Chapter Thirty-One Josh
Ibelieve I’ve waited a respectable amount of time after the whole throwing up in a bush situation the other night.
I can’t wait any longer. I need to properly apologize for what Stacy said because I don’t want Emma to think that I agree with her or, God forbid, am interested in her. I would’ve talked to her sooner, but both Ryan and Max have had pretty unsuccessful interactions with her lately.
She isn’t coughing up whatever is bothering her, but even if I can’t get it out of her, maybe I can at least cheer her up. It’s kind of my specialty.
After swinging by a convenience store on the way to her apartment, I end up in front of her door with a plastic bag full of bribery in my hand. My heart beats unusually fast as I stare at the painted wood.
What if she doesn’t let me inside? What if the snacks don’t even work?
What if we’re actually losing her?
Before I can get too into my own head and back out, I knock on the door, the sound echoing down the quiet hallway.
There’s faint noise inside before Emma opens the door, barely cracking it open to show her face as she peers out into the hallway. When her eyes land on me, she sighs and opens the door the rest of the way.
“What are you doing here, Josh?” she asks me.
My eyes sweep over her as she crosses her arms, her large t-shirt swallowing her figure and almost hiding the gray pajama shorts that she has on underneath. Her hair is pulled up in a loose bun with a few escaped strands. What really catches my eye is how tired she looks.
The heaviness of her eyes. The dark circles beneath them. Her weighed down shoulders.
“Peace offering,” I say as I hold up the bag of snacks.
Emma cocks an eyebrow at me. “Peace offering?”
“For what happened the other night with Stacy,” I tell her.
Emma’s face reddens as she glances away from me. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Of course, I’ll worry about it. I care about you.” I step closer to her, coaxing her eyes upward to mine. “I wanted to apologize to you and tell you that Stacy is gone.”
Emma tilts her head at me in confusion. “Gone?”
“After she laughed at you, I kind of exploded on her,” I admit. I don’t feel guilty about that, though. It was deserved. “I told her that I didn’t want to talk to her again. I should’ve cut her off months ago.”
“Why didn’t you? You said you would” Emma asks.
“The connections she could get me,” I reply with a sheepish look on my face. “I was greedy about them. I thought I was doing what was best for SyncUp, but I should’ve just dropped her completely after Christmas. Before that even.”
Emma nods as she listens. “She definitely didn’t like me.”
“Jealous,” I reply as I give her a charming smile. “I wasn’t really discreet about how much I was into you.”
The corners of her mouth quirk up a little as she fights a losing battle with her smile. “What snacks did you bring?”
Relief fills me as she steps to the side so that I can walk into her apartment. I dump various chips and sweets onto her coffee table before sinking down on her couch, watching her pluck up a pack of powdered donuts.
“I love these,” Emma says as she sits next to me and tears the pack open. She bites into one of the donuts, powdered sugar adorning her top lip.
Warmth glows in my chest as I watch her, noticing the weight of her shoulders lessening as she enjoys her donuts. This is a start. As much as I want to ask her what’s going on, I don’t want to ruin this moment. Not when she seems to be somewhat happy.
“I know you do. I watched you take down a whole pack of them at the office a couple of times,” I tell her, making her stifle a laugh. “I think you give Ryan a run for his money when it comes to having a sweet tooth.”
“No one can beat him. Not even me,” Emma assures me before licking her lips.
My eyes follow the gentle swipe of her tongue, an automatic flare of heat burning low within me. I know that tongue is wicked good.
Emma bites into another donut before looking at me. “What?”
I tear my gaze away from her mouth, interrupting my train of thought. “Nothing. You’ve just got a little powdered sugar on your lip.”
Emma finishes the donut before dragging her thumb over her lips, collecting most of the leftover powdered sugar, but not all of it. “Is it gone?”
I chuckle a little and shake my head. “You missed a little right here.”
Emma stays still as I reach over and gently brush the sugar away with my thumb. When I bring my thumb to my mouth to suck the sugar off, her breath hitches.
I lift my eyes to hers, the heat within me lingering. “Not as sweet as how you taste, but good enough.”
Emma exhales sharply, tensing like she wants to move away from me, but she suddenly surges forward instead, her lips colliding with mine.
Just feeling her lips against mine is a dose of ecstasy that I’ve been craving for what feels like an eternity now. It’s been torture not being able to kiss her, and I’m not going to waste a second of this moment.
My tongue breaks past her lips, and she tastes just like sugar. I push my fingers into her hair, my free hand gliding up her leg as she angles her body toward me. “Now that I’ve thought about tasting you, I can’t get it out of my head.”
