Page 31 of Brewing Up a Bad Boy

“I liked you,” he said plainly.

She’d liked him too. But there was more to it than that.

“And?”

“Having you by my side with the Kitchener legacy teas would give me an edge over George. For once, I had delivered something my brother couldn’t.”

His father’s approval.Ali had made no bones of hiding his pursuit of it when he and Poppy were together. He talked about his dad all the time. How much he wanted to prove he should inherit the chairmanship.

She had no response to that.

“If I’d been smarter, I would have realized that every plan I made included having you by my side.”

Fuck.Tension and anger stirred at his actions. He’d been shortsighted but also so blinded by ambition and desire that he hadn’t seen how his path was going to end in a train wreck.

Poppy’s eyes went wide for a moment before she chewed her bottom lip. “I think knowing that you wanted me by your side helps,” she said.

“How? That makes it worse for me,” he said. “What a bastard I was.”

“One hundred percent. But you never would have admitted that when we were married. Let’s have a toast to letting go of who we were,” she said.

“What are you letting go of?”

“Thinking I needed a man to love me so I had worth.” Not a single pause. Her answer was automatic.

“You’ve never needed that.”

She shrugged. “I see that now. You gave me that.”

“You gave me freedom from my family,” he said. He hoped she never heard about his epic meltdown and the anger he exhibited that day. There were no two ways about it: her forcing the divorce had forced him to change.

“Cheers to us,” she said.

He clinked her glass. The regrets that were always near the surface felt...well, better. Not as close or intense as they normally did. Talking had never been something he wanted to do with anyone. But he’d needed this.

“Thanks, Pop.”

“For?”

Showing him once again all the things he’d never acknowledged when he was selfish and focused on getting what he wanted. “Being you.”

“You’re welcome. Sorry I wasn’t more my authentic self earlier. Might have helped us both.”

“You don’t have to take any of the blame. It was totally me.”

“It was mostly you. I was in that relationship, and I didn’t have the agency to stand up for myself. I just went along trying to please you. That’s on me.”

This was exactly what he needed.

She tipped her head to the side as the band started playing their version of “Back to You.” That song had been on repeat the summer they got married.

“Our song...” He’d never been into that kind of thing, but Poppy had always called it that.

She started to say something, and he held his hand up in protest. He wasn’t ready for the truth bomb she was no doubt going to drop. Instead, he held his hand out. Some people were dancing.

Poppy hesitated and then took it, and he pulled her into his arms.

Now, as he listened to the lyrics, he realized how much he wanted to hold her. Was grateful her body was pressed against his as they swayed to the music. Poppy always seemed to embody music. Her arms were over her head, and her hips moved to the beat. He swayed from foot to foot.

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