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"Then, who wants to go first?" the woman asked, glancing between us. 

Cue the silence. 

I felt Poppy take a small step back before I could throw her into the fire pit first. "Yeah," she said slowly, "unfortunately, I think I'm going to sit this one out. I um, have an injury," she mumbled, glancing at me. 

"Oh, do you? That's interesting," I said, narrowing my eyes at her. 

"But hey, you're the one who said you wanted a massage. I'll give you one," she shrugged, her eyes glowering at me. 

I stared at her. "Suddenly, I don't want one anymore," I said to myself. 

She faked a chuckle, "Too late now. Anyway, it's paid for so at least one of us should get it and since I'm injured—" I opened my mouth to interrupt but she never let me. "Yes, I am. Oh, look at that, you don't know everything, after all, Nilsen," she snickered. "Anyhow, I won't get one today. You on the other hand." She rested a hand on my shoulder, her arm almost completely straight. 

I looked at her hand on me and then at her before she slowly retreated it. 

"You're so kind," she said sarcastically before turning to the masseuse. "I'd like to give him a massage." 

"I'll pass," I retorted.

"No, you won't," she argued immediately. 

"Let's leave." I turned to the door only for her to grab fistfuls of my shirt, huffing as she did. 

She took in a slow breath and then flashed the masseuse a smile. "Could you give us a minute, please?" 

"Sure," the woman replied hesitantly before going into the massage room. 

Poppy spun around quickly, blocking me from the door as I turned to pull it open. She leaned against it, placing her palms on the door. "No," she said slowly. 

"Exactly, no," I argued, reaching for the doorknob. 

"Josh." 

"Poppy," I mocked. 

"It's paid for. It's a couple's thing. One of us should still do it so we can at least review it in the magazine with the hotel." 

"One of us, yeah? Then you should get on the table." 

She paused, almost as if she really contemplated it again. "Yeah, no," she shook her head again. "You get on the table." 

"Why me?" 

"Because I'm..." she groaned softly, "I'm not... comfortable... doing that." 

"Doing... what? Getting a massage?" 

"By you? Yes. It's weird. In my head, this is really strange. I hardly know you and whatever I do know about you, I hate." 

"Oh, but I just adore you, don't I?" I asked sarcastically. 

She groaned in frustration, moving to block the doorknob when I reached for it again. "Look, just listen to me." 

"I'd rather not, you see." 

"If you really don't want to, I don't imagine you're comfortable with this either, I get it. Let's just skip it then. But if you don't mind, then..." she trailed off with a shrug. "Whatever," she huffed in frustration. "Up to you. I give up." She threw her hands up before letting them fall and hit her thighs. She moved to get away from the door but I put a hand on the door, blocking her. She hesitated and moved to the other side but took in a shaky breath and sunk into the door when I lifted my other hand, trapping her there. She rolled her eyes and then met my gaze. "What is it? I just told you, it's up to you. I gave up." 

"Yes, but that only made this so much more boring. I have fun arguing with you." 

She chuckled dryly. "You like it, do you?" She lifted a brow at me. "I bet it does all kinds of things to you." 

"To me? Or you?" I asked. 

She pushed me back slowly and my hands slid down the door. 

"Fine. I'll do it. No more than thirty minutes." 

She shrugged. "Sure. Whatever you say, Mr. Nilsen." 

"Are you sure you don't just want to massage me?" I teased. 

She scoffed, "Oh, I'm so sure of that." 

Once we decided and called the lady back here, we told her what we would do. "All right then, great. Let's start. Mr. Nilsen, you can go inside first and get undressed. Once you're on the table, just call out and we'll be right there." 

"Lovely," I muttered under my breath sarcastically before going into the massage room. 

Taking a quick scan around, I spotted multiple candles lit on smaller tables, in the left corner of the room was a black screen to change behind, and in the very center was the massage table. Going behind the screen, I shrugged off my t-shirt and hung it on top of the screen, and then went to lay down. I lay on my stomach, groaning before I called for them to come in. 

