Chapter Twenty-Nine:
Emerson
I’ve been hanging out with Evan now for a few weeks, and everything has been smooth sailing. I had forgotten how much fun he is to be around and go on adventures with. He’s always down for anything and so spontaneous it keeps me on my toes. Honestly, it makes me wonder why we couldn’t make it work the first time around.
He got us a gig playing extras on a local television show for the day, so we get to sit around for most of it and make close to a hundred bucks. It’s not a bad shtick. “What do you want to do when we get out of here?” he asks, sidling up next to me on the grass.
“Go home,” I reply lamely. “I have to start packing; I move in less than a week.”
“Do you want any company?” he asks, rubbing his hand softly up and down my arm.
I grin. “You know I love hanging out with you, but I haven’t spent much time with Cade or Mischa lately. I don’t have a lot of time left to spend with them before I move out. Plus, if you head straight home you might be able to make it before the sun sets.”
He sighs. “Okay, fine. What are you doing tomorrow?”
I laugh and then fall backward, lying flat on my back. Cradling my head with my arm, I look back at Evan. “Don’t you think you’re going to get sick of me soon?”
He gives me a faux shocked look. “Me? Tired of you? Never.”
I giggle. “Are you going to come tour my new place once it’s all set up?”
He stares back at me. “Are you kidding? I’m going to be your first houseguest.”
“Is that so?” I ask.
“Quiet on set!” someone yells out.
Evan nods silently. He’s something else.
***
I’m exhausted from the long day, and the thought of packing now is unappealing. I plop down onto my queen-sized bed, face in the comforter. I’m so close to having everything I ever wanted, and I just need to keep Cade in the dark until I’m ready to share anything with him.
I breathe in my own scent on my bedding and then turn my head to the side so I can take an actual breath.
“What are you doing?” I hear Cade chuckling from outside my door.
Sitting up, I stare back at him. “I’m just going to miss this place.”
He folds his arms across his chest, entering my room. “You know, last I checked, no one was kicking you out, so there’s really no reason for you to go.”
I sigh, my head falling into my hands. “The fact that you don’t get it is exactly why I need to move out.”
He takes a few steps toward me and then joins me on the bed. “Then tell me.”
Groaning, I reply, “I shouldn’t have to spell it out for you.”
“Just tell me.”
There it is. I can already feel it. I’m cracking. I always do. “Well for starters, I will get to come and go as I please.”
Cade’s face scrunches up. “You already get to do that.”
“With whomever I want.”
Cade’s eyebrows rise up and then he cocks his head to the side. “Who do I stop you from seeing? Please tell me.”
I gawk back at him. “You can’t be serious.”
He chuckles, but it’s not a friendly laugh, it has an edge to it. “I’m protective of you, sue me. But I don’t stop you from doing anything or seeing anyone.”
Jumping up from the bed, I distance myself from my twin before I strangle him. “You really want to play that game right now?” I test him.
His eyes darken and he stands. “Try me.”
“Don’t tell me you blacked out the final saga between Evan and me.” I can’t hold back. When he pushes, I push back harder. We are both stubborn, made from the same cloth.
“Evan was not a good guy, Em,” he repeats the same thing he’s been telling me for the past few years.
“That was for me to find out on my own. I was falling for him. I truly believed he was the one. You stripped it all away from me; my choices, my relationship.”
“I’m tired of you thinking I was an asshole for protecting you from scum like Evan Driscoll,” Cade growls.
“Yet still to this day, you can’t back up your allegations. Funny how that works out, isn’t it?” I ask in a sarcastic tone.
“Fine. You want to do this?” Cade huffs, obviously letting my words get to him. “Evan never liked you. Is that what you wanted to hear? He only went after you to get at me.”
His words make my skin crawl and itch. No. I shake my head. “Bullshit.”
“Really?” Cade’s eyes turn a color I’ve never seen before. “He had a running bet with the guys on the football team back during our senior year about when he was going to get in your pants. All he cared about was taking your virginity so he could rub it in my face that he corrupted something and someone so close to me.”
I’m shaking and my ears are ringing. “You’re lying,” I say, tears brimming my eyes.
Cade takes a step toward me and I jump backwards. He stops and puts his hands up in surrender. “You wanted this. You asked for this!”
“Stop,” I say, the first tear escaping down my cheek. “Stop talking.” Goosebumps have risen all over my arms and legs.
“Look, I stopped it before he got what he wanted,” Cade says softly as if what he is saying makes anything better.
“Get out,” I say simply.
“What?” he asks, his mouth hanging open.
“Get out of my room,” I repeat as calmly as I can.
“Em,” he tries to reason with me.
