Page 58 of Brewing Up a Bad Boy

So not just the two of them, which was fine. Really it was, because if he couldn’t learn to get along with these people she considered family, then there was no place for him in her life. “I can run back to the tavern and get a pony keg of my summer ale.”

“That sounds great. I’m grilling, and Liberty is bringing sides. Sera’s on dessert.”

Alistair had his shirt off, which was distracting her from the book discussion she was meant to be having with Sera and Liberty. They’d all picked up the latest release from their favorite author. She really had stuff to add to the discussion, but her eyes kept straying back to where Ali was talking to Wes and Merle about sweet fuck all for all she cared.

It was that chest and those abs that kept her gaze locked on him. That super-hot alpha-hero body on a guy who looked relaxed and humble as he was sweating and talking... It was a potent cocktail.

Sera nudged her. “If you don’t want to talk about books, let me know. I’m fine with staring at men.”

“Yeah, but we are strong independent women,” Liberty said. “Let’s discuss, or next week, we’ll have to not invite the guys.”

Poppy turned so that her back was toward Ali. It wasn’t like she couldn’t have him in her bed if she asked. He wasn’t hiding the fact that he wanted to be there. It was her waiting for some sign from the universe that she wouldn’t get hurt if she let him in. Really let him in.

England had felt different. That hadn’t been real, because her life was here. Holiday flings weren’t real, everyone knew that.

But Ali in Birch Lake? That felt like solid reality.

“For fuck’s sake, Poppy.”

“Ugh. I’m sorry. He’s been here all afternoon. We were brewing tea together, we kissed—well, he kissed me and then ended it just when I wanted it to never end,” she said. “I sound like an idiot.”

“Never. You sound confused. That’s completely okay,” Sera said. Sera was the kindest of all of them. She had the most reason to not see the best parts of humanity, but somehow she always did.

“I am, and I’m not. I sound like that guy fromTheTraitors UKwho freaked, don’t I?”

“A little bit, but I get it. He’s your ex for a reason, and you are right to take things slow, but make sure you’re doing that for the right reasons.”

The right reasons.What were they? Saying out loud she didn’t want her heart broken by him again wasn’t something she needed to do. The girls knew that. They didn’t want her heart broken again either.

Liberty watched her with that wise-goddess gaze Poppy had noticed more and more often in her friend since last fall, when everything had happened with her ailing nan and her newly discovered biological father. Since starting a serious relationship with Merle, Liberty had unlocked some hidden feminine power.

“What do you see?” Poppy asked her.

“I’m not sure. I’ve been pulling cards for you all week, and they aren’t clear. What doyousee?” Liberty asked.

“That even though I told him the past was resolved, I still am plagued by it all the time.” There. It was out there.

It ate her up inside how she melted every time he smiled at her. Staying present was never harder than when sweet, charming, irresistible Ali was around. Still niggling at the back of her mind were the times when he’d been charming and then lied to her. How he’d seduced her with that same charm...and she’d fallen for it.

How?

If she could figure that out, then maybe she could really move forward. Somehow, the more time she spent with him was both helping her get closer to getting over that fear and making her more aware of the fact that she’d never really been able to know him. Never been able to trust him.

How was she going to figure this out?

There just wasn’t some magical card that Liberty could pull out of her tarot deck or a journal that Sera could bind for her that would manifest peace of mind. There wasn’t anything but her own soul-searching and answers that she was no closer to finding than she had been the day he’d walked into WiCKed Sisters.

“Honey, you take as much time as you need,” Sera said. “If he’s the man for you, he’ll understand and realize what’s going on.”

Poppy glanced over her shoulder, realizing the men had gotten quiet. They turned to the grill as soon as she did.

Sera laughed. “They were watching us.”

“Of course they were. Probably realizing how lucky they are we are nice witches and didn’t curse them,” Liberty added, raising her voice.

“Witch, you know I’m not afraid of you,” Merle said, grabbing Liberty’s glass and refilling it as he came to perch on the arm of the chair she was sitting in.

Wes and Ali came over as well, but Ali scooped Poppy up and sat down, holding her on his lap. He smelled of the smoky grill and man. She looped one arm around his shoulder and leaned back against him. His thighs were hard and solid underneath her as she and her friends and their men all sat in a circle. It wasn’t that hard to let the fear that had been taking hold melt away.

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