Ambrose drops me off at the University ten minutes before my lecture starts, leaving me with plenty of time to get myself a coffee and get a good seat at the back for Poppy and me. Once Rhodes came back to bed last night, I slept like a baby, but he left quite early in the morning to go to a meeting, and it was hard to sleep after that, so my mind is groggy.
I pick up a coffee for Poppy while I'm at the café and quickly make my way over to the lecture theatre. I'm among one of the first to arrive, so I grab a seat at the corner back row, with my bag sitting on the seat next to me saved for Poppy.
"Hello, you," I hear her say as her bright smile appears around the corner a few moments later. I grin up at her as she settles into her seat beside me, as I put the bag back on the floor.
"Good morning to you too," I say cheerfully. She shakes her head.
"No honey, I wasn't talking to you, I was talking to that lovely hickey on your neck," she gives me a cheeky smile that turns into quiet laughter as I hastily bring my hair around to one side in an attempt to cover it. I didn't know that he had given me a hickey; I hadn't seen it this morning when I was getting ready.
"So you obviously went and saw him, how did that go?" she asks through her small giggles, taking a satisfied sip of the coffee I brought for her as she leans back into her seat. I shake my head.
"It went well," I begin.
"Clearly," she replies, gesturing to my neck with the cup in her hand. I roll my eyes but smile anyway. I doubt I will ever hear the end of her reminding me of the time I showed up to class brandishing a hickey on my neck. "What conclusion did you guys come to?" she asks.