“Go!” I shout so loud it surprises us both. He doesn’t bother trying after that. His face contorts into an angry scowl and he rushes past me. I slam the door behind him like my teenage self would have done and then end up with my back pressed up against it, sliding to the ground in a pile of my tears.
***
I don’t know how I got here, but I would be lying if I said the alcohol didn’t play a part in it. After everything that happened with Cade and my realization that I was back at square one again, I drowned my sorrows in a bottle of Captain Morgan’s Spiced Rum. It was the first thing I could find in Mischa’s liquor cabinet, but it’s doing the trick quite nicely.
I glance up at Braxton’s window from his front lawn. It’s chilly outside as it’s the middle of the night, but some part of me thought this was a good idea. Without allowing myself much more time to contemplate my future mistakes, I let myself in through the sliding glass door of the house in the backyard. The one that is always unlocked, something Braxton told me long ago when we thought we might have to break in because he forgot his keys.
Slipping in, I try to be as quiet as possible when sliding it closed. All the lights are off which doesn’t surprise me. I tiptoe through the downstairs hallways until I make it to the staircase and climb it.
I’m holding my breath as I make it to the outside of his door. Glancing around, I make sure no one has been woken up by me. It would probably make sense to knock, but instead, I let myself in, trying not to make a sound. I can make out a lump of what I think is Braxton on his bed in the darkness. As I get closer, I can see the outline of his body and can now see that he is shirtless. The thought makes my blood pressure spike. I giggle silently at the thought of it all when Braxton springs out of the bed so quickly I don’t have time to react. He has a death grip on my wrists, and I am now pressed up against the closest wall. He squints his eyes, adjusting to the darkness. “Emerson?”
I shake my head. “In the flesh.”
“What? What are you doing here?” he asks, dropping my wrists.
“I just came to say that ding, ding, ding – you’re a winner!” I press my finger into his chest.
He shakes his head confused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m talking about the fact that once again, I have no hope of losing my virginity. I’m halfway to crazy cat lady already.”
Braxton rubs his face with his hand. “Are we really back on this subject?” he asks, sounding mildly annoyed.
“Cade told me about Evan,” I blurt out, the anger stirring inside of me.
Braxton sighs. “Em…”
“How long did you know?” I ask.
He turns away from me, distancing himself, but then thinks better of it. Reaching for me, he grabs my arms and throws me onto the bed. I land on my back, my heart racing. He stalks toward me like a predator advancing toward its prey, and then climbs on top of me, his wrists holding my arms hostage above my head. “I knew the whole time,” he says, but he trails the words down my body making me squirm.
“What!” I shriek, thrashing against his hold, but he doesn’t flinch.
“I knew he would never be able to fully satisfy you,” his breath trails up my neck, goosebumps following, “not like I can.”
My entire body feels hot from his touch, and I feel myself losing control.
“Now go home, Emerson, before we both do something we will regret.” His tight grip releases from my wrists, and he stands up from the bed leaving me breathless. I don’t think I could move if I wanted to.
I can’t help that my mouth falls open at his suggestion. “Really?”
“You’re drunk,” he answers simply.
“So, let me get this straight…” I start, gathering my thoughts. “You have a girl in your bed, in a vulnerable position such as this, and you are kicking her out instead of taking advantage? By golly, I never thought I’d see the day when Braxton Franco turned down free pussy.”
Braxton is back on top of me before I can register a thought. “Since when did your mouth get so filthy?” he asks me as he nibbles a little on the edge of my ear, driving me nuts.
I am moaning and he’s barely even touching me. My body is betraying me. “Braxton…”
His hands trail up and down my body, over my clothes and breasts and down my legs. His lips find my neck, and he gathers a fistful of my hair, and then he yanks my neck back, running his tongue up and down it making my entire body tremble.
“We can’t do this,” he whispers into my ear, nuzzling his nose into my neck.
“Why not?” I practically beg.
“You know why,” he answers. “Everything will implode.”
I groan, still hot and heavy and lost in the moment. “No one has to know,” I say, the words too familiar.
He takes my mouth with his own, steady and aggressive, parting my lips with his tongue, and leaves me breathless. When he finally pulls away, I’m dizzy.
“So what, you want me to be your little secret?” he asks playfully, pulling on my shirt and lifting it over my head. My heart is pounding loudly against my ribcage.
“Right now? I just want you,” I say, running my hands up and down his chest.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asks, the protector in him coming out.
“Come on, Braxton. This is like torture,” I say honestly.
He chuckles, making me even more frustrated. I just want his hands on my body. He pulls at my sweats and then rips them gently off me. I am now naked except for my boy shorts. His hands roam over my small breasts, massaging them, and then I feel him take one of my nipples in between his teeth as he runs it back and forth along with his tongue. Wetness is pooling between my legs.
