Chapter 7
Ramsey~
I ’d ended up almost killing three teammates today at scrimmage, and it was all that fucking girl’s fault. When I’d thrown Emerson off my lap before storming off earlier, I’d been shaking with so much violence that it was a wonder that I hadn’t burned the school down.
I played rugby and football during P.E., but it was all just for fun. While there was some real talent in this school, no one here would ever move on to be a professional athlete. We were all being groomed to take over business conglomerates and that was it. Sports were for fun at this school, but rugby and football helped keep me in shape. I loved physical exertion, and until I could fuck Emerson into oblivion, I had to take out my anger in other ways, and I was angry.
So fucking angry.
When she had straddled me on the bench, then ran her pussy across my cock, I had almost wrapped my hands around her throat, strangling her to death. She was fucking with me, and I wasn’t sure how much more I was going to be able to take. Emerson was unpredictable, challenging, aggravating, and just so goddamn beautiful.
I had managed to stay away from her after sixth period, but even then, I had spent all of sixth period fuming. I’d made her sit next to me, but I hadn’t touched her beyond yanking her ass down and planting her in the seat next to me. I’d been fearing for my sanity when I realized that if she’d made one move towards me- just one -I would have mounted her in front of the entire class.
Doing my best to get Emerson out of my head for just one goddamn second, Deke, Liam, a classmate of ours named Grant Strong, and I walked into Serenity Café, stopping to get something to eat before heading home to our empty houses. The place was small and quaint, but it served the best sandwiches around.
When you walked into the café, the counter was immediately to your left, and the tables were scattered throughout the right side of the room. There were only two booths placed in the far corner of the café, and it was perfect for privacy. That is, if you needed it.
We made our way to our regular table, then sat down, ready to place our orders and finish out the day. I was so ready for this day to be over, so color me fucking stupid when I looked up and was less than prepared for Emerson to be walking towards us in an apron with Serenity Café stitched across it.
What the fuck?
We all looked up at her as she stopped at our table. “What can I get you?”
“Hey-”
“What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked, cutting Grant off.
She spared me only a second-long glance before saying, “Working.”
“I can see that,” I bit out. “Why the fuck are you working?”
Emerson completely ignored me as she asked again, “What can I get you guys?”
Liam and Deke knew better than to answer her, but it looked like Grant didn’t. “What are you offering?” he smirked.
Now, here’s the thing; I knew that people tended to conform to fit in. I understood that peer pressure and the need to be cool could make a person do things they normally wouldn’t do when they were alone. The power of suggestion was strong when you had a weak disposition. So, I knew that a lot of the students at Windsor might think that it was okay to be rude to Emerson because I was setting the example.
However, it wasn’t.
I turned in my seat, then pinned Grant with a glare. “What did you just ask her, Strong?”
He laughed at first, but then paled a bit once the tone of my voice registered. “Uh, sh…she’s…isn’t she…”
“She’s mine, motherfucker. That’s what she is. She’s fucking mine,” I spat. “So, whatever she has to offer belongs to me. You got that, Strong?”
He bobbed his head up and down frantically. “Yeah…yeah, Rams-”
I turned away from him, then looked back up at Emerson. “Now answer me, Charity,” I snapped. “What the fuck are you doing working here?”
Emerson turned to me as she arched a brow with unrelenting attitude. “Not being charity,” she answered coolly.
I could hear one of the guys cough in his hand, and I wasn’t sure if he was laughing at her nerve to meet me head-on, or if he was uncomfortable by her answer. However, it was obvious that Emerson wasn’t embarrassed to be poor, nor was she embarrassed to not belong. She also wasn’t embarrassed about what her father had done, nor was she embarrassed about any of the circumstances that had been thrusted upon her, and she would not apologize for not being embarrassed.
I clenched my jaw at her putting me in my place, but not because she was showing her backbone. No. I was pissed because I hated seeing her have to work. Emerson Andrews was too magnificent to be working, and she sure as shit was too special to be waiting on motherfuckers, even if one of those motherfuckers was me. I also knew, deep down, that she’d be working whether or not I called her Charity.
Before I could say anything more, a woman at another table called for her. Not caring about us as customers, Emerson turned her back on our table, then went to go assist the woman. If I already hated knowing that she was working for a living, it was nothing compared to actually watching her wait on someone that was looking down their nose at her.
I didn’t even realize that I was getting up until Deke said something. “C’mon, Ram. She’s just doing her job. Calm down.” I looked over at him, and he gave me a terse nod. “Just sit down, dude.”
Liam flicked his gaze over at Grant, no doubt wondering how much to say in front of him, but he spoke anyway. “You’ll regret this one, Ramsey,” he warned.
Before I could comment, Emerson was back to take our order. “Have you guys decided what you want?” she asked as I sat back down.
Jesus.
What a fucking question.
I knew exactly what the fuck I wanted; I wanted her . I wanted her naked underneath me. I wanted to be inside her every minute of every day. However, something told me that was probably not on the menu.
Liam, Grant, and Deke gave her their orders, but when she looked down at me, I couldn’t speak. For all the shit that I’d put this girl through, I just couldn’t bring myself to make her take my order and wait on me.
It felt…wrong.
Like I’d said before, Emerson had a great poker face, and she wasn’t giving anything away. Still, I knew- I just knew -that, in this moment, she was feeling every bit the charity case that I kept accusing her of being, even though she clearly wasn’t.
In fact, we were all the real charity cases. If our parents took away everything that we had, most of this town would put a bullet in their heads because they wouldn’t know how to function without everything just being handed to them.
I looked into her mesmerizing grey eyes as I answered, “Nothing for me.”
If Emerson was surprised, she didn’t show it. She just nodded at the group, then walked off to place our orders, not bothering with any of the customary pleasantries that most servers offered.
The table was quiet, and I wished like hell that Grant hadn’t joined us. Normally, he was a cool guy, and I didn’t mind him. However, I didn’t speak freely around anyone other than Deke and Liam, and I needed to figure out what I was going to do with this girl.
One second, I was feeling the urge to bring her to her knees, and then the next, I didn’t want her on her knees for anyone ever . One second, I was spewing the vilest things at her, and then the next, I wanted to tell her how fucking beautiful she was. She had me so goddamn fucked-up, and all because I’d never not been in control before. I couldn’t control Emerson Andrews, and that both fascinated and infuriated me.
Apparently, Grant couldn’t take the uncomfortable silence any longer because he started to randomly chat about the first day of school and whatever. I tuned him out, then kept scanning the café, watching Emerson walk around, checking on her tables or cleaning. The place wasn’t packed, but she was still working too hard for my liking.
After about fifteen minutes, she came back to our table to deliver our food and drinks without uttering a single word. It wasn’t lost on me that she hadn’t brought our drinks out first while we’d waited for our food, as was customary. Emerson wanted nothing to do with our table, and she’d made no secret of it.
Since I hadn’t ordered anything, my eyes had stayed glued on her, and fuck my life, because every time that she reached out, grabbed her tip money, then put it in her pocket, I wanted to break something. Then a dark laugh escaped me when it dawned on me why we were getting shitty service. Emerson had already assumed that she wouldn’t be getting a tip from us, so it didn’t matter if she was friendly to us or not.
My resolve finally snapped when she walked up to our table, then dropped the check off without asking us if we wanted anything more, or asking if the check was together or separate. She turned to walk away, and I jumped out of my seat.
“Ram-”
“Forget it, Deke,” I threw back as I snatched Emerson by her arm.
“What the-” Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening.
I ignored her as I dragged her through the café and into the side alley of the building. There wasn’t going to be an audience for what I wanted to say to her.