Page 102 of Choosing Forever
“They look like it too.”
“Don’t talk about my girl’s thighs, Brody.”
The cowboy backs up with his hands in the air and winks at me. “Fine, you possessive fucker.”
I adjust my hold on the reins and try to sit properly on the saddle. The helmet on my head is heavy too, which doesn’t help. Everything about this is uncomfortable, and I’m not sure I care aboutthe whole muscle-acclimation thing Brody was blabbing about at lunch.
Darren appears in front of me, his smirk so deep it could probably stay sunken into his cheeks forever. “Oh, you’re still in the same spot.”
“I’m going to punch you.”
“You say the hottest things to me, Elle.”
Vera, the horse beneath my very sore ass, tries to take a few more steps forward. I squeal, falling against her neck and yanking on the reins. Brody and Darren both bark laughs into the summer air, and I decide I’m never,evergetting on a horse’s back again.
I sigh when my phone buzzes again. The name is different than the two previous ones, so I answer it.
“I’m fine, Daisy.”
“I knew you’d answer if Daisy called. I’m a bit offended, but I won’t get into that right now. How far have you made it from the drive-in?” Poppy asks.
“The whole part of me not telling anyone that I was leaving was so nobody worried.”
She laughs coolly. “We’re not sixteen anymore, Della. That shit doesn’t work anymore.”
“You’re still not coming to get me right now. The event isn’t over, and I’m not going to let it come to an end because I needed to get away.”
“Why did you need to leave?”
“As if you haven’t already heard. I’m sure half the town has by now.”
I stare at the white lines painted on the side of the road, keeping count of each one I pass.
“I want to hear it from you, not some bored gossips.”
“So, it is going around, then,” I mutter.
“Of course it is. This is Cherry Peak, after all. When I trapped myself in my room for a week crying over Garrison, everyone knew it was because he’d left me. All it took was one person to see his car driving out of town, and the rumours started. That’s how it works here.”
“That doesn’t mean it doesn’t still fucking suck, Poppy.”
She scoffs. “Let me talk. It’s all mindless chatter from people with nothing better to do.”
“I only just passed the fruit stand sign,” I say, not bothering to read this week’s BC selection of fruit. “If you’re going to come, it has to just be you.”
“I won’t let him come.”
“I know.”
“I’ll be right there, and then we’re going to go to Peakside and get drunk on their half-off sangrias. Deal?”
I don’t even have to think about it.
“Deal, Poppy.”
33
TEN YEARS AGO
