Chapter Eighty-Five
Jake
The second I hear Emily’s car door slamming shut; I’m at the door waiting for her and Grace to come up the steps. Even after the longest day in history, she glows under the porchlight.
“Hey.” She smiles at me, and my knees nearly give out. What if…. Don’t go there. I shove the what-ifs into the recesses of my mind as I grip the door’s edge. “Everything okay?”
She nods while climbing the front steps as I let the door slam shut behind me. “Everything is good now.” Her eyes never leave mine as she sits Grace’s car seat near my feet. She’s covered in a lavender blanket with her beautiful face still with sleep.
“Yeah, everything is fine now.” I wrap my arms around Emily and pull her to my chest. I don’t know which of us shudders at the contact, but it’s likely both of us.
Her arms go around my neck, and for several moments, we hold on to each other. Not caring that my neighbor’s dog is barking nonstop from his fenced-in yard or that the stray cat I’ve been feeding every morning is slinking around our feet, alternating between purring and hissing at the dog.
This is the first time we’ve truly been alone since the ordeal happened. Everything is fine. She’s safe. They’re both safe. I just breathe her in and repeat the words. Everything is fine. She’s safe. They’re both safe.
When I pull back, I cup her face, inhaling the faint scent of her familiar perfume. “I love you so much, Emily. I’m so sorry–”
“Don’t.” She shakes her head as the cat plops down beside the car seat and sniffs at the blanket.
“I’m serious. This was not your fault. It was not your fault that Chad got into trouble with the law.
Chad didn’t become an asshole because you’re back in town.
Or because you’re a police officer. This happened because Chad is a fucking asshole. ”
The conviction in her eyes is almost enough to assuage my guilt, but not entirely. I’ll always bear some responsibility for the situation. I did come back. I did focus on him when he was driving an unlicensed vehicle. I couldn’t leave it alone when Grace was left at the police station.
And I didn’t stop my pursuit of him when he told me to back off. Or when he threatened Emily.
I’ll always blame myself for Emily and Grace being held hostage. But I’ll never regret coming home and finding my future. I inhale and rest my forehead against hers as she runs her thumbs along my stubbled cheeks.
“I don’t know what I’d have done if something happened to you and Grace.” I slowly inhale as another shudder racks my body. To push the emotions away, I pull her tighter to me.
She leans her head back, putting space between our faces. “Nothing did.”
She’s beautiful. It doesn’t matter that there are dark circles under her eyes and lines of strain marring her face. She’s perfect.
“I shouldn’t have taken Grace with me.”
Kaleb is right. We’re both cycling with unwarranted guilt. “Don’t think that. You did what you needed to do based on the information you had. No one knew Chad was out.”
“No shit.” Emily shakes her head. “I still can’t believe that.”
I loosen my grip as my neighbor whistles for the dog and ushers the animal inside, leaving the street quiet except for the low rumble of a vehicle driving on the next street.
The cat slinks against my leg, flicking its tail against my knee as if the dog retreating into the house was a sign of victory for the feline.
“You and your strays.” Emily shakes her head in mock ridicule.
When she found out I was feeding the unclaimed yellow cat, she bought a purple pet bed for it to sleep in. Before long, she’ll have a glittered collar and a name.
“What can I say, I have a thing for strays.”
“I’m glad.” The stars above twinkle as if they’re in agreement with her.
As more of the unease of the day leaves my body, I smirk, “I did rescue you.”
“Yes, you did.” Her lips turn into a dazzling smile.
“You’ve been rescuing me since the moment we met.
Saving me from my annoying brother’s insults.
Rescuing me from boring movie nights by giving me something to fantasize about while Kaleb picked another action movie, and even trying to bring me cake so I’d forgive you for hooking up with Amanda. ”
“Emily,” I growl as I swat her ass. “You know good and well that I did not then or more recently hook up with Amanda. Even though you kissed my roommate in front of me. Choosing him instead of me.”
“I’m sorry,” she says with a shrug and a smirk. “I read the room wrong.”
“Yes, you did.”
She jumps up, wrapping her thighs around me. This time, instead of swatting her, I grip her ass and regret meeting her on the front porch instead of inside our living room.
She bites her bottom lip, giving me that sassy look that makes my dick even harder. “Did I make up for it by being a damsel in distress that needed her knight in shining armor to save her?”
“No.” My eyes narrow slightly. I don’t want her to think for a second I’m not in awe of her. “You were saving yourself. I just came in as backup and to keep things legal.”
“Thank you.” Her face brightens with pleasure as she squeezes her thigh against me, making me want to say fuck my neighbors and take her right here. “I would’ve clobbered him with that ashtray if you hadn’t shown up.”
“I know you would’ve, and I remember what good aim you had in softball.” I nip her bottom lip. “But you still have a lot of making up to do,” I claim her mouth, and the rest of the world slips away.
“Let’s go inside,” she says against my lips.
“Good idea,” I chuckle deep in my throat.
After I drop her feet to the floor, I grasp the doorknob and wait for Emily to retrieve Grace’s car seat.
“I didn’t think you two were ever going to come up for air.” My mom’s voice comes from behind us.
“Jesus.” I jump and spin to face the side of the porch rail where my mom, dad, and two sisters are striding across the grass after parking behind Emily’s car. “What’re you doing here?”
“Are you serious?” My mom stops in mid-step, slaps her hands on her hips, and glares.
“It’s not every day that my son is the town hero.
” She turns to Ivy. “Get your phone out. Never mind.” She shakes her head as she glances at my sister’s hand.
I don’t have to see her face to know she rolled her eyes.
“That was a stupid thing to say. Of course, you’d have your phone in your hand. ”
“Where else would she have it?” Hannah asks rhetorically. “You told her to have it out before we left the house.”
“That’s enough, girls.”
“Simone,” my dad drawls from his position behind them. “I told you to wait until tomorrow. They’ve had a long day.”
“I need to see my son.” She flicks her hand in his direction, dismissing him. “My future daughter-in-law and my granddaughter to ensure they’re safe and sound.”
I don’t even flinch this time when she states that Emily and Grace are mine. It might not be official, but they’re mine. Just like I’m theirs.
“And now you see them,” Ivy quips.
“Don’t be a smartass.” My mom turns on her heel and smiles brightly at us. “Hey, guys.”
“Hey, Simone.” Emily grins at them. “It’s good to see all of you.”
“No, it isn’t,” I growl under my breath, which earns me an elbow in the gut from Emily.
“Stop it,” she says low enough that they can’t hear her, but there’s no way that they don’t know what they would’ve interrupted if they showed up five minutes later.
“Yes, Ma’am.” I lean down and whisper, “You just remember where we were, and the plans I had for you.”
I’m an adult and still being cockblocked by my family. That shit is supposed to stop when you move out on your own.
As if on cue, Grace whimpers and kicks at the blanket. Ah, there’s a new cockblocker in town. We’ll be lucky if we ever have another kid. At least, she’s the cutest baby I’ve ever seen.
“Let me.” My mom charges up the steps, snatches the car seat from Emily’s hand, and breezes into the house like she owns the place.
It’s going to be a long night.