Page 12 of Last Second Chance

“Awesome. We leave in an hour.”

Returning to my room, I changed out of my sand-filled shorts and into a dress. I was eager to put some distance between me and Scott today. I needed it, or I felt like I might go crazy. He definitely wouldn’t be out with the family today.

CHAPTER6

Scott

Trying to talk to Poppy was difficult. Having a real, honest conversation wasimpossible.

She didn’t want that. I’d seen how freaked out she was when I confessed that I wanted her back. She’d seemed almost scared at the prospect of it.

I figured she’d gone back to the hotel, but I wasn’t pursuing her as I headed in that direction myself. I was just in too shitty of a mood to really enjoy the beach and wanted to go back to my room.

This was starting to feel hopeless, and I had to wonder if there were some things that just couldn’t be fixed. Once they were broken, they stayed that way. I knew that Poppy was hurt by what she believed I did, but I thought that I could help her get past that by explaining things. Now, I was starting to wonder if she was too far gone to ever trust again. Or never trustmeagain.

It was a bleak situation. I was getting tired of trying to reach out to her only to be met with anger and dismissal. I was still in love with her, but I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. I couldn’t keep trying to roll a boulder uphill.

I walked into the hotel and up to my room. As I stepped out of the elevator, I passed Michael’s parents, who were waiting to go down to the lobby. His mom smiled brightly at me, and I tried to return it, but I had a feeling that it came out as more of a grimace.

I was halfway down the hall when a door opened just ahead and Ben stepped out. He saw me and frowned. “Scott? Are you okay?”

So, it must have been obvious that I was upset. I hated that. I wasn’t the type to broadcast my problems to other people. I got that from my dad. He was the stiff-upper-lip type, likely to tell me to “walk it off” if I got hurt while playing as a kid or that real men shouldered their own burdens. He was a good man, but it was hard to deal with my emotions sometimes because of his voice in my head, telling me to be strong no matter what I actually felt. The manly thing to do was to be stoic.

“I’m fine,” I told Ben, continuing past him until I reached my own room.

I sensed a presence behind me as I unlocked the door and glanced back to see that Ben had followed me. I sighed through my nose and pushed my way into the room, leaving the door open for him to follow if he wanted. I knew him well enough to know that he shared Poppy’s stubbornness, so there was no point in telling him to leave me alone.

“What’s going on?” he asked as he closed the door behind us.

“Nothing,” I said, sinking down into a chair in the sitting area. “That’s the problem. This thing with Poppy is hopeless.”

“Of course, it isn’t. She’s just mad because she thinks you screwed Veronica.”

Ben had thought that at first too, and I had a bruised jaw for a week as a result. He’d wanted to make me pay for hurting his sister. But he’d eventually listened to my explanation about what happened and we’d been fine ever since.

“Mad doesn’t even cover it. Shehatesme. I’m not going to keep beating my head against the wall. I’m getting nowhere with her.”

Ben shook his head, letting out a disgusted sound. “You know, I didn’t think you were the type to give up like this. If you’re just going to give up on Poppy, I guess you don’t really deserve her.”

My doom and gloom attitude dissipated, only to be replaced with annoyance. I stood and paced the room, needing to work off some pent-up frustration.

“Why the hell do I have to be the one to make all the effort?” I snapped. “How is that fair?”

“It’s not about fairness, it’s about making things right. You guys were happy together, and I thought you wanted to get that back.”

“Well, maybe I’ve decided that she’s just not worth it.”

I didn’t mean that, and the words tasted bitter in my mouth. Ben reacted immediately, taking a step closer and shoving me in the chest. My back collided with the wall, and I clenched my fists. My blood rushed in my ears. I was tempted to take a swing at him, but it wouldn’t help anything. And I knew I was in the wrong.

“You need to get your shit together, man.” Ben pointed a finger in my face, and I ground my molars together. “Or you really will lose her forever.”

His words penetrated the haze of frustration and defeat that had taken me over. I sighed, knowing that I was being an ass. Of course, Poppy was worth all the effort I was putting in. I knew that, despite my irritation.

“I’m sorry,” I said, and Ben backed up. “I just...I never would have thought that I’d be here. If you’d told me last year that we wouldn’t be together at this point, I never would have believed it. I thought we were the type of couple that would make it through anything.”

I pushed off from the wall and ran my hand through my hair. Ben was silent as he watched me, leaning against the dresser.

“No one knows this,” I continued, taking a deep breath, “but I was planning to propose to Poppy before everything happened.”

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