“Dad? Why are you yelling?” Rosie asked. “Rory’s here with me. What’s going on?”
I wanted to know that, too.
She looked up and saw Adam. “Well, shit.”
Adam laughed.
“Rosie! Your language!” Mom scolded her.
I looked down at my six-year-old nephew who was staring at Adam like he’d just met his hero. You know, how I imagine I’d look if I ever met Channing Tatum.
Adam crouched down so he was eye-to-eye with Rory. “Hey, buddy. It’s Rory, right?”
Rory nodded, completely dumbstruck.
“I’m Adam.” He held out his hand, but Rory was frozen in place. “How you doin’?”
Rory opened his mouth, but instead of speaking, he burst into tears.
My mouth opened as I stared at the situation in front of me.
Seriously.
What.
Was.
Happening?
“Uhh,” Adam said, standing up. “Sorry?”
Rosie hugged Rory to her leg and grinned at Adam. “Don’t be. He loves you. Once he’s gotten over the shock, he’ll probably follow you around all weekend.”
Seriously!
“I’ll be waiting when he is.” Adam touched my back again with a smile.
“What’s going on?” Mark said, joining the group and adjusting his tie. “Why is Rory crying? Sam, did you scare him again?”
Dad chuckled. “No. He just met his hero.”
Mark looked around the group until his eyes landed on Adam. “Adam Winters! Well, hell. What a pleasure.” They shook hands. “Poppy? You brought Adam Winters?”
I did the only thing I could.
I nodded.
Mark shook his head in disbelief. “Is this our wedding present? Kidding!” He laughed.
I met Rosie’s eyes. I was going to hyperventilate if somebody didn’t get me out of this situation.
“Honey, can you take Rory? Now we’re all introduced, I really need Poppy to help me with something,” she said, extracting a now-calm Rory from her right leg.
“What do you need her help with?” Mom asked, looking between me and her.
“Something!” She grabbed my arm and dragged me away. Mom’s eyes narrowed as we left the ballroom.
Oh God.
She knew.
She knew I didn’t know.
I was so, so screwed.
CHAPTER FIVE – POPPY
What The Cluck and a Hockey Puck
“What’s wrong?” Rosie said in a low voice.
“What is happening?” I breathed, pressing my hands against my stomach. “Why does everyone know who he is?”
Her lips parted, and she stared at me. “Wait. Are you telling me you don’t know who he is?”
I rubbed my hand across my forehead. “Jesus, no.”
“I’m so confused.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I whispered. “We met last weekend, I slept with him, and asked him to come with me to your wedding and he agreed.”
“What?” Rosie paused, then laughed. “Okay, we’re gonna come back to that, but again: You don’t know who he is?”
“I have no fucking idea! Oh my God. What’s going on?”
“Okay, first, you need to calm down.” She grabbed my upper arms and looked me in the eye. “Remember when I was in labor and you talked me through the breathing?”
I nodded, my breath hitching.
“Breathe. And breathe. And breathe.” She did that for a few more seconds until my breathing was under control once again. “Okay?”
“I’m good. Sorry. I panicked.”
“That is the general reason for a panic attack,” she said. “Adam Winters is a star forward for the Orlando Storms.”
“I don’t know what that means.”
She sighed. “He’s a famous as fuck hockey player. He’s both Dad’s and Mark’s favorite player on the team and he’s Rory’s freaking idol. He’s the reason Rory is learning how to play. He wants to be Adam when he’s older. Do you understand that?”
Oh.
Oh, shit.
Yes. I understood that.
“Oh, fuck,” I whispered. “This just went from bad to worse.”
“Why?”
“Because Mom is going to think I did this deliberately to upstage you, and I can’t tell her that I didn’t know who he was!”
“Ohhhh,” Rosie breathed out. “Oh, shit. Okay, don’t worry. We can handle this. I can talk her down.”
“How? How do we talk me out of this situation?”
“I’ll tell her she didn’t give you a choice. You’re seeing him, so you had to bring him, because you couldn’t come alone.”
“Okay. Jesus. This is a shitshow.”
“What’s going on?” Mark asked, touching both of our shoulders. “Your mom is about to have a cow in there.”
Rosie glanced at me.
“Rosie, no!” I begged.
“Somebody brought the most famous hockey player in the country to the wedding and didn’t know who he was.” She grinned at him.
“What?” Mark looked at me, fighting laughter. “Poppy—no. She’s lying.”
“Ohhh!” I covered my face. “It’s true. Damn it. I slept with him last weekend and asked him to be my date. I had no idea who he was until ten minutes ago.”
He didn’t even try to hide his laughter.
“Don’t laugh at me! This is a disaster!”
“Oh, Pops.” He wrapped me in a hug, and I pouted at my sister. “Only you could do this.”
“Mom can’t find out,” Rosie said. “And also if she tries to claim that Poppy did it to overshadow the wedding, we have to twist it back on her, okay?”