kiss me again. Then I’ll leave, and we’ll pretend this never happened.”

“And you’ll still come to class and use this studio to work?”

“I promise. But you better make it good. No peck on the lips. Kiss me like it’s the last time.”

I stepped closer and gripped her waist. She placed her slender hands on my chest. I wasn’t sure if we were holding each other or keeping the distance between us, suspended in the moment before we crossed the line for the last time. Her eyes found mine and she nodded. I lowered my lips to taste her once more. The kiss was agonizingly gentle until she parted her soft lips for me. I dipped into her mouth, savoring every caress of her tongue. I released her hips and buried my hands in her hair, pulling her close until every inch of her body rested against mine, her hands twisting the fabric of my shirt. I kissed her until the second before my hunger for her took control, then I pulled away, rested my forehead on hers, and closed my eyes. “Go.”

She sucked in a stuttering breath and my entire body ached as her heated skin left mine. I kept my eyes shut and listened to her footsteps as she left, waiting for the front door to close before I walked to the kitchen and washed her from my hands. Like it never happened. If only I could rid my heart of her as easily as I could her scent.

I walked back to the studio, sank to the floor, and stretched out by the wall where I’d held her. I was still there, staring at the colorless ceiling, when the front door opened and moments later Skye ran in. She whimpered when she saw me and laid her soft head on my chest.

“You OK?”

Cal asked, taking a seat beside me.

I nodded and ran my fingers through Skye’s fur as I pulled myself up to sitting. She rolled onto her back for a belly rub. Her tail twitched with measured excitement when I complied. “Poppy went to your house?”

Cal nodded. We’d been friends since kindergarten when he started talking my ear off and never stopped. He only got quiet when something upset him.

“I fucked up,” I said.

Cal nodded again.

My stomach lurched. “How upset was she?”

“Not my place to tell you.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Figured you needed Skye.”

Skye gave a huff and wiggled her head under my hands until I took the hint and started petting her again.

“Thanks,” I said.

“Not to make this about me, but I’m not sure what to do right now. I’m so mad I don’t want to be in the same room as you, but I’m so worried, I can’t imagine leaving you alone. Your cutting scares the shit out me, you know.”

“I know,”

I said. “And I get why you’re mad. You care about Poppy, and I hurt her.”

It felt like tiny pieces of glass were lodged inside my chest, trying to work their way to the surface.

“Yeah,”

he said, pulling at his hair. “But it’s more than that. I’m pissed because I don’t know what else I can do. You need someone who can help you more than I can. A therapist or something. Maybe then you could really move on with your life. I know you think you don’t deserve Poppy. I also know you’re in love with her.”

I let the silence confirm it.

“Damn it, Theo,”

Cal said, his voice hoarse. “What happens now?”

I shrugged. “She moves on. Hopefully not with Aries.”

“I take it you don’t like him.”

I let out a bitter laugh. “I didn’t trust him before he went out with Poppy.”

“She’s going to date other people,”

Cal said softly. “Maybe even get married one day and have kids. Do you really think you can just watch that happen?”

I nodded. “If she’s happy. If she ends up with someone good like Aiden.”

Cal looked at me like I’d sprouted two extra heads. “You know Aiden wouldn’t touch Poppy with a ten-foot pole.”

“Why not? They get along. He pretends to be an asshole, but we both know he’d give the shirt off his back to anyone who needed it. He’s generous and loyal and—”

“One of your best friends. He’d rather cut off a nut than date the woman you love.”

“He doesn’t know how I feel.”

Cal shook his head. “He’s not blind. If I could see it, so could he. Why do you think he’s working so hard to help Rowan and Poppy find a place for their bakery?”

“You’re marrying Rowan. That’s reason enough for him. But I’ve seen the way he teases her. He likes her.”

“Aiden separates women into two categories: Those he can fuck and those he can’t. Poppy is one hundred percent the latter. He treats every woman he won’t sleep with like one of his sisters, which means helping them whenever he can and teasing them every chance he gets.”

Fuck. Cal was right. Aiden may banter with Poppy but when it came down to it, I couldn’t see him actually making a move, which means some other dickhead would. “Can we change the subject, please?”

Cal rubbed his forehead. “Well, apart from you and Poppy, I have two topics on my mind. What to give Rowan for Valentine’s Day and who to ask to be my best man.”

“That last one is easy. Chris.”

Cal shook his head. “He’s nervous about being in the wedding. He hasn’t been to many, and he quote ‘Doesn’t want to screw it up.’ I had a hard enough time convincing him to be a groomsman. There’s no way he’d be the best man, so that leaves you or Aiden.”

“Well, that’s a no-brainer too. Aiden will give a better speech and throw an epic bachelor party.”

“True,”

Cal said, staring off at the blackened glass walls. “But he’s not you. Logan and Aiden were best friends before we met them. You’ve always been mine.”

“By default,” I said.

“Maybe,”

Cal said. “But you’re my brother now. You have been for years.”

I gripped his shoulder to show I felt the same, but said, “All the more reason you should ask Aiden. He’ll never get to be Logan’s best man.”

Cal let out a sigh but nodded. “So, what do I give Rowan for Valentine’s Day?”

“You finally realized camping gear isn’t an appropriate gift for your fiancée?”

Cal shoved my hand off his shoulder and twisted me into a head lock, giving me the noogies of all noogies. “It was the perfect birthday gift, asshole. We’re hiking part of the Appalachian trail for our honeymoon.”

“Can’t spring for a tropical vacation, doc?”

I said, shoving him off me.

“It’s what she wanted,”

Cal said. “And I’ve made it my mission in life to give her everything she wants.”

“Good thing Rowan is low maintenance.”

“Yeah,”

Cal said, frowning. “But is she too low maintenance? Does she only want the bare minimum because she thinks that’s what she deserves?”

Skye whimpered again and glanced between Cal and me. Poor dog didn’t know who needed her more. Cal petted her, either to make her feel better or to ease the tension that had gathered around his eyes.

“That’s a terrible way to look at it,”

I said, my stomach twisting. Rowan’s ex was a douche, but she seemed to have moved on from the marriage with her self-esteem intact. She called Cal on his shit when needed. She genuinely loved hiking and gave up a lucrative career because she valued her friends and family above money. But Cal was a worrier, which was in no small part thanks to me. I cleared my throat. “She’s not me.”

Cal chuckled. “Thank goodness for that. I don’t think I could handle two of you.”

I shoved his shoulder. “Look, I was kidding about the camping honeymoon. It’s perfect for you and Rowan.”

“Yeah, but I don’t want to get her a water purifier for our first Valentine’s Day after giving her a mixer for Christmas.”

“What if you made her something?”

“Like at one of those paint-a-mug places?”

“Are you five?”

“No, but my artistic skills haven’t improved since elementary school.”

“Even if they haven’t, you could make her a necklace. All you need is silicone to carve the mold, a crucible, and some silver or gold. Max has a blow torch and all the safety gear.”

“Pretty sure anything involving a blow torch is beyond my skill set.”

“It’s not beyond mine. I’ve helped Max make a few custom piercings for clients. How cool would it be to give Rowan jewelry you designed and made yourself?”

“You just want to help me because you feel guilty for refusing to be my best man.”

“Technically, you never asked.”

“Theo, will you be my best man?”

he asked with the enthusiasm of someone asking for the salt.

“No, brother,”

I said, slapping his back. “But I’ll help you make Rowan a kick-ass gift. Who knows, maybe you’ll like it and smelt your own wedding rings.”

“That’s a hard no.”

“You underestimate yourself.”

His eyes looked sad as he nodded and said, “Same, brother. Same.”