Wings Over Poppies (Over #2) Read Online Free PDF Page B

wasn’t gonna sit there and watch him paw at you. That guy is nowhere near good enough for you.” West stands with his hands on his hips and a self-righteous stare, absolutely certain he’s right.
    “Is she good enough for you?” I ask accusingly.
    “What? Who?”
    “Stacey, the succubus. Do I really need to remind you? I’m shocked you were able to disentangle yourself from her face long enough to even realize I was here! Is she good enough for you? Is she all you ever dreamed of?” My breath hitches on the last words, and I’m so thankful to see Holly walk out onto the patio.
    “What does she have to do with anything?” West looks utterly confused, and I am beyond frustrated with him. How can he ignore what’s right in front of him? A blind man could see how I feel about him.
    “I’m just saying, she must be everything you’ve ever wanted, right? I mean, you’ve been dry humping her against the wall for the past two hours.”
    “Stacey is just a girl I hook up with sometimes. I’m not sure what you’re getting at, Alex.” West’s body is coiled with tension, and his glare serves as a warning. He should know better than to warn me. That only serves as an invitation.
    “Oh, it’s Alex now, is it? Now that you don’t like what I have to say, I’m no longer your ‘Poppy Girl’?”
    “Stop it. You’ll always be my Poppy Girl. You know that. You know how I feel about you.”
    “Do I? Let me see if I have this straight. You’ve put me on this pedestal, too good for you or anyone else. That’s mighty lonely, don’t you think?”
    “Alex.” He reaches out to me, and I hold up a hand to stop him.
    “No, stay away from me, West. I don’t think I can be around you right now.” My breath hitches, and the tears burn behind my eyes. I feel Holly’s hand wrap around mine, and I hold on to her for dear life.
    Holly leads me toward the road to leave, and I turn around one more time to see a pained expression on West’s face. I stop and watch him intently.
    I hope he’ll stop me. I pray he’ll grab me and tell me I have it all wrong.
    But he doesn’t.
    He remains silently planted to his place, and I sigh in defeat.
    “West, you say that I’m your Poppy Girl? That I’m perfect—everything you could ever want.” I wait for him to meet my gaze and shrug my shoulders in question. “I’m everything you could ever want, and I still lose. How can that be?”
    I can no longer hold the tears at bay as he drops his head, runs his hands through his hair, and growls in frustration.
    “Alex, just wait. I—”
    “West, where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.”
    I never heard the screen door open, and judging by the surprise on West’s face, he didn’t either. Stacey slinks up behind him and curls her tentacles around his waist, giving me a territorial glare.
    “All right, that’s enough. We’re leaving,” Holly says without giving me a chance to respond as she pulls me away from the house.
    I cry the entire way home. I sneak up to my room, avoiding my family so I don’t have to explain, curling up under the covers of my bed without worrying about pajamas.
    And I curse the day I ever met West Adler.

 
    “ Lego House ” by Ed Sheeran
     

     
     
    “I THINK THE pink looks so beautiful, West. Can I put some polka dots?” Lucy asks sweetly, gently testing the limits of my manhood.
    “You can decorate my fingernails however you like, Lucy Lou, but it’s all coming off before I leave this house.” I narrow my eyes at her jokingly as the living room fills with her infectious giggle. I like to think she gets her charm from me … yeah, probably not.
    Lucy always lightens my mood; she keeps me from brooding. She fights for breath every day without complaint. No matter how many treatments, doctors’ appointments, and hospital stays she endures, she keeps smiling and laughing. When she can’t count on the simple things in life, like breathing in and out, who the hell am I to