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Feeling restless and uneasy about just unsteady everything in my existence currently was, I pulled le thing that put a stop to all the questions and uncertainty All I had to do was picture Poppy’s wide, ti around inside ofher aversion to closeness than it was to think about straightening out my own mess I was convinced I could prove to her that there were men in the world she didn’t need to be afraid of, that there were htness ca She said II did around her was et her to move closer to me I pushed her to take steps that she needed to take in order for her to be comfortable around me I wanted to see if there was any way she would be open to so more than our current tense friendship

I wanted her, but I wanted her to want me back even more Partly because I kneas a safe bet for her once she was ready to jue of her and had every intention of handling her like I did one ofapart I would tread lightly and deliberately until all the parts were in working order and then I would prime her and make her purr the way she was always meant to I wasn’t scared of the work and I had every confidence that the end result would be a thing of pure beauty and so ti up and send a text, the call connected and her breathless voice rushed out a quick "hey"

I frowned at my reflection in the side of my car and trapped the phone between my ear and my shoulder as I unlocked and opened the door "Are you okay?"

She gave a brittle-sounding laugh "Uh … I’m fine I ended up alone in an exaer than I was coency in another roo could sense my anxiety and had a little meltdown You actually called at the perfect time" She exhaled and I could practically hear her entire body shaking in the way her voice quivered "You gave et out of the roouess that near uys froe My therapist is going to have a field day withbetter, but then the universe decides to showbark and she called to someone that she needed five minutes I hated that she was so hard on herself when her reactions were totally norh "You let uys scared the piss out of you You voluntarily stood in the kitchen with me and you shook s a couple ht direction even if she couldn’t see it because she was still looking over her shoulder

She breathed out again and her voice was very soft when she told me, "I think that has more to do with you than it does with me"

Her words made my heart stutter and skip a beat I wanted her to trustthat information over so quickly was unexpected I didn’t think I’d done a thing to earn her trust yet I had to clearwe could ht and start to work on sorin when I said the puppy’s name "I’ll order pizza and make sure you eat dinner" She went quiet on the other end of the phone and I wanted to kicktoo hard too fast with her "I can always come to your place if you’re hed "It’s not that"

I scowled at myself in the rearview aood distraction at theafter the dust oflife settled "What is it then?"

I could picture her tugging on her lip and shuffling her feet nervously because her nervous habits were beco as familiar to ether and were barely discernible, she admitted, "I don’t like pizza"

Stunned that she orried about telling h "Is that all? I’ll order Mexican or Chinese food Hell, I can even whip up soave another one of those laughs that sounded shrill and slightly hysterical "I don’t eat toh she couldn’t see me "Okay, so pizza sauce is out, but theyto know this wo across a round below ht detonate and throw hting my way toward her

She whimpered a little bit and I felt it like a kick insomeone else what she did and didn’t like was for her If her shitbag husband wasn’t already six feet under I would have gladly helped put him there

"Oliver loved pizza He told me it was unnatural and ridiculous that I wouldn’t eat it He’d demand that we order it for dinner once or twice a week and I’d have to sit and watch hi He always told o hungry"

I swore and curled the hand that wasn’t holding htly that ruff and uneven when I told her, "I’ll feed you whatever you want to eat, Poppy"

She led noise and then cleared her throat "I have to get back to work I have a group ht, so I won’t be by your place until after seven or so" She hesitated for a second and then quietly handed over, "My favorite is cheeseburgers I could eat them every day of the week"

She didn’t look like she’d had a cheeseburger in years but if that’s what she wanted I would make sure she had the best one Denver had to offer "Cheeseburgers it is I’ll text you ht"