29. Emma
29
EMMA
“ I ’m on my way, Ana, sorry I got caught up handing in the last paperwork I ever have to hand into this place.” With a smile on my face, I hurry down the corridor while trying to wrestle my coat on with one hand. My other keeps my phone to my ear, trying to appease Ana with my lateness while also planning which Uber to book so I don’t have to drive.
I’m planning on drinking heavily tonight, to wash away the stress of the majority of my exams and the deep sense of loss that’s taken over me these past few days. Staying away from Finn, Asher, and Caspian is taking more willpower than I’d ever imagined. On top of my parents refusing to return my calls, a constant sickness has plagued me ever since exams started, and the constant anxiety that the dean will turn up to an exam and kick me out, it’s been a stressful couple of weeks.
“Okay, just hurry up!” Ana whines. “I need to go out and get shit-faced and make some bad decisions.”
“An hour, tops. Promise.”
“Okay!” She singsongs her goodbye and I hang up using my nose. Coat on, I make it around the corner to the next corridor and then pause.
At the far end, with his head down reading something in his hand, is Asher.
I haven’t seen any of them since I told them we needed time apart, except for Finn during my exam for his class but that hardly counts. Seeing Asher out in the wild makes my heart skip a beat and a nervous flutter moves through my stomach.
Should I turn around and take the long way to avoid the rising temptation to see him smile?
Or should I hurry past and act like I don’t see him? He seems distracted anyway.
Before I can make a decision, Asher makes it for me. He lifts his head, spots me, and a warm smile blooms across his handsome face.
Fuck.
I’ve missed him.
I’ve missed them all so much.
“Emma…” His voice is soft and he stops a foot away, running his eyes over me. It leaves a trail of heat that settles in the hollow of my throat. “You look good.”
“Hey, Asher. Thanks.” A soft, nervous bubble of laughter escapes me and my cheeks warm. “I don’t feel it.”
“Stress?” His brows pull together.
“Yeah. Exams, sleepless nights, and an upset stomach, y’know?” I can’t stop looking at him. I want to commit every detail to memory because it’s been far too long. Is this how smokers feel when they get the first hit of a cigarette after weeks of cold turkey?
“I actually have something for you. I was on my way to mail it to you, but since you’re right here…” He holds out the pamphlet he’d been reading on the way up the corridor, and I take it slowly.
It’s a pamphlet for a summer course in photography, starting in a month. At a glance, there’s a number to call along with a few details of prices and the certification you can get at the end.
“Wow.”
“I just…I wanted to let you know that you have more options than you realize, y’know? There’s more to life than the stuffy courses you feel forced into and stuff. Just something to think about.”
It’s such a sweet gesture that my heart swells and I can’t keep the smile from my face. Did he read my mind? Can he feel my exhaustion with this life my parents mapped out for me?
Or did he hear me yelling at my parents?
Whatever the reason, I like it.
“Thank you. I’ll definitely check it out.” I look back up at him and his eyes, previously wandering over my body, snap back up to my face. But it’s too late. I already know he was eyeing me up and my last strand of resolve to stay away crumbles.
We surge for each other at the same moment—as if he once again reads my mind. His lips collide with mine and all thoughts of Ana and drinks flee from my mind. I need him.
I need to be touched. To be held. Just one drop of comfort in this loneliness I created for myself. Asher gives that to me and with his quick thinking, we end up in the nearby storage closet where darkness closes around us. Items clatter on the shelves he shoves me up against and something hits the floor with a loud thud but we ignore it. Nothing else matters.
I kiss him deeply, biting repeatedly at his lower lip each time we change angle. He pulls at my clothes, sliding his hot hands underneath my T-shirt and caressing my curves. Up to my breasts, he fondles me around my bra and then pulls his hands back.
“No time,” Asher gasps against my lips. “I need you now.”
“Fuck me then,” I gasp as warmth dampens my thighs. He spins me around and shoves me back against the shelves, then pulls my jeans down just below the swell of my backside. The sound of a zipper reaches my ears, and then his thick cock slides between my thighs.
“Please,” I gasp as my skin flushes hot and desperate. My heart races and I grip the shelves as tightly as I can in the dark. Asher’s hot breath brushes against my cheek, and then his cock is inside me in one deep thrust.
We fuck, fast and dirty. He clings to me, keeping himself up with a strong stance while wrapping one arm around my waist to keep me close to his body. The shelves clatter and complain, and I clutch at them like a ladder, holding on for dear life. It’s everything I need and yet at the same time, it’s not enough.
His thrusts are hard and deep, his lips trail over my neck and cheek and he sucks on my earlobe while pounding deep into me. Our breathless moans and grunts fill the air between us, and it’s as if we’re in our own private bubble. In these few minutes, nothing else matters.
