KDBookOnline
Share Us
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 laterSkye 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.”