“Would you both get off his case?” Holland interrupts. “I think it’s cute. I met Poppy. . . she’s been hanging with me and the girls and she’s really nice. She’s the one who came to me about helping Declan’s brother. She was here when Mr. Davis and Dr. Steele were over and she had the idea of getting me to ask them for help,” Holland explains.
“And you kept this from me?” Cole says, and I hear the anger rising in his tone.
“Relax yourself. It was for a good deed. Dr. Steele saw Logan pro bono and your dad hooked him up with a large supply of meds,” she explains to him, but I watch my friend’s jaw tick.
“I didn’t mean to go behind your back,” I say to Cole. “Poppy came to Holland without me knowing.”
“So you also know he’s been with Ryse’s sister the whole time?” Cole asks, clearly offended.
“Babe, it was girl talk. I had to keep the secret, and about your dad’s help, I knew Declan would come around and explain. He just needed time,” she says.
“I feel really bad about all this. I didn’t want to cause any trouble,” I say to my friend.
“I get that. I’m glad they could help you out, but you know you could’ve come to me too,” he says, sounding offended.
“I never wanted any handouts, bro. I got into Westfall on my own. I was figuring out how to survive on my own. I was too proud to ask for help. Poppy is the one who got me to see the error in my ways. She’s pretty amazing and she also got me to see that I don’t have to feel bad about where I come from,” I say, and I watch my two friends staring at me weirdly. “What is wrong with you two? Do I have chocolate on my face from the pie or something?”
They both grin like two idiots. “You love her.” Cole smirks.
“Wow,” Wolfe chimes in.
“You two are so immature,” I retort, shaking my head but then something washes over me. Maybe realization. “Okay, I may have it bad for her.”
“Dude, Ryse will kick your ass. This could cause serious conflict for the team,” Wolfe says.
“Tell me about it. I don’t know what to do but I’m falling in love with her,” I confirm.
“Shit,” Cole hisses.
“Thanks, bro,” I snicker.
“Didn’t mean it that way,” he says.
“You’ll have to come out to Ryse at some point. I mean, you have good intentions toward her. You aren’t using her. He should be fine with it,” Wolfe says.
“Would you be fine if one of the guys from your team went after Cait?” Cole asks him.
“Hell no,” he snaps. “The guys on my team are either married or a bunch of players.”
“Exactly. Ryse isn’t going to accept this,” Cole says.
“We’ll just be careful until the end of the season. Then I’ll come clean to him once we’ve cinched the Frozen Four,” I say.
“That’s months away,” Holland chimes.
“What other choice do I have?” I ask my friends. “Ryse is one of my best friends here on campus. We play defense together. We have to get along. I didn’t come this far not to make it to the draft.”
“You’re making it to the draft,” Cole confirms.
“Cheers to that,” Wolfe says and lifts his water bottle to his mouth.
“We better go back in,” Cole urges.
We all stand and Cole moves in to hug me. “I’m sorry for letting you down, man. I would’ve totally wanted to help your brother if you’d said something sooner, but I get why you didn’t.”
“Thanks, bro.” I clap him on the back.
Wolfe gives me a hug too. “If you ever need anything, you know I’m here.”
“Thanks, bro. I appreciate both of you and you too, Holland,” I say.
She smiles. “I really like Poppy. She’s so nice and fun too.”
“Yeah.” I grin like an idiot just thinking of her and my friends burst into laughter.
“All the great ones fall,” Cole says fist-bumping Wolfe.
Wolfe bumps him back and Holland rolls her eyes playfully and punches Cole in the chest.
“I do have it bad,” I admit. “I just hope we can continue to keep it under wraps.”
We head back inside and enjoy the rest of the evening talking and hanging out. I always felt like I was alone but I had it wrong because these guys are the family I never had.
TWENTY-NINE
Poppy
Blossom texts me that she’ll be here to pick me up in ten minutes to give me a ride to the engagement party. I quickly glance over my outfit in the mirror. A black body suit with blue jeans and my Doc Martens. I took time to blow out my hair because it takes the kink out of it and I like my hair looking smooth. I also added the eyeliner and mascara to my eyes and finally I switch out my eyeglasses for my contacts. Overall I like what I see in the mirror. It was super nice of Blossom to offer me a ride.
“Going out to a party?” Bonnie asks.
“Not really, just a get-together with some friends,” I say.
“You look nice,” she says, but something about her tone makes me feel like she just swallowed some acid.
“Thanks.” I smile because this girl knows too much about me. “Do you have plans tonight?”
“No, but I have an important paper due. I plan on spending the entire evening on it,” she informs.
“Okay, well good luck.” I grab my little black purse and sift through it to see what I don’t need. I throw the journal and pen on the bed and grab my jacket. “Have a good night.”
“You too,” she says and she watches me leave. Something about her always gives me bad vibes and it’s not just that she is super bitchy. It bothers me how nice she was at first because she was clearly after something.
I head out of my dorm to wait for Blossom outside since I don’t want to keep her waiting. She pulls up and I get into the back seat.
“Hi,” Blossom greets. “You know Paris and this is Wolfe’s sister, Cait.”
“Hi, Poppy, nice to meet you,” I say to Cait.
“You too,” she smiles.
“Have you been to The Firken before?” Paris asks.
“No, I’ve been to Black Market and that’s about it. I don’t get out much.”
“Me neither,” Cait says. “But I’ve been to The Firken. Blossom works there. Rebel used to work there. It’s where she met Wolfe.”
“Oh nice,” I say.
“Yeah, it’s super sweet. My brother paid to have the whole restaurant to ourselves so that he could propose. Rebel has no clue.”
“That is very romantic,” I respond.
“Wolfe is one of the good ones,” Blossom agrees.
It only takes a few minutes by car to arrive at the restaurant. We head inside and my stomach does a few somersaults at the thought of seeing Declan. We’ve talked every day. Even when I went back home with Ryse for Thanksgiving. He told me how he came out to his friends about his past. He also told me that he told them about us, which makes me super nervous. I’ve never hidden anything from my brother. And even if I’ve tried to hide something like a crush, he always managed to find out anyway. It’s been the same for Ryse too. He shares with me, well, except since I’ve been at Westfall and I’ve learned my brother likes to get it on with a lot of puck bunnies.