He’d watched her hold it together for the past few hours. The tension in the car had been bottled up so tight by the time they’d arrived at her parents’ house it was palpable. He’d thought the lunch would be awkward, and it certainly was. There was even a part of him that had felt tricked into going. But once he saw how bad it was, and how much Poppy needed someone, all his wariness had faded away.

He wasn’t surprised at all when she pulled over a few blocks from the house and started bawling. In fact, he didn’t know how she’d managed to hold it together as long as she had.

“Hey, hey, it’s alright,” he said as he unbuckled both their seat belts and pulled her toward him. She was silent, but shook vigorously. He felt her warm tears as they spilled onto his neck.

She was limp as a ragdoll, and he easily boosted her closer. Poppy was awkwardly half on his lap. He squeezed and released her shoulder, uncertain of what to say or do. He’d seen her family “situation” before firsthand of course, but that was different. Back then, he’d had adrenaline to tell him what to do. But now? It was just the two of them, and all he wanted was to take her pain away.

As her tremors stilled, she lifted herself from his chest and wiped the tears away. “Sorry,” she whispered. Their eyes met, and even through the glassy tearstained gaze, he saw that same look she’d had the other day by the pool. It was a considering look. And this time he couldn’t resist.

It was like a stranger was directing him. He leaned forward and closed the distance between them. When his lips met hers, a jolt shot through him like he’d never felt before. She responded hungrily. As if she’d been starving so many years.

She tasted unbelievably sweet, in a way he would never have imagined. Yet the saltiness of her tears also coated her lips and had snuck into her mouth. The taste, her taste, blended into an intricate medley that was addictive.

Ryan flicked his tongue across her teeth, and she parted her lips wider, receptive. When their tongues met, he tasted another layer of her flavors and couldn’t get enough. She was the sweetest thing his lips, his tongue, had ever known.

Poppy let out a gentle moan, her chest pushed firmly against his, and he was instantly hard. It felt good, way too right. Fuck.

Suddenly, Poppy pulled away. Embarrassed, she backed away to the driver side. “Ow,” she said as the stick shift dug into her thigh.

Ryan opened his mouth to say something, he wasn’t sure what. But Poppy beat him to it. “I’m sorry,” she said. “That was… that wasn’t right.”

Sorry? Wasn’t right? Didn’t she feel the same thing he did?

“Poppy, I—”

“No,” she said as she held up a hand. “That was… wow. Okay. A moment of weakness? I guess? That sounds really lame, but I don’t know what else to call it.”

“You think I took advantage of you?” he asked. Maybe he had. Maybe he’d misread the whole thing. The last few days, the pool, everything.

“No, I don’t mean that,” she said. Her face softened with the slightest of smiles. “I mean, it was both of us. We both… what about Will?”

“Will?” Hell, he’d forgotten all about him.

“Yeah, my boyfriend?” The defensiveness crept steadily into her voice.

“What about him?” He could never resist a challenge.

“Ryan! I’m not the… I can’t… you know.”

“Do you know?” he asked.

She was quiet and clutched the steering wheel so tight her knuckles were going white. “I don’t know what I don’t know,” she said finally.

“Deep, Poppy.”

It felt like she sat there, death grip on the steering wheel, for an hour—though it was probably just one minute, maximum. Finally, without a word, she turned on the ignition and drove onto the main road.

Ryan couldn’t believe it. Poppy had pulled the silent treatment on him a few times before, but it was never like this. Usually it was over a stupid argument they both knew would blow over soon.

This was different. He stole looks at her the entire drive back into the city, but it seemed like she never noticed.

He couldn’t bring himself to speak first. You’re a fucking idiot, he told himself. But he didn’t regret it. The way she felt and tasted—she was like a drug.

An hour in a car can feel like days with that kind of tension between two people. And the heat? The passion that tied them together? He wasn’t possibly imagining that, was he?

Ryan came up with a thousand different things to say, but none of them made it out of his mouth. I’m sorry. Didn’t you think it felt right? Who gives a damn about Will? I love you.

Of course he loved her, that wasn’t a secret. He couldn’t remember if he’d ever actually told her, but it was an unspoken truth between them. But he’d loved her like a friend all those years. Right? He couldn’t—he didn’t really love her like that, did he?

This is too much. It was a kiss. One kiss! It’s shocking it hasn’t happened before. How are you this messed up over one kiss?

Still, he couldn’t help it. In between thinking of words to break the dual silent treatment, he just kept replaying that kiss over and over in his head.

The single glance he’d taken when his mouth was on hers, he’d seen how beautiful and vulnerable she’d been with her eyes closed millimeters from him. How she tipped her face up and they moved in perfect synchronization, as if this were a dance they’d done their whole lives.

And their lips. How their lips fit together perfectly, the way her bottom lip naturally eased between his lips and his teeth. It was like her mouth had come home.

He could still taste the sweet tea she’d sipped at that afternoon on the tip of her tongue. The heat of her mouth somehow bested his, and it was like sliding into a warm bed that felt just right.

This is ridiculous. It’s Poppy!

It had taken all his willpower to stop his hands from roaming. He’d already wrapped her up partially in his lap, but when their lips met he was hyperaware of her thigh draped across his. One hand on her back, the other around her shoulder—thank God he’d had enough self-control to not let his hands roam freely.

He’d barely noticed the flippy little chiffon dress she’d been wearing on the drive to Maryland and during lunch, but in the car? When she was pressed up against him and it was hiked up with all that creamy skin showing? All it would have taken was the slightest of movements and he could have felt that smooth skin all the way up.

It drove him crazy, all the way back to the city. Did I miss my chance? All he thought about was how the rest of her must feel. She couldn’t possibly be as good as she felt. Right?

For the first time, he wondered what she had on underneath all those little dresses and skirts. Sure, she complained about the work clothes all the time, and the few times he’d seen her after a shift she was in jeans, but he knew the real Poppy.

He knew the girl who complained about pants all throughout high school because they were too restricting. He knew the girl who loved spring break in college because she got to wear nothing but swimsuits and pastel sarongs. He knew the girl who went to even eight o’clock pre-med classes in college dressed in denim jackets and long, festival-ready skirts.

How had he never noticed her like that before? And if Poppy tasted even a sliver as good as her lips did, if what she had on under those frilly dresses was even a touch as intriguing as those flirty little skirts… Ryan knew he was in trouble.

The car came to an abrupt halt. He looked at her, but she kept her eyes directly ahead, her foot pressed on the brake. She wasn’t even going to put it in park or look at him. They were in front of his building, and this was his last chance. He looked at her, hard, but she wasn’t going to give in.

Ryan sighed, turned around and grabbed his messenger bag from the back seat. He opened his mouth to say something to her, anything, but was at a loss.

Just kiss her again. Right now. Take her upstairs and see if what you suspect is true.

The shape of her lips in profile mesmerized him. He could tell her heart rate was up just by her quick rapid breaths. But this was one showdown she was hellbent on not losing.

He wasn’t going to be the first to give in. Not now. He held his silence as he stepped out of the car, and barely shut the door before she sped away.

Ryan watched the car retreat down the street. He felt himself grow hard again just thinking about her. Was this what he’d been waiting for? There was something about Poppy he felt like he’d just discovered. Now that he’d had one taste, he needed another. It was like his body demanded it.

But they couldn't… could they?