Paradise Lost (Private 9)

Then he finally leaned in and touched his lips to mine. Every one of my limbs went limp, and I momentarily forgot where I was. Normally I'm not one for huge, prolonged public displays of affection,

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but we stood there on the dance floor and just kissed for a long, long time.

When Upton finally broke away, he kept his arms wound tightly around me. "I've been thinking about that all night."

"Me too," I said, resting my cheek on his chest and sighing happily.

So not caring about Poppy. So not caring...

But it was total crap. Of course I cared about her. I cast a sidelong glance in Poppy's direction and saw that, sure enough, Sienna was whispering in her ear and glancing pointedly at Upton and me. Poppy's eyes narrowed as she spotted us.

Adrenaline filled my veins, bubbling hot as lava. I held Upton tighter as we danced. Two seconds later, I felt a sharp finger jabbing repeatedly into my back.

"Excuse me."

I checked Upton's face before I turned around. He looked rather ill. Not a good sign. I steeled myself and faced Poppy.

"Yes?" I said.

"I thought we had an understanding," she said, with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Or were you not paying attention?"

"Oh, I got the message," I said coolly. "I just chose to ignore it."

Then I turned my back on her and reached for Upton. Her hand gripped my shoulder, her bony fingers digging into my skin.

"May I cut in?" she asked through her teeth.

The music pounded inside my head as I waited for Upton to say something. Anything. I waited a good sixteen bars. Upton just stood

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there behind me, silent, while my body temperature climbed steadily with each driving beat.

"Is she deaf or just slow?" Poppy joked, glancing past me toward her "boyfriend." "I said, may. I. Gut. In?"

"I don't know," I replied. "It's up to Upton."

I looked into his eyes. It was now or never. Time to see what the Up-man was made of. If he blew me off, I would walk away. Even though I so didn't want to walk away.

Upton took a deep breath and sighed, looking at the ground and scratching his eyebrow with his index finger before facing her.

"Poppy, we need to talk," he began.

He took her hand and walked her off the dance floor, just a few feet away from where we'd been standing. Unsure of what to do, I glanced around and saw Daniel exchange an interested glance with Paige. They both made their way over, hanging back a respectable distance, but definitely within eavesdropping range. Soon enough, most of the crew was gathered in the same way, pretending not to be listening in. Pretending quite badly.

"What is it, poodle?" Poppy asked, putting her arms around his waist.

Upton took her wrists and placed them back at her sides. She blinked, obviously upset, and glanced around. She noticed a few people watching and lifted her chin, trying to mask her surprise.

"This has to stop," Upton said, firmly but not unkindly. "I'm sorry, but I don't know how much clearer I can be. We've never been together--and we never will be together. We're friends. And

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as your friend, I'm telling you to stop embarrassing yourself."

Poppy took a step backward, heartbreak written all over her face. A few girls nearby laughed behind their hands. Poppy looked at them, confused. Clearly she was not accustomed to being the object of laughter. I glanced over at Noelle and the others, and every last one of them looked like they wanted to flee. Like they'd rather be doing anything other than witnessing this. Which I supposed I understood. It was even hard for me to watch, and they actually were friends with Poppy. No one liked to see their friend get dissed.