Zayn’s hand touching my forearm finally stops my rant.
“Pops, what are you talking about? I’m not playing any game. I’ve already told you that.”
He takes a step toward me, his heat burning into my front through my baggy clothes.
“No, Zayn,” I try to argue as he brushes his knuckles gently up my arm and wraps his hand around the back of my neck. He drops his forehead to mine and I have to really fight not to give in to the pull I feel toward him.
It’s been easier to ignore while I’ve been here, knowing there’s so much distance between us but now he’s here, now his scent is filling my nose and the heat of his skin burning into mine, my resolve is slipping.
“No, Zayn. I can’t do this.”
“Why?”
“Why?” I ask, a bitter laugh falling from my lips. “Maybe because you spent most of last night grinding against Laurie, and that’s only what the camera caught. I hate to think what happened after.”
“Nothing happened with Laurie, Pops.”
“Try telling her Instagram that.”
“It’s just photos. She was drunk. I was drunk.”
“Yeah, exactly. Are you going to try to tell me you remember the night?”
“I—”
“Exactly. You have no fucking clue. I should have known you’d never change.”
“But—”
“No, Zayn,” I bark. “I’m not interested. In case you hadn’t noticed, my life is already in crisis right now. I don’t need your drama and lies on top of all of that. Now, did you come here for anything else or are you done?”
“I—”
Before he gets another word out, I take a huge step back and swing the door closed. The entire house rattles with the force of the slam.
The second it’s closed and I can no longer see him, feel his touch, tears fill my eyes before spilling over.
“Poppy,” he shouts, slamming his fists down on the door. “Poppy.”
Sucking in some confidence, I take another step back in an attempt to stop myself from reaching back out, pulling the door open and falling into his arms.
I can’t.
It’s over.
My life as I knew it is over.
“No, you need to leave.”
Spinning, I run full pelt to my room ready to lock myself inside and to spend the rest of the afternoon sobbing into my pillow, only I don’t make it that far.
I’m stopped by a warm body before a pair of arms wrap around my shoulders.
“Shush now,” Auntie Trish soothes in my ear as she holds me.
I have no idea how much time passes as I cry on her shoulder for everything that’s happened in the last two days. But seeing Zayn, knowing that life is carrying on at home as if I was never there has reality slamming into me.
Rosewood is my home, it always has been. Who am I now?
I have no friends, no life, no future.
I’m just lost.
So fucking lost.
At some point she must move us because the softness of my bed hits my ass.
“I’m so sorry,” I mutter, wiping at her soaked shirt.
“Poppy, it’s okay. You have nothing to apologize for. I can’t even begin to imagine how you’re dealing with this right now.”
I tuck myself back against her and she rocks me for long minutes as if I’m a kid. Which, I guess, I am despite the seriousness of the situation I’m trying to deal with right now.
“Do you want to talk about it… about him?” she asks after several long silent minutes.
Uncle Evan took the kids to the store a while ago to give them a change of scenery, so we’ve got the house to ourselves.
“His name is Zayn. He’s my best friend’s brother.”
“Ohhh,” she says with a knowing chuckle.
“He was very nice to look at. I’m not surprised you’ve fallen for his charms.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“No? He seemed pretty concerned about you, not to be yours.”
“He didn’t seem that concerned at a party last night. The evidence is all over social media.”
“Poppy, you’re a smart girl, I don’t need to tell you how social media morphs things. It only shows you a small part of a story.” Auntie Trish’s voice holds a seriousness that only comes with experience, but then I guess that comes with the territory of being a student support advisor at MKU. I bet just a few of her issues stem straight from social media.
“I know,” I mutter. “But seeing those images while I’m here.” I blow out a breath. “It hurt, you know.”
“I do, Poppy. I understand.” She squeezes me tighter. “You want a giant mug of hot chocolate? I think I might even have some marshmallows in the back of the cupboard somewhere.”
“That sounds really good.”
She leaves me to sort myself out and after splashing my face with cold water, I risk a look out my bedroom window. The driveway where Zayn’s truck was parked is now empty. My cell taunts me from the nightstand, but I ignore it. If there’s anything on there from him then it’s got the power to break me.
“I didn’t think I’d miss Rosewood like I do,” I admit once I’m curled up on the couch with a steaming mug of chocolate cradled in my hands. “I always thought getting away would be the best thing to happen to me, I know I didn’t expect it to be with these circumstances but, I’m starting to wonder if maybe it wasn’t so bad.”
“I remember being exactly the same way when I was applying to out-of-state colleges. I thought getting out of Rosewood would open up the world to me. Turns out, I’m a total homebody. I never even made it to the first day. I ended up at MKU, and look how far I’ve gone since. I still work there.”
“It’s a good college. I’ve looked at it with my friends,” I admit.
“Yeah? Do you have any idea what you want to do?”
I shake my head. “My plan was to just get away, but I’m starting to wonder if that’s what I want.”
“If you could go back to Rosewood now, would you?”
“Yes,” I say before I’ve even registered that I’ve spoken. “I mean, I don’t know. Things with Zayn are complicated, then this whole other issue with another guy. It would be easier to just run away.”
“But you don’t want to do that, do you?”
I shrug. “Better the devil you know, I guess.” I think of Preston and a thought slams into me. “Have the police said how they discovered all this?” I ask as innocently as possible.
“I believe they were tipped off by someone. But I only overheard that when they were talking to each other.”
“Of course they did.”
“Poppy?”
“It’s nothing. It doesn’t matter.” It’s the truth. If my life is going to be here now, then none of it matters. I no longer have to fear Preston and his ever increasingly dangerous games. He’ll need to find another way to get to Jake because he’s just lost his pawn.
It makes me wonder what his game plan was with it all. If he even had one at all. Is he just that sick that what started as a plan soon turned into something much more sinister? Unless he turns up here now, he’s got no leverage with Jake. If it was him who did this, he’s handed all his information to the authorities instead of using it to blackmail me.