“In my building?” Turner asked, his brows ascending. “No way, Shrimp. Not a chance. Thirteen years was enough for me, thanks. You were the whole reason I moved out.”
“You say that to all of us,” Charlotte said, sort of laughing.
“Because all of you were,” Turner said. “You know how I feel about business and family.”
Charlotte tugged on Poppy’s arm. “Turner has some weird philosophy about personal and professional.”
“Never a lender or a borrower be,” Turner said.
“You give me money all the time,” Charlotte said.
“Yeah, but do I ever ask for it back?” Turner asked. “I provide for you at my pleasure; that means whenever I feel like it. I’m not obliged to pay your rent every month.”
“You said you’d cover a portion wherever I ended up… and that I could only stay somewhere under your management. How is that different from living in your actual building?”
“Because I don’t want to know what you’re up to every minute, Char,” he said. “You think I’m worried about you not paying your rent? The chance to evict you is up there on my pro list, Shrimp. You think I wanna know about every lowlife you drag home? You think I want the whole posse rolling in and out of my place like it’s Wrigley Field?”
“You have never liked a single one of my boyfriends.”
“No,” Turner said, slipping his hands in his pockets. “And proud of it… You want me to like one of them, pick a good one.”
“You don’t even like Kev.”
A flicker of something dropped over his expression. So far he’d kept his attention on Charlotte, which gave Poppy a chance to observe their interaction. It was then, putting together their words with the way they looked at each other, that she figured it out.
“You’re siblings.” Both Turner and Charley looked at her. Breathing out, she smiled. “Sorry, ignore me. I just—ignore me.”
“What did you think we were?” Charley asked, screwing up her face. “Ew, did you think—”
“No!” Poppy said, laughing again, just because it was an invisible weight off. “No, it was just today I… it occurred to me I’d never asked either of you how you knew each other.”
“He’s my big brother,” Charley said, prodding his stomach. “He just doesn’t like to tell people ‘cause I used to beat him up all the time.”
“When you were kids?” Poppy asked.
Amused pride shone from Charley’s face, which was maybe why Turner shoved her. “I was eleven when she was born. Could’ve put a pillow over her face any time.”
“Something he still threatens every so often.”
“Shouldn’t you be on your way home by now, Shrimp?” Turner asked, looking at his non-existent watch, then showing Charley his bare wrist. “If you’re not home soon, Mom will call in the cavalry.”
“You’re the cavalry, idiot, and you know where I am,” Charley said, shoving his arm out of her way to stride past. Except, the moment she did, she paused. There was a cab already waiting by the curb. She stopped to narrow her eyes on him. “You could’ve just given me a ride home.”
“I walked,” Turner said. “And you know I can’t just stop outside. If I drive you home, Mom will never forgive me if I don’t go in, and I have a five AM call.”
Charley just shrugged and tramped toward the cab. Turner picked up his pace to open the door for her to get in. With one hand on the roof, he bowed to say something to her in the back seat.
Poppy didn’t know what to do. She could just start walking; their building wasn’t that far away and she’d meant to walk. If she waited, that would mean walking with Turner. The last time they’d walked home hadn’t ended well.
FOURTEEN
Before Poppy could decide, Turner closed Charley’s door and pulled a wallet from his back pocket. He took out a bunch of bills and handed them to the cab driver. They exchanged a few words then Turner hit the roof and backed off, watching his sister drive away.
He really cared about Charley, about his family. He was the whole package. Poppy should kick herself for still noticing things like that and for swooning over them. As the cab turned the corner to leave the block, Turner about-faced to come over and stop just a couple of feet in front of her.
“We’ll never figure this out hiding from each other, babe.”
Poppy took a breath, letting it out slowly before she spoke. “I am trying so hard to respect your wishes,”