The door opened a beat later and I lifted my head to look at them. The masseuse was explaining all kinds of things to Poppy who kept nodding her head and listening, which truth be told, she was probably just nodding along instead of actually understanding any of it. The woman handed Poppy a bottle of lotion before Poppy looked at me. She held my gaze before rolling her eyes when they finally reached me. 

"Just your back then today, Mr. Nilsen?" the lady asked. 

"Yeah," I answered, looking at Poppy over my shoulder. "Try not to break it." 

She scoffed in disbelief. "Why would I break your back?" 

"Why wouldn't you? It seems like something you'd enjoy doing." 

She faked a laugh and replied, "Well, don't you worry, sir. Since you were feeling so sore earlier, I'm sure this will help you with that." 

Ignoring her, I put my head down and tried drowning them out. 

Maybe I should just fall asleep. That way, I'll have no idea what she's doing. 

I clenched my jaw, almost twitching when she poured cold lotion onto my back. "Poppy," I ground out. I heard her little giggle as she continued to do the same thing for a few more seconds before I heard her putting the bottle away. 

She asked the masseuse, "What do I do?" 

"Well, you can start by rubbing in the lotion that you've chosen to pour," the woman chuckled. 

The minute her hands touched me, my entire body tensed up for a heartbeat. Her hands were freezing too, and for no real reason, I had the feeling they always were cold. It just seemed like that. I closed my eyes, wanting to drown everything out. 

Having Poppy massage me didn't feel... good, per se. But it wasn't bad. It was just the fact that the person doing this to me was Poppy that was strange to me. I never imagined doing something like this for work. Hell, I never even imagined I'd get stuck working with Poppy out of all people. 

We haven't gotten along since the beginning and at first, I had to make sure we didn't. I had to try pissing her off a bit but it took barely a few days for me to realize that Poppy and I didn't have to try too hard to fight and argue. 

We were total opposites. The things I liked, she hated, and the things she liked, I despised. She was chatty, smiley, she enjoyed talking and working with other people, she liked making other people smile and happy too. I hated talking to people in general, being social just wasn't in my capabilities, I hated working with other people and preferred to be alone any day, and making other people smile or happy was the least of my concerns, I didn't give a fuck how people reacted to me or how I made them feel. 

But Poppy was special because annoying her and pissing her off brought me genuine pleasure. After she joined the company, arguing with her and proving her wrong became something I looked forward to. 

I snapped out of my thoughts when she pressed down a little harder on my back, her hands moving in slow circles now while she used her knuckles occasionally. 

Releasing a slow breath, I felt my body growing slack and less tense the more time that went on. God, I hated her so I'd never admit it, but Poppy was giving me what might be the best massage I've ever had. Her hands slid up to my shoulders and my eyes snapped open.

Shouldn't thirty minutes be done by now? 

"Is she doing all right?" the masseuse asked, bringing me out of the moment. "Is it too hard or too soft?" 

I paused, debating whether I should admit that she was going too soft despite knowing that if she went any harder, she'd only be touching me more. "It's fine," I replied blankly. 

We all heard a door open outside before the lady excused herself, saying she'd be right back. 

The minute the door closed behind her, Poppy slapped my back, hard and I just knew she was waiting to do that. "Your thirty minutes are up." 

I huffed, glancing at her over my shoulder. "What a nice massage, Poppy, you did such a great job," I said sarcastically before sitting up and getting off the table. "You did so good doing absolutely nothing," I scoffed, grabbing my t-shirt and facing her, not bothering to go behind the screen to put it on. 

Her eyes widened before she quickly looked away. "Well, you're welcome. Thanks for sharing your thoughts." 

"My thoughts," I repeated, "consider them a review." 

"Rate it then."

"Out of five?" 

"Sure," she mumbled as I made my way to her. "Zero. Absolutely nothing." 

"You prick, as if you could do better." Her eyes narrowed. 

"I guess you'd want to know, wouldn't you?" I shot her a smug look and she gave me a shove towards the door. I bit back a chuckle and opened the door, holding it for her. "Horrible masseuses first." 

She walked towards me slowly, holding up a hand and forming a tight fist. "I want to kill you," she spoke through gritted teeth. 

"Feeling's mutual, Valentine. Get moving."

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