Knox's Girl (Carmichael Series #1)✔️

Done

**Edited**

Poppy's POV

A heavy groan escaped my mouth when I left the building of my last class, glad that the day was finally over. I got a sense of deja vu everytime I finished my Monday classes as they are definitely the most boring out of my entire week.

A wall of heat hit me square in the chest, eliciting a second groan from me. It'd been so incredibly hot out as of recently that you could probably fry an egg on the sidewalk. I swiped away the beads of sweat that'd quickly formed on my forehead and continued my trek back home. I was seconds away from plugging my ears with my headphones but stopped when I heard someone calling my name from behind me.

I turned to see Corbin barreling towards me and gave him a friendly smile while I waited for him to catch up to me.

"Hey. Where did you go last week? You just stormed off and haven't bothered to answer any of my calls or texts since then," he said, irritation clear in his voice. I thought about how I was going to break the news to him that my talk with Knox ended in us being together. I wasn't sure why I felt like I'd let him on in a way, when we agreed to meet up I'd told him I didn't want to lose him as a friend. I was praying he hadn't looked into the meaning behind me wanting to meet too deeply.

"Well, I went to speak with Knox about what he'd done to you and try to convince him into apologizing, but...it, um, didn't go quite as I'd planned," I explained vaguely.

"Well no shit, Poppy, but you're going to have to give me more detail than that. I mean, I did go out of my way just to give you a ride even though it inconvenienced me," he stated while crossing his arms over his chest. I bristled at his tone before clearing my throat and deciding my next course of action.

"I ended up speaking with him at his house, but the argument wasn't exactly productive," I began, leaving out the fact that our argument wasn't even about him at that point. "He apologized for his actions on Friday-" to me that is, "-and I've forgiven him," I finished. His eyes narrowed at me while the two of us just stood there.

"That's is? Nothing else? There isn't anything else you'd like to inform me of?" he pressed on. I thought about his words and the anger he was clearly feeling towards me, and that's when it hit me. He knows we're dating, and, if he's angry about it, that means he still wanted to pursue me... I wasn't sure what I could say to him that would make the situation better without making him feel worse.

"Christ, Poppy! I didn't think a girl like you would be the type to string a guy along. Here I am doing shit for you when you just turn around and start dating that asshole. I haven't even known you long and I know he treats you like absolute shit! Do you even know what he does in his free time, Poppy? Do you!?" he growled. The angrier he became, the louder his voice got. By the time he was finished with his rant, he was basically screaming at me. My throat constricted as tears began to sting my eyes. I'd never had anyone accuse me of something this negative ever before, especially so publically.

"You have to understand that Knox and I have a lot of history, Corbin," I started, feeling the need to defend not only myself, but also Knox. "I've known him since I was born. Sure, he hasn't been the most upstanding guy, but he's taken the time to explain himself and some of our issues from the past. Nobody's perfect - I'm certainly not - so I'm giving him a second chance. But, as far as his hobbies go, I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm sure they've changed since I last saw him," I answered off-handedly, unsure of where he was trying to go with that point.

"Of course you have no idea what I'm talking about because you're so aggravatingly naive! Your boyfriend is actually an ill-"

Daddy's Home by Usher began blasting from my phone before Corbin could finish his sentence. A giddy smile graced my lips, not even having to look at the caller ID to know who was trying to get ahold of me in that moment. Seeing that he'd momentarily lost my attention, Corbin stopped speaking and just stared at me expectantly.