Running my hands over his taut body, I reach for his boxers when he stops me. He kisses me to avert my attention before placing his hand over my underwear, which I know are dripping wet. This seems to excite him because his touch becomes more primal and assertive. He is rubbing the outside of the fabric up and down, up and down, the friction rubbing against my opening.
I’m not the most experienced person when it comes to intimacy, but I have given a hand job or two in my life, so I follow suit with my own touch over his cotton boxers. He is hard and from what I can feel, big. The thought is so foreign to me it makes me blush.
He becomes more turned on by my touch, and he jumps off the bed suddenly. Grabbing the chair from his desk, he drags it right in front of me. “Sit,” he orders.
I don’t think twice before following his order. My skin is tingling as I wait to see what he has in store for me. I can hear him rummaging through his closet, and when he returns, he has a handful of neckties. I shiver from the thought.
“Just relax,” he tells me, able to see in the dark the tension building in my body.
I take few deep breaths, attempting to calm myself down. He comes around and takes each of my hands and each of my ankles and ties them to the wooden chair. I am literally incapacitated. My heart is thumping wildly, and I don’t know what to expect next.
At first, he comes and kisses me deeply, running his teeth across my bottom lip. His hands roam my body, gripping and releasing my breasts, kneading them. My underwear is soaking wet, and I don’t know how much more I can take. I feel something cold against my skin and then realize that he has cut my underwear off. I’m too turned on to care. I’m basically salivating, wondering what he has in store for me next.
He reaches behind my back and pulls my lower half forward so that my shaved lips are on full display. Suddenly, I feel very exposed. He has seen all of me now and there is no going back.
He crouches down, his fingers trailing their way down my stomach and then further south. I’m wriggling in the chair, but confined by the ties. First I feel a finger sliding up and down my opening and then moving further in and rubbing my clit up and down. I am breathing deeply, and I wonder what he is thinking all the way down there. His touch feels amazing; my head falls back and I allow my eyes to close. I focus on his fingers, which are slowly exploring every inch of me. It started with one, and now there are two which are being pushed in and out of me, making me feel things I don’t think I’ve ever felt before.
He stops touching me, and I want nothing more than his touch to return. My skin is begging for it. Instead, I feel something more foreign than anything thus far. I feel his hot breath on my inner thigh, and I let out a high-pitched squeal. He covers my mouth, which I find insanely sexy. I forgot his parents live here too. What a thought to have at a time like this. It makes me hot and bothered and worried all in the same breath. His mouth returns to my inner thighs and he kisses each one slowly, each kiss growing closer and closer to the money spot.
At one point, I feel something sliding up and down my slit, and I think it’s his finger but when I look, I see his head in between my legs. Oh, my God. My head falls back from the feeling of ecstasy, but it turns me on seeing his head bob up and down from this angle, and I strain to keep my own up so I can watch. I’ve never had anyone’s face this close to my private area before, but this is a feeling like I’ve never experienced. It’s as if I can feel a tidal wave, building and folding over on itself. I know I’m going to scream if he keeps stroking my clit like that with his tongue. And that is exactly what I end up doing, the orgasm raking through my body. Braxton has to muffle me with the pillow which only excites me more. I don’t know how he stops there; I don’t know how to move much less function after the incredible feeling that just took over my entire body.
“Now go home, Emerson,” Braxton says before standing and pulling a shirt over his head.
My whole body is tingling, and I don’t want to move for fear that I will forget how amazing this feels. “Seriously?” I whine.
He tosses my underwear at me, which falls to my feet because my wrists are still tied to the chair. “Yeah. I need to get some rest, and I won’t be doing that with you here. Plus, you’ve been here long enough, I don’t want Cade or Mischa to suspect anything.” He begins undoing the knots.
A grin is pulling at my lips. “So we are really doing this…” I say softly more to myself than anything else. After I’m no longer capacitated, I stand, foregoing my ripped underwear and then grab my shirt and sweats, quickly putting them back on.
I don’t know how to act now that Braxton has seen all of me. Well, he’s done a lot more than sightseeing. The thought brings heat to my cheeks. Are we supposed to kiss goodbye? Do I just leave? I don’t know what the right answer is so I awkwardly go up to Braxton, thank him for whatever the fuck it was he did tonight, and hug him quickly before high-tailing it back to my house.
Now that we’ve gone there, I don’t know if I ever want to go back to just being regular friends. Not when I know just how my body reacts to him and his bedroom tactics. Tiptoeing back into my bedroom, I slip under the covers with Braxton the only thing on my mind.