an immature eighteen-year-old anymore, and he probably deserved the chance to apologize for his behavior. But she’d seen something in his eyes, and it was that something that scared her, because she’d also heard things. His life was messy and complicated, and he had baggage.
She couldn’t do messy and complicated anymore. Especially not with him.
Because Poppy knew that if she wasn’t careful, that piece of her heart he still held would be lost forever.
Chapter Four
“Jesus, mate. What the hell did you say to our Poppy?”
“Hell if I know,” Boone replied, casting a dark scowl at Link. He was pretty sure she’d just made it crystal clear she wasn’t anyone’s Poppy but her own.
Link gave him a strange look and headed over to the guys, while Boone watched Poppy as she joined Wyatt’s wife, Ruby, but then she turned her back to him, which pretty much said everything.
What the hell? Yes, he’d been young and dumb and stupid back then, but it was back then. A lifetime ago. What did a guy have to do to make it right? Especially since she wouldn’t give him the chance to do so? Irritated, he frowned and shook his head.
“You okay?” The voice was soft, with a touch of the South to it. Boone looked to his right and attempted a smile when he saw Blue standing there with two orders of greasy fries in her hands.
“I’m good.”
“You don’t seem so good,” she replied, watchful eyes on him. He’d only met the woman a few times. She’d always been polite but a bit aloof, and he got the distinct impression she didn’t care for him all that much. There was something there that didn’t quite connect. It wasn’t something Boone was used to, and maybe another time and place would have had him asking why. But as it was, he was preoccupied with something a hell of a lot more important than whether his buddy’s wife liked him
“Poppy is… We were…” He swore. “I don’t know what she is, but there’s a problem, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
“Maybe now is not the time to fix whatever it is between you two. Maybe you should stay away. Give her some space.”
Boone snapped his mouth shut so tight, a muscle flexed in his jaw. First Link and now Blue? He got that Bluebell Booker didn’t like him. Hell, he could live that, but where did she get off telling him what to do?
“I just want to talk to her. I need to—”
Blue held up her hand and shook her head. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but this isn’t about you. It’s about Poppy, which is why you need to give her some space. Women are wired differently than men.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “We just are. We don’t forget things that happened in the past. Things that mattered to us. And we really don’t forget being treated badly by the guy who broke our heart.”
A lightbulb went off. “She told you about us.” It wasn’t a question. “What’d she say?”
“Nothing that I can share with you.” Blue didn’t even attempt to hide her true feelings on the subject. “If you were a decent man, you’d leave her alone.”
Blue walked away and joined up with Poppy, whose head was bent forward, close to Link’s.
“Fuck,” he muttered, taking a swig of beer. Blue was right, though it didn’t feel too good to admit it to himself. He had no claim to Poppy. He shouldn’t expect her to forgive and forget so easily. He’d been a total asshole that summer. He’d been too consumed with all the crap going on in his own life to think about how his actions would affect Poppy. How leaving town without a word to the girl he’d been involved with for weeks was a hurtful kind of thing.
He’d screwed up. That was a fact he couldn’t deny. He’d been careless and inconsiderate with Poppy. After that long weekend in July, they’d spent nearly every day together. She’d been the one bright spark in a dark few months, and he’d guarded her closely, like a secret. He didn’t tell a soul about them, not even when things progressed and they’d started having sex. Not once did he brag about it or tell any of his friends. He wanted to keep her for himself, and he’d never felt that way about a girl before.
But Poppy didn’t know the whole story. She didn’t know what had happened that last night, when he’d