The Thing About Trouble (Crystal Lake 1)

“Exactly,” Blue retorted dryly, handing out a chocolate-covered wish to an adorable little pumpkin and her doting grandmother. She glanced at her watch. “I need to leave soon, Poppy.”

The redhead nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll be closing early anyway. It is a holiday after all.”

Blue chuckled. “If you say so.”

Poppy finished wrangling one of the large spiders out of the web she was working on and set in on the counter.

“What are your plans tonight?” she asked lightly, a smile curving her lips as she stared across the counter at Poppy. “Since you hate Halloween and all.”

“I’m giving out candy at Cam’s place while he takes Tawny trick or treating.”

“You two are hanging out a lot.”

“We’ve been spending time together.”

Blue felt that familiar heat erupt inside her. Jesus, she was like a walking volcano just thinking about Cameron Booker. He’d shown her things and taken her places she’d never known existed. To think, for a time, Blue had thought she was frigid or had lady parts that didn’t work properly. She blushed and looked away. They worked all right, and right now, they were wide awake.

“You guys serious?”

Blue glanced up sharply. “What do you mean by serious?”

Poppy made a face. “I mean serious. Like do you have a drawer for your underwear at his place? A pink toothbrush beside his blue one. Do you have tampons in the cupboard?”

“No.”

“No to the underwear drawer? Or no to the toothbrush?”

“No to both.”

The truth was she hadn’t spent the entire night at Cam’s since that first time. She told him it was because of Tawny—that it was inappropriate because she was so young—which a month ago had been true. Then she’d told him she couldn’t leave Giselle alone for hours and hours. That the cat would retaliate and leave presents for her to find—the kind a person didn’t like finding. And just last week, she’d told him she needed to be home because she had an early delivery. She’d been running out of excuses and though it was lame, it was all she had.

Cam knew it was bullshit, but he didn’t call her on it. He gave her the space she needed to contemplate the why of it, and the plain truth was, she had no idea why she couldn’t jump in with both feet.

“I don’t know if I’m ready for that,” she said slowly. “For that kind of commitment.”

“For underwear-drawer commitment? Or toothbrush commitment.”

“Both.”

“What does Cam want?” Poppy asked.

“We’ve never really talked about it.”

“Why not?”

“Because whenever he brings it up, I change the subject.”

“Why?” Poppy wasn’t giving up. “You guys seem so right together. What are you so scared of?”

“There are things he doesn’t know about me. Things I’ve never shared with anyone, and I…” It hit her then. She was the problem. She was avoiding because she was too afraid of opening up.

“I think I’m afraid that if he knows the real me, he might run for the hills because the real me is pretty screwed up.”

Poppy moved from behind the counter and gave her a big hug. “We’re all screwed up. We’re all missing pieces of us. Pieces that life and circumstance and hurt and pain have destroyed. The trick is grabbing hold of that one thing, that one person, who can make you whole again. You need to be smart enough not to let go. And you need to do everything in your power to hold on.” She stepped back, her voice soft, the look in her eyes faraway. “Sometimes that’s not even enough. So be grateful and hold close the people who make your life worth living. But more importantly, face your fears. Don’t be afraid to be vulnerable.”

Poppy cleared her throat and attempted a smile. “And that is my two cents worth of advice for the day.” She nodded toward the door. “You should go, or you’ll be late.”

“Are you okay?” Blue asked carefully. Something had just changed, and she had no idea what that something was.