But My Friends Call Me Lanny

Poppy's POV:

I blinked up at him, still breathless and stunned. My palms stung where they’d scraped the gravel, and my back and head was pounding, probably, because I couldn’t feel any of that. Maybe it was the effective of the painkillers...

But what I could feel heat rising in my cheeks and my chest. A hot, burning shame that felt like it was eating its way out of my skin.

This creature was terrifyingly beautiful.

I didn’t know what to say or even how to breathe.

I just realized, distantly, that he hadn’t moved closer. He just stayed exactly where he crouched, watching me, but his eyes weren’t cold or mocking, they were just… unreadable.

I didn't know what that meant... I wanted to speak — to say something— but all I could do was stare... Is it cheating that I'm admiring another man like this?

He stared at me for another second, then his mouth moved.

“You okay?”

Not “What are you doing here?”

Not “What the fuck?”

Just that.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out.

And he didn’t wait for more. He stood slowly, brushing his hands off on his black pants. His shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and I noticed his hand, he was holding a slightly light cigarette, but his hand was trembling slightly.

I coughed once, then again. The smell of the smoke hit my throat and made it tighten. I waved my hand weakly, trying to bat it away.

As if he noticed instantly, he dropped the cigarette and crushed it under his boot.

I never liked the smell of cigarettes, because of my asthma attacks.

He turned his head, like he was listening for something behind him. Then he looked back down at me.

"Do you need help?" he asked again, his voice velvet-rich and low, a tone that tugged at something in the base of my stomach.

His fingers tapped lightly on my forehead... He was studying my face with unreadable intent.

Then—so gently—his knuckles brushed my cheek, and I flinched without meaning to.

He froze and his brows twitched faintly. “It’s okay,” he said, voice softer this time. “I’m not going to hurt you. I'm checking if you're in shock.”

I wasn’t scared or in shock, I was just... caught off guard. But checking if I'm in shock? I gave him a confused stare.

"Oh," he said as though it were that obvious. "I used to be a doctor."

A doctor? With a body and face like that, I highly doubt he saved any person.

He extended his hand toward me, his palm open. A normal person would interpret that as an offer, a kind gesture, but I wasn't normal, so I stared at it longer than I should’ve. Then finally—reluctantly—I placed mine in his.

His grip was warm and steady, and when he pulled me up, the motion came so effortlessly, like I weighed nothing at all.

My balance tipped forward, and before I knew it, my face pressed against the firmness of his chest.

I gasped.

He steadied me again with that same quiet strength, as though he'd done it a hundred times.

“Careful,” he murmured, his hot breath fanned the top of my hair. "Are you sure you're okay?"

When I looked up into his face, everything stilled.

God, close up he looked even more perfect. His eyes—a shade of green deeper than pine, sharper than emerald—seemed to see through me.

His jaw was cut sharp, dusted with the hint of stubble, and his lips curved slightly, like he was always on the verge of a smirk. He wasn’t just handsome—he was devastating.

His presence swallowed the air around me. Heat radiated from his body, something magnetic and wild.

His scent—leather, woodsmoke, and a subtle spice—wrapped around me like a spell I didn’t ask for. My breath came shallow.

I could almost picture myself leaning into him, letting my fingers trace the lines beneath his shirt, letting—

No.

I shook my head quickly; I had to stop this.

I stepped back, making sure I created distance. It wasn't enough, but it was still something. This wasn’t right, I wasn’t supposed to feel this way.

This is cheating.

What would Lanny think?

My heart clenched with guilt, the name alone grounded me. My Lanny, the one who listened to me talk for hours about books and dreams and escaping this life.

No! Bad!

I shoved his hands away hard enough to send a message that I thought he was something toxic.

His brows furrowed at my sudden change in character, still, he pulled back without a word, giving me the space I demanded.

There was no anger or arrogance, just a calm expression—cool, and maybe a thought that suggested I was a junkie or a runaway addict.

He pulled something from his pocket—a small, neat wrap—and unwrapped it lazily before slipping it into his mouth.

A piece of dried fruit, maybe? His jaw flexed slowly, and I couldn’t stop staring.

“I heard a noise,” he said after a moment, chewing thoughtfully. “Thought I should check it out.”

As if he noticed something for the first time, he bent down and picked up my cracked glasses from the grass.

His fingers lingered on the cracked frame, turning it over with interest before I snatched it from him.

I held the cracked glasses behind my back like a child guarding a secret.

He raised a brow, but didn’t want to press. Instead he scratched the back of his head, before staring back at me.

The laughter from inside the room was louder now, and I could hear my sister's voice. We both turned to the window and back to the awkward silence.

"I don't want to go back in there." He said unwrapping another wrap and sliding it into his mouth. "It's chaos. I'm supposed to marry this weird girl and I already have someone on my mind."

If only all the woman fawning over him heard this, they would have dropped dead. Hear that? He has someone else... Now I don't know why I feel jealous.

"Between you and me, that girl," he gestured towards the window, "smells like too much cheap perfume." Sighed him.

That made me laugh, because it was true.

This was him?

The mysterious Caelum brother.

He was nothing like the preened charm of the other two. There was something rugged about him worn in a good way.

“I’m Alanis,” he said suddenly, stretching out a hand again, casually this time, as though none of this had been strange at all.

Then he added with a half-smile:

“But my friends call me Lanny.”