“Yes!” I gasp repeatedly as each thrust drives me rapidly toward orgasm. I claw at the shelves, trying to rock back into his thrust with each movement. His grip grows more powerful, and my core heats up and tightens. Then, for a few seconds, I’m on the edge of a molten knife desperate for permission.
Asher moans in my ear, and I come so hard that my legs turn boneless. He holds me through it, using one hand to cup my chin and turn me around enough to kiss me deeply.
He climaxes a few seconds later, and I am utterly sated.
“An hour?” Ana raises one brow as she slides an unopened beer toward me. “Girl, we have to get you a watch.”
“I’m sorry!” Sliding into the booth across from her, my smile turns upside down. “I was just…I ran into something I had to take care of.”
Even now, my core tingles at the thought of Asher’s cum warm inside me. I accept the beer, but the sudden desire to drink turns my stomach and I slide it away. I haven’t had a drink in weeks and this was my one night to let loose. Suddenly, I just want to be home with hot chocolate and a movie.
“Oh really? Everything okay?” Ana leans in close. “Is this about the pictures?”
“No,” I assure her quickly. “I just had some work stuff to hand in. It’s all good. But anyway, how are you? How are the rest of the exams treating you?”
We spend the next half hour exchanging exam horror stories. Ana drinks while I settle on just a soda until my stomach calms down. Asher rearranged my guts a little too well. Ana has two exams left and then she’ll be free while I, thankfully, only have one. As we discuss the end of the year, my thoughts turn to helping Ana commit to a summer destination, but we still disagree on where. She wants hot beaches and men, while I want the much cheaper cabin option.
If my parents even let me go back there.
As we talk, a shadow falls over our table and I lift my head. “Hey, can I get another Coke—Meghan?”
Meghan stands at the end of the table, clutching her bag to her side. She looks between me and Ana and flashes a small smile, then she suddenly explodes.
“Emma, I’m so so sorry. I was terrible to you, I said some really horrible things and I’m so sorry. I don’t even know why, I think I was scared that something serious could have happened to you and I wanted to make you be more careful. But also I think I was jealous because of the way your life was going. It doesn’t justify anything and I shouldn’t have judged you at all, it was a horrible thing for me to do and I am truly sorry. I am. You know how religious my parents are and—that’s not an excuse, I don’t mean it that way. I’m so sorry!”
It’s a lot to process in such a short space of time since Meghan doesn’t pause for breath. While I’m still in shock that she’s even here, she suddenly slides into the booth next to me.
“I know an apology isn’t enough, so I went back to the club where you were drugged and almost got into a fight with the manager. But I managed to get the CCTV from the night it happened and I went through hours of footage and found something.”
All my shock at Meghan’s presence melts away and I stare at her phone as she pulls it out, taps the screen and brings up a video.
“Wait—” Ana leans over the table for a better look. “You found who did it?”
“Not exactly,” Meghan says and she hits play.
Speechless, I watch as I stumble onto the screen near the back exit; indeed, someone is with me. Their face is hidden by a black jacket pulled up over their head, but nothing is identifiable about it. It’s black and in the dark frame, the only other thing I can make out is a small blue tag. The figure supports me as I stumble off frame, and then the video switches to a camera outside. In the distance, I watch myself being loaded into a car and my stomach flips.
A sharp chill steals down my arms as I watch, despite the heat of the bar and my heart jumps.
“So … someone was with me.”
“There was no doubt about that,” Ana says as she sits back. “But at least it’s something.”
“They’re taller than you, and strong enough to carry you upright, which…I know is lame but…” Meghan sighs and taps the screen again, uploading the video to our group chat. “I just…I wanted you to see that I’m sorry. And I believe you and I was a complete bitch for judging you when you were the victim. I even…” She pauses and adjusts her glasses. “I overheard Asher and Caspian talking about you. They seem to really care about you and you’re really lucky. I also might have…told them about Gary.”
“Gary?” My eyes widen as my mind still fights to catch up. I haven’t thought about him in months. “Why?”
“Well, Asher made a comment that he wondered if there was a jealous ex may be trying to fuck with you, and Gary was pretty insane.”
“Oh my God.” Ana slaps the table. “That fucker ! He wouldn’t, would he? What am I saying, he tried to get the entire campus to call you a slut. Of course he would.”
“I’m really sorry,” Meghan says again, and her face is open and honest.
I can’t find the words, but having her here and hearing those words means a lot. Reaching for her hand, I clasp her gently.
“Thank you.”
Amidst the strange sickness that creeps up from seeing what I looked like that night, there’s another feeling rushing through me. Relief. I didn’t dream up the shadow in my apartment.
There really was someone.
“I know what I need to do.” Grabbing my phone, I push my glass away and stand. “We have to give that video to the police.”