Page 22 of When You Left Me Speechless

“Who said you were invited?” Donovan shouts as Tanner serves the ball directly at him. He returns it, and Tanner sends it flying back over the net. Enzo hits it hard, but the ball bounces off my paddle. It soars through the air. Donovan swings his arm and misses. We won.

Tanner jumps on my back and shouts, “Let’s fucking go! We’re number one, baby!” The small group of spectators that is gathered by our court applauds.

“That’s it. You definitely aren’t invited to the wedding now,” Donovan says, shaking my hand.

“What? Afraid the number one team in the league will distract from all the attention of your big day?” Tanner jokes, hitting Donovan on the shoulder.

The Local is always packedon Fridays. The four of us walk in and head straight for the bar. To my relief, no themed party ishappening tonight. I take a sip of my beer and scan the crowd. I don’t know why I am looking for her. I remind myself she doesn’t remember me or, at least, doesn’t want to remember me. I shouldn’t be hoping to see her here or anywhere.

“Hope that beer is to your liking,” Enzo teases, taking a long sip from his.

“It tastes like sweet victory,” I laugh. My eyes scan the bar again.Why am I looking for her?

“Expecting someone else to join us?” Enzo asks.

“No, why?”

“Well, you keep looking around the bar like you are expecting someone to walk in.”

“Wouldn’t be a certain brunette named Poppy, would it?” Tanner asks, taking a swig of his beer.

“Who’s Poppy?” Donovan pries, and I could instantly kill Tanner.

“No one.”

“Oh, come on. Tell us about the girl that has caught your eye,” Donovan begs. “You do need a plus one for the wedding.”

“I thought you uninvited us when we kicked your ass an hour ago.”

“Tell us about her, and we will reconsider.” Both Donovan and Enzo are locked in on me, and I realize they aren’t going to let me get through the night without telling them about her.

“Yeah, Logan, tell them about her,” Tanner says, obviously amused by the shit he’s stirring.

“It doesn’t matter. She acts like she doesn’t know who I am.”

“But she does know you?” Donovan asks.

I give them a quick rundown of the past couple weeks, and then we order another round of beers.

“You really don’t think she knows who you are?” Enzo asks.

“I don’t know, man.” I run my hands through my hair and take a sip from my beer. The fact she has been waltzing around the school acting like she met me Monday is making me want to lose my mind. “She acts like I am a complete stranger. It’s fucking insane.”

“You gonna do something about it?” Donovan asks.

“I don’t think she wants me to.” Deep down, I know this is true. She is the one who disappeared without saying goodbye. She is the one who acted like I was a complete stranger, and no matter how badly I want to call her bluff, I won’t because I don’t want to hear her say it. After a few more beers, we all head home, leaving Tanner flirting with some redhead by the bar.

I can’t get Poppy out of my mind. The harder I try not to think about her, the more she consumes my thoughts. I fall into bed, and when I close my eyes, all I can see is her deep blue eyes.

CHAPTER 12: THE LEAST COOL PERSON IN THE ROOM

POPPY

“Happy Monday,” I say, walking into the speech office, holding an extra large cup of coffee. Beth is sitting at her desk working on her computer.

“Good morning. Did you have a good weekend?”

“Yep, I had brunch with some of my friends from grad school and got to see my sister.”

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