Chapter Thirty-One:
Emerson
After I ran out on Braxton, I headed straight to Breigh’s. I haven’t seen her this distraught since we were back on tour and found Cade with a groupie.
“I came as fast as I could,” I say as she allows me into her apartment and I embrace her. “Tell me everything.” It’s obvious she has been crying because her face is tinged pink and her eyes are glassy.
She leads me to the living room and then plops down on the couch. “Well, Cade and I haven’t gone more than a couple of hours without speaking to one another since he got back from tour. Yesterday, I realized he was acting different when I sent him a text and he didn’t reply for almost five hours.”
I stifle a laugh realizing that all of this is more than likely just a false alarm. “Breigh,” I say softly.
“I know what you’re going to say,” she says fighting back tears. “But I promise you I’m not overreacting or imagining this. Something is wrong.”
I sigh and then pull out my phone. I haven’t spoken to Cade since yesterday morning, but he’s never been known to avoid me. Quickly, I dial his number and wait for the line to connect.
“What are you doing!” Breigh exclaims, throwing herself at my phone. I dodge her by standing and then begin pacing across the room.
Like I assumed, Cade picks up on the third ring. “Hey, Em,” he says.
“Hey,” I reply.
“What’s up?”
“Oh, nothing. Just trying to see what you are up to. I was craving some barbecue.” I know Cade won’t be able to turn down his favorite restaurant, Roadhouse Grill.
There is some commotion in the background of our phone call, and I hear a female’s voice.
“Em, are you trying to kill me?” Cade whines and I hear faint giggling. My stomach churns.
I laugh for good measure and then put my big girl panties on. “No, I’m just being a good sister. If you don’t want to go, I can happily ask someone else.”
“No, no, no!” he exclaims loudly. More female voices and giggling become apparent.
“Where are you?” I ask, unable to stop myself.
“I’m at the studio.” I’m taken aback. I don’t know what it is, but something in my gut tells me he isn’t telling the truth.
“Uh huh,” I reply shortly.
“Look,” he says, “I gotta go. Thanks for the invitation, sis, you know that’s my jam… but I’m kinda busy here.”
I allow him to get off the phone, but I don’t know how to look my best friend in the face. Not when I know what I do.
“What did he say?” she asks eagerly, her eyes glued to my lips.
“He, um…” I don’t even know where to start. I don’t want to say ‘I told you so.’ I never wanted my friend to get hurt, and now I’m terrified my brother is going to break her heart. “He said he was at the studio.”
Breigh jumps to her feet quickly. “Well, great. If he won’t answer my calls or texts, I’ll confront him in person.”
My mind instantly goes to the female voices I heard in the background of our call. If he is at the studio, he’s in the midst of some groupies, and I don’t want Breigh to walk in on something potentially harmful. “Breigh, I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Oh my God…” she says exasperatedly. “He said something to you, didn’t he?” Her eyes are manic, and tears are now spilling down her cheeks. “What did he say?”
“He didn’t say anything,” I answer truthfully, feeling her pain with each teardrop. I stand up and reach for her, but she pulls away.
“Stop lying to me.”
My heart aches for my friend. “This is typical Cade. When things are going good in his life, he has to sabotage everything and run away from it.”
Breigh’s eyes widen as she digests my words. “I should have known it was too good to be true. I should have known I wouldn’t be enough for him.”
I race to her and pull her to me against her wishes. “Shhh, don’t you say that. You know that’s not true.”
“Really?” She pushes me away and crosses her arms. “I think he’s seeing other people.”
“You don’t know that.”
She shakes her head. “No, I don’t, but I have intuition and I feel it in my gut.”
“Breigh…” I don’t know what to say. From the voices in the background, I know he was up to no good, but I don’t want to hurt my friend any further.
“Just give him some time,” I say finally. “He’ll come around. At the very least, you can ask him why he’s been such a dick to you.”
Breigh stifles a laugh, and I feel a tad better making her smile. “I love you, and you deserve someone who thinks you’re the bee’s knees, just like I do.”
Breigh wipes her tears away. “Speaking of, what’s going on with you and Evan? Have you guys rounded third base yet?”
My stomach sinks. I’ve been keeping my relationship with Braxton a secret because I was too worried Breigh might slip up and tell Cade. I’ve never kept anything from her for long. I feel guilty. I feel like a terrible friend.
“I’m not hanging out with Evan anymore,” I say simply.
Breigh’s tears subside, and she stares at me wide-eyed. “Why not?”
“Cade didn’t tell you?”
She shakes her head and then takes a step toward me. “No, he hasn’t told me anything. Are you okay?”
I feel bad that the focus has shifted to me, but I’m ready to be honest with her once and for all. “Yeah, I’m okay. Cade just told me some interesting things about Evan that made me see him in a whole new light. I don’t really want to talk about him though, because I’ve been dying to tell you something.”
Breigh’s eyebrows raise and I can tell the change in conversation is helping lighten her mood.
“I’ve kinda been seeing Braxton…” I’m scared to look her in the eyes. I’m scared to see her reaction.
“Are you serious?” she exclaims, rushing toward me.
I let out a nervous laugh. “Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
I shrug. “It’s new. Really new, and I didn’t want you to turn around and tell Cade. I need to deal with him on my own time.”
“But I’m your best friend,” she says in a hurt tone.
“You are, and it’s not like I was planning on keeping it from you forever; I just needed to know that it was the right time.”
Breigh hugs me then, surprising me. “It’s about time.”
“You think this is a good thing?” I ask, dumbfounded.
She releases me, nodding. “Of course I do. I see the way you guys look at each other, all googly-eyed. It’s about time you act on that… by the way, how far have you gone?”
I giggle, blushing. “Things got really carried away the other night, and he tied me up.”
“Oh. My. God.” She accentuates each word, her hand covering her mouth. “My little girl is growing up.”
“Oh, shut up!” I smack her across the shoulder.
“So… first base? Second base?” She is basically salivating for more details.
“I’d say he slid right through third base last night.”
Breigh’s mouth drops open again, her eyes wide. “Did you…?”
She doesn’t even have to finish her sentence for me to know what she is implying. “No, but he did…”
“Holy shit. You’ve never done that before…” Breigh knows me so well. She could tell you which milestones I hit with which person.
I shake my head.
She studies my face. “How was it?”
Just talking about it is making me hot. I begin fanning myself. “I can’t stop thinking about it. Is that normal?”
She begins cracking up. “It is totally normal. So, do you think he’s going to be the one?”
“The one?” I ask.
“To pop your cherry. To clean out those pipes…” Her analogies make me laugh.
“Girl, if he isn’t, I’m going to die a virgin. Mark my words,” I joke.
She is chuckling now. It’s good to see her laughing. I hate seeing her upset. I want nothing more than my brother to give her the world, but if he doesn’t want that, no one can force him. At the end of the day, I’m more worried about her happiness. Maybe Cade isn’t the one meant to give her that.