Emma moans into my mouth in response, her nails grazing the back of my head.
I slide off the couch onto my knees in front of her, my hands already working to tug her shorts and panties off her hips. I drop them next to me before pulling her ass to the edge of the couch, immediately burying my face between her thighs.
Emma gasps and grabs my hair as I run my tongue over her core. Her back arches off the couch, her grip on my hair tightening.
I slide my tongue from her entrance to her clit, feeling her grow wetter as I devour her. She tastes as good as ever, warm and intoxicating. Right now, I can’t care that we agreed not to do this again.
It feels and tastes too damn good to stop.
“Feels so good, Josh,” Emma breathes out as I focus on her clit, making her squirm beneath me in pleasure.
I grab her thighs, holding her in place as I suck and lick. Judging from the way her thighs tremble in my grasp, she’s already getting close. When was the last time that she was touched? Does she fantasize about us? About all the dirty things that we did to her?
Just the thought of her writhing in bed with her hand down her panties makes my erection strain against the front of my jeans.
Emma’s breathing quickens. “Oh, yes… like that…”
I hum in bliss, sending vibrations through her clit that make her body tense. As her thighs grow tighter around my head, I maintain my pace, lapping at her clit until it pushes her off the edge.
A moan tears from her as her orgasm rocks through her, making her tremble beneath me. She tugs on my hair and holds me against her until she slumps back into the couch with a heavy inhale. “Woah.”
My tongue travels over my bottom lip as I savor her taste. I’d gladly spend more time between those perfect thighs of hers. “Good, sweetheart?”
Emma smirks at my teasing tone. She starts to reply, but a knock on her front door makes her freeze in place.
“Who is that? Maintenance?” I ask her.
Emma’s eyes widen in realization. “Oh, no. It’s Ethan!”
My blood runs cold as I hurry to my feet, my eyes darting down at the obvious erection straining against the front of my jeans. I can’t be seen here like this! “What? Why?”
Emma pushes herself off the couch and quickly pulls her shorts and panties on, stumbling a little as her legs continue to shake. “I told him that he could borrow my hand mixer. I forgot he was coming!”
Panic pumps through me as I glance around, looking for a place to hide. The front door is definitely a no go.
“Go into my closet! Don’t make a sound,” Emma tells me as she pushes me in that direction.
I hurry into her bedroom and close myself into her small walk-in closet, trying to quiet my breathing when I hear her open the front door. What the hell? I should be hiding from her dad, not her brother. That’s how something like this usually goes.
But instead of worrying about her dad’s approval, I’m concerned about her brothers finding out and beating me into the dirt.
My heartbeat thumps in my ears, making their conversation even harder to make out. Luckily, it doesn’t last long, and Ethan leaves soon after I’ve been shoved into the closet. If I wasn’t hiding to keep myself alive, I would’ve teased him about needing a hand mixer in the first place.
Emma opens the closet door with a stressed sigh. “That was too close, Josh.”
“I haven’t had to hide in a girl’s closet since high school. Really takes me back,” I say with a cheeky grin.
My joke doesn’t lighten her mood like I hoped it would. Instead, she looks even more guilty, which makes me feel like an awful friend to her brothers. They don’t deserve to have their friends and their sister sneak around behind their backs.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her as I step out of her closet. “I just came by to try to make you feel better.”
“Like I’ve told the others, I’m fine,” Emma replies as she walks out of the bedroom away from me.
I trail her with a frown on her face. “Alright, we don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I just want to spend time with you. I miss you.”
Emma turns back to me, her face softening. “I miss you too. I miss all of you.”
My frown shifts into a hopeful smile. “Why don’t we get out of here for a little while? Come get a drink with me.”
Emma smiles back and nods, but she suddenly widens her eyes. Maybe it’s just the lighting, but I swear that her face grows paler too. “Actually, I can’t. I need to get some work done. Thanks for… the snacks.”
At first, all I can do is blink at her in surprise. I thought we were good to go to get a drink, but she changed her mind immediately. Like a switch being flipped.
“Yeah, no problem,” I say, my confusion seeping into my voice. I pause for a moment, waiting for an explanation or for her to change her mind, but she doesn’t say a word. She just glances off to the side like she can’t look at me.
I head out of her apartment, feeling weighed down more and more with each step away from her that I take. There’s definitely something wrong, and me and the guys have all failed to figure out what it is.
Why can’t she just open up to at least one of us? What is so serious and heavy that she can’t share it with anyone?
Whatever it is, it’s pulling her further away from everyone.