Chapter Twenty-Six
CALLIE
The club was always packed on Thursday nights. I was in the VIP section, making my rounds and checking on tables, when a flash of blonde hair caught my eye.
Meghan stumbled through the entrance with a group of girlfriends, all of them dressed for a night out in sky-high heels and tight dresses. Even drunk, Meghan managed to look effortlessly elegant.
They settled into a nearby booth. Meghan practically fell into the U-shaped seat, her friends giggling around her.
I headed over, smiling. Meghan and I had gotten off on the wrong foot in college, but over the last few months, she’d become a good friend—someone with whom I could forget the pressures of my life and be a little carefree for a change.
“Hey ladies, what can I get you?”
“Callie!” Meghan slurred, grabbing my arm to pull me closer. “When are you gonna make me an auntie? Ugh, I need little baby Callies and Emmetts running around immediately!”
A weight dropped into my stomach as her words hit me. She knew about me and Emmett.
Her friends burst into raucous laughter, oblivious to the shock crashing over me.
Emmett had told her about us. After all his promises to keep things private. I thought he took my worries seriously.
The betrayal burned. He had gone behind my back, broken my trust. I’d opened up to him, let him see the vulnerable parts of me. And now Meghan was putting it all out there for her cackling friends.
I needed to pull it together and get through my shift. It would be easy enough to avoid Meghan’s table. I could just pass it to another server. I’d deal with Emmett later.
The rest of the evening was a blur of forced smiles and ignored text messages. In the last hour, my phone buzzed for what felt like the hundredth time. I sighed and pulled it out of the waistband of my black leather mini-skirt.
EMMETT
Christ, I really do not want to be here, playing wingman. I’d much rather be at home, playing with your pretty pussy.
God help us all. Twins just walked in. Wick is salivating.
While I’m not one to brag, my epic show of wingmanship has BOTH twins currently perched on Wick’s lap. I deserve a medal, don’t you think?
Fuck, I miss you, baby.
And yes, I recognize that I just saw you a few hours ago, and that makes me spectacularly pathetic. But I’ve also had a few beers, and now I’m watching my best friend get groped. I need you.
Do I need to be watching him get groped? Absolutely not. Can I tear my eyes away? Absolutely not. It’s a train wreck waiting to happen.
Ah, fuck. One of the twins just slapped him.
Double fuck. The other twin just slapped him.
Wick is now safely home in bed, ALONE. Tequila shots were clearly not a good idea. Fuck knows what he said to earn those slaps, but I guarantee he deserved them.
You okay, baby? Haven’t heard from you in a while.
When I finally clocked out, I was emotionally drained but still angry. My phone buzzed again as I walked home.
EMMETT
Cal, I’m getting a little worried. It’s late, and you should be off by now.
Rounding the corner to my building, I stopped dead. Emmett was sitting on the steps, his forearms rested on his knees and his head hung low. At my footsteps, he looked up, leaped to his feet and rushed over. “Callie! Thank God. Are you okay? What’s going on?”
I brushed past him coldly. “I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine. Talk to me. What happened?”
“Why don’t you ask Meghan?”
His face slackened as realization dawned. “Shit. What did she do?”
“Just announced to her drunk friends that I was fucking you,” I snapped, storming inside. “So much for keeping this between us.”
Emmett was hot on my heels as I climbed the stairs. “Callie, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for her to find out. I–”
I spun around and cut him off with a glare.
“You what, Emmett? Is this where you give me one of your impassioned speeches about love?” I practically spat the word.
“You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?
You and your idealistic bullshit about love and fate.
” I was shouting now. Emmett looked like I’d slapped him.
This wasn’t a side of me he’d ever seen.
Shit, I wasn’t sure I had ever seen it before.
This was the version of love I’d come to expect—the one that let me down. The one that hurt.
I shoved open my apartment door and Emmett followed.
“Callie, stop, please. Let me explain.” His voice was soft but insistent as he closed the door behind us.
I turned to face him, angry tears pricking my eyes. “Why should I? From where I’m standing, it seems like this has all been one big joke to you!”
“Of course it’s not a fucking joke to me. Callie, I love you.” He reached for me, but I shrugged away, crossing my arms.
“Look, Wick came into my office and told me he saw you leaving my place. He’s the one who told Meghan.”
“Wick knows, too?!”
