Page 89 of Make The Cut

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m still here.” I mull over her words. How many times did I wish for a sibling, for arealfamily, not the broken web of lies and betrayal that I came from? And now, here, fate is offering me this opportunity. I’d be a fool not to take it. “Were you using Poppy to get close to me?”

“No! I swear, I didn’t even know you guys were friends until she told me she was working for you as your stylist.” Her denial sounds genuine. I get the feeling she isn’t used to covering up or lying about much. Except who her father is. “I, um, I didn’t mean to make this all into such a disaster. I’m sorry if I messed with you. That was never my intention.”

I lean against my closed bedroom door, shutting my eyes. “Will you be at the wedding?”

“My mom’s making me be the maid of honour,” she says. “Are you going to be there?”

I consider all the hurt of the last fifteen years, all the pain my dad has put me through, all the pointless, angry fighting over a past that can’t be changed. Then I take a deep breath. “I’ll be there. After all, I think I have a lot to make up for as an older brother.”

“Do you think we could, I don’t know, grab coffee sometime?”

“I’d love that.” And to my surprise, after all the years of fighting and antagonizing my father, I find myself meaning it. “I have to get back to my, uh, party of sorts. But I’ll text you when I’m free, sis.”

She gives an awkward chuckle. “Cool, bro.”

We say our goodbyes. I find myself feeling lighter than I have in months.

A knock resounds through the door, making me jump and almost drop my phone. I throw it on my bed. “Who is it?”

“Me.” There’s only one person who’d answer my question that way, and I open it for her.

“How inappropriate of you, Miss Black. Knocking on a man’s bedroom door unchaperoned. What would your mother think?” I can’t help the smile that spreads across my face.

“That we’re madly in love.”

My hands fall to her waist. “That sounds like the truth to me.”

“And that you can’t keep your hands off me.” She hooks her fingers through the belt loops in my jeans and tugs me closer as the door shuts behind us.

“That’s a theory that has yet to be verified.”

I lean down and press my lips to hers, her mouth moving in perfect synchronization with mine as I pin her against me. She gasps, and I slide my hand up, cupping the back of her head so she doesn’t bang it against the door.

She jerks back abruptly. “Wait, who were you on the phone with?”

“Sasha wanted to talk. Are you jealous or something?”

Poppy just raises an eyebrow. “Do I have a reason to be jealous?”

“I can’t think of anyone else but you, Poppy. Who could you be jealous of?”

Instead of answering, she reaches up on her tiptoes and kisses me.

“I love you,” she whispers against my mouth.

I try to figure out if I could ever get tired of hearing those words from her. Somehow, I don’t think so.

“I love you, Poppy Black.”

Just then, someone raps far more violently on the door than she did.Ryder. Of course. “Hey! Stop making out in your boyfriend’s room and come downstairs.”

Poppy and I break apart, both of us trying not to laugh. She looks up at me, mischief sparkling in her eyes. “Are you sure you can handle my family?”

I slide my fingers between hers. “Only if you can handle joining mine.”

We walk back down, hand in hand, and all I know is that this might be the beginning of the rest of my life.

Epilogue: Naoya Sugawa

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