Page 99 of When You Left Me Speechless

“What is he doing here?” Poppy sets down her drink and charges toward this mystery person. I turn to stop her and see Jacks standing at the door. His face mirrors both of the girls.

What the fuck is going on?

“Wait,” I grab her wrist. “You two know Jacks?”

She whips her head around and looks at me. “Jacks?” Her eyes search mine like I must be lying. I must be the one who is confused. I watch as Tanner makes his way across the room. He grabs Jacks’ hand and brings him into a hug. Lacey is still frozen at the table.

“You mean Jace,” she corrects me.

“Yeah, Jace Jackson. I’ve always called him Jacks. That’s Tanner’s roommate. How do you know him?”

Poppy has stopped moving. She is just staring, and Jacks is staring back. I can see the mental gymnastics that is currently happening in my girl’s brain as she tries to make sense of what I am telling her. I look back at the door and can see Tanner’s mouth moving while he gestures over to where we are standing. It’s apparent that despite everyone’s reactions, he is oblivious to what is unfolding.

“He’s someone from our past. I don’t want him here,” she says.

I stand there completely dumbfounded. I turn around to see Lacey has disappeared, and a bartender is cleaning up the champagne and glass that covers the floor. “What do you mean, someone from your past? Why can’t he be here?”

“I’m going to find Lacey. When we get back, make surehe’s gone.” She kisses me on the cheek and then disappears into the crowd before I can ask any more questions.

I walk over to meet my friends at the door.

“Hey man,” Jacks says. “Tanner said you're dating Poppy?” He sounds as confused as I feel.

I nod. Taking my glasses off, I rub my eyes. “She told me to tell you to leave.”

Tanner looks back and forth between us. “Wait, what’s going on?”

“I’m not sure other than she told me to tell him to leave, and it’s her night, so I’m sorry, man, but?—”

“Yeah, I know they don’t want me here. I’ll go in peace.” Jacks holds up both of his hands. “I’ll see you back at the apartment, T?”

“Yeah, but, fuck, can someone please tell me what’s going on?” Tanner practically yells his question. “You aren’t seriously kicking him out?”

I open my mouth to explain, and Jacks interrupts me.

“Lacey Sims was the love of my life, and she broke my heart.” He turns without another word and heads out the door.

“What the fuck did he just say?” Tanner asks, mouth gaping open. I shake my head and turn to look for Poppy. I see her and Lacey make their way back into the room. Lacey looks like she has been crying.

Tanner and I make our way back to the girls.

“He’s gone,” I say.

“What the hell is going on?” Tanner asks.

Poppy cuts her eyes at him and shakes her head. I don’t dare ask her anything about it yet. “Come on let's get y’all another drink and have some fun.”

Poppy grabs my hand and laces our fingers together. Squeezing gently, I ask, “You good?”

She nods and we all make our way to the bar.

“Well, this is something I thought I would never seeagain,” Poppy laughs as we all make our way to the dance floor after getting a new round of drinks.

“Apparently, we’re friends now,” Tanner yells over the music. Lacey rolls her eyes. We are all doing our best to keep her mind off Jacks and so far it seems to be working. Both girls have cheered up quite a bit and the tense mood has seemed to disappear.

“More like I’ve decided to tolerate him,” Lacey adds as Tanner spins her around.

I pull Poppy into me, and we sway to the music. “You know, for someone who isn’t fun, you sure know how to throw a party,” she teases.

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