Emmett winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I demanded. “Don’t you think I deserved to know that?”
He stepped closer, blue eyes beseeching. “I’m sorry, Callie. I fucked up by not being honest with you. I was just...I was scared, okay? Scared you’d end things between us if someone found out and I…I didn’t want to lose you. You mean fucking everything to me, Cal.”
I searched his face, wanting so badly to believe him. “You have to communicate with me,” I said, my anger melting into hurt. “If we’re going to make this work, you can’t keep things from me. You said we’d handle it together. But we didn’t. You just decided what was best without me.”
Tears ran down my cheeks. His warm hands cradled my face as he brushed them away with his thumbs. “You’re absolutely right,” he said. “I’m so sorry, baby. I promise, from now on, it’s you and me. We’ll handle everything together. I don’t want to mess this up.”
He pressed his forehead to mine. I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling my anger dissipate. When I opened my eyes, he was watching me intently.
“I forgive you.”
That grin I loved curved his lips as he dipped his head, our mouths meeting in a heated, tender kiss. Emmett’s touch scorched me through my sheer top. I grabbed a fistful of his shirt, pulling him flush against me. By the time we broke apart, we were both breathing harder.
“I love you,” he said fiercely.
And I believed him. Because I loved him right back. I loved him back with an intensity I didn’t know I was capable of.
“I love you too, Emmett.”
His shoulders sagged, and he blew out a long breath. “Fuck. Hearing you say that...” His fingers slid under my skirt, caressing my thighs. “I need you.”
His words and the unmistakable bulge against my stomach sent desire pulsing through me. I slid my hands into his hair, kissing him harder. The last remnants of our argument evaporated in the face of this hot, thrumming need.
Emmett walked us back until I hit the wall, his solid weight pinning me there as he kisses along my jaw. “Tell me you need me as much as I need you,” he said in that rumbling tone that made my knees weak.
“I need you,” I breathed, tugging at his belt. “I always need you.”
Our kisses were fevered, full of pent-up love and longing. Hands fumbled, clothes were shed in a frenzy until there was nothing between us. Then he was inside me, moving with that savage intensity that made me come apart every time.
After, as we lay panting on my living room floor, my sweaty body clinging to his, I offered my own apology.
“Emmett, I…I’m sorry. I probably overreacted a bit.”
He gathered me closer, his arms tightening around me. “You have nothing to apologize for.”
“I just want to be your partner. I don’t need you to protect me.”
“I know you don’t. You’re one of the strongest people I know.” He rolled over, settling between my legs, lips hovering over mine.
“The smartest.”
Kiss.
“The sexiest.”
Kiss.
When he tried to pull away, I gripped his hair. “Enough talking.”
We made up over and over. By the time we finally collapsed, exhausted, Emmett was in my bed, plastered against my back, his arm draped over my waist.
“Fuck, I love making up with you,” he said, pressing languid kisses to my bare shoulder. “Wanna fight again?”
* * *
The following week was a whirlwind of activity.
The annual Memorial Day family picnic for Price Industries had turned into an extravagant affair, with more than two hundred employees and their families expected to attend. I frequently found myself working alongside Meghan as we collaborated on last-minute details for the event.
“I can’t believe you’re sleeping with my brother,” Meghan said, standing at the coffee counter in The Common, all toned legs and designer sundress.
I shot her a look. “Would you keep your voice down?”
She waved a perfectly manicured hand. “Oh, pish posh. Who cares if everyone knows you’re fucking like bunnies?”
My cheeks caught fire. I cut my eyes towards Emmett, sitting at a nearby table studying a file. That man could be utterly unflappable when he wanted to be.
“Seriously, Megs?” he said without glancing up. “Some discretion wouldn’t kill you.”
“Where’s the fun in that, big brother? I’m just relieved you finally found someone worthy instead of another conniving little—”
“Meghan...” There was a tinge of warning in Emmett’s voice as he cut her off.
Undeterred, she swiveled back towards me with a conspiratorial grin. “So, is the rumor about his—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence,” he growled.
“Okay, okay! I’ll behave. For now.” She winked at me before turning her attention to the picnic prep notes.
I caught Emmett’s eye, and he offered me a rueful shrug. Managing Meghan was a full-time job. One that came with the territory of dating Emmett Price.
By Thursday, I was laying in his bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking of popcorn, hot dogs, carnival rides and games.