Scared of love

20

~Kieran's POV~

"Kieran, your phone's ringing!" Shouts Poppy as she comes in to the kitchen and hands me the black IPhone.

"Thanks, Baby." I say as I answer the phone and bring it to my ear.

"Hello?" I ask as I place the milk back in the fridge.

"Hello, Kiran!" Says my aunt enthusiastically. I chuckle slightly

"Hiya, Aunt Carol. How are you?" I ask her.

"I'm good, we all are. What about you?"

"I'm fab, thank you. "

"I was just wondering if you wanted to come over to the ranch sometime in august?" She knows I'll say yes. I love it over there.

"That'd be great thank you. You know it's my favourite place ever." I lean on the Counter and sip on my glass of milk.

"Fab. It'll be great. Miles and Alissa are coming too. You can help us with the over night cattle drive." Apart from the soreness of my arse for the following week, cattle drives are good fun.

"Okay. I'll look forward too it." I say with a genuine smile on my face.

"Brilliant. So, what are your plans for the rest of the day?"

"Well, Poppy's over, so ill probably spend the day with her." I say, forgetting that they don't know about her yet.

"Poppy? Who's that?" She asks.

"Poppy is my girlfriend." As I say that, Poppy comes in to the kitchen and I reach out for her. I hold her against me as I talk to my aunt.

"Then you have to bring her with you! I can't wait to meet her!" My aunt has always been a very enthusiastic woman and I can just about see her clapping her hands together excitedly.

"I'm sure she'll love that." I laugh and lean forward, kissing Poppy's forehead.

"Well, I've got to go. We'll organise the dates soon." She says.

"Okay, good bye, Aunt Carol." I say to her.

"Bye, Darling." Then the line goes dead. I place my phone on the counter and turn to Poppy.

"Remember when your mum told me that you have always wanted to visit a cattle ranch?" I ask her as I walk through to the living room with her hot on my tail.

"Yes." She has a smile on her face and I think she may have actually heard the conversation.

"In august, I am going to visit my aunt and uncle on the ranch, and you are invited." I tell her as I sit down, and she sits next to me.

"Oh my God! Really?! You're not bull shitting me are you?" She looks at me with excited, pleading eyes, hoping I won't tell her I'm joking.

"Yes, Baby Girl. My Aunt Carol has insisted that you come. They want to meet you. Miles will be coming too. And his sister, Alissa." I tell her. "Will your parents let you go?"

"I'm eighteen, I can go if I want." She says and I can tell she's really excited. "I can't wait." She says as she curls up in my side.

"Me either." I whisper in her ear.

****

"My mum wants to know if I'm coming home tonight." Says Poppy as she comes in to the kitchen from the bedroom, holding her phone.

"Tell her no." I smile as I walk up to her and press her against the wall playfully. I kiss her neck and she moans.

"We've had all day to do this and you decide to do it once we're both dressed." She breathes out heavily against me.

"You love me." I growl seductively in her ear.

"Yes, I do." She sighs.

We both turn at the sound of the door opening. I almost growl as Miles walks in with a big, stupid grin on his face.

"Did I interrupt you?" He laughs as he shuts the door behind him.

"Y...." I'm interrupted when Poppy jumps in.

"No. It's Miles right?" She asks, stepping forward with a slightly shy smile on her face. I can see she's wary because he's a man she's only met once, but she knows that I know him and that I'm right behind her.

"Yes it is, Darlin' " Miles takes her hand and kisses it.

Poppy takes it sweetly, but steps back to my side, nervous at the attention of a man she's only met twice.

"What are you doing here?" I asks Miles, still slightly irritated he got in the way of a make out session with Poppy.

"I just thought I'd drop in. Are you going over to the ranch in august?" He takes a piece of fruit from the bowl on the counter then goes in to the living room with Poppy and I following.

We all sit down. "Yes, I am. Poppy is invited too." I say, putting my arm around her.

"That'll be great. But what do you know about horses, riding and farming, Poppy?" Miles asks because it'll help if she knows what she's doing slightly.

"I can ride western, Miles. And I know how to care for a horse." She says quietly. Can she? I didn't know that.

"You can?" I ask.

"Yes." Poppy nods at me.

"How come you never told me?" I turn to her and she looks up at me.

"You never asked." She chuckles and I don't know what to say to that. "I used to ride. But I was only interested in learning western because, like my mum said, I was obsessed with the idea of the ranch on 'The Horse Whisperer'."

"Oh okay." I laugh and so does Miles.

"Anyway, what you two up to today?" Asks Miles as he kicks his feet up on the coffee table and flicks on the TV, showing no signs of leaving any time soon.

"I've got some marking and lesson planning to get done." I say as I look at the two tall piles of art assessments on my kitchen table.

"Don't be giving Poppy A's because she's your girlfriend." Warns Miles and I just laugh, so does Poppy.

"She'll be getting A's anyway. I've never had a student as talented as her. I swear her pictures look like photographs, Miles." I look down at her with complete pride, but I can see her getting nervous with the attention on her. Miles notices this too.

"Alissa's coming to the ranch too. Did my mum tell you that?" Miles asks as he flicks through the channels, diverting the attention from Poppy. I like that about him. He's like me. He observes people and notices how they are feeling.

"Yeah she did. It'll be nice, we don't see her much." Alissa is a Zoologist and spends her time travelling from country to country studying rare animals.

"That's true. The last time I spoke to her, she was in the states anyway. But in Yellow Stone studying the wolves." He explains.

I nod and stand up to go and retrieve the work that needs marking, I bring it back and start going through it. Poppy is leaning on the arm of the opposite end of the sofa, but I can feel her watching me intently.

All I can think is how much I love this girl.