48. Chapter 46
Derek
“That’s great for you, but I haven’t even seen her in over a week,” Hudson grumbles in reply to Xavier’s smug update that Emery allowed him into her room last night.
“Actually, I have an idea about that. How do you feel about doing some modeling for me?” Darcy offers as he takes a seat in one of the mismatched armchairs in Grinder, coffee in hand. “Fully dressed, obviously. I actually only need your arm. Maybe your chest too.”
Once I’m comfortable in my seat, I raise the mug of coffee to my lips and take a sip of my cappuccino.
Since transferring Emery’s class to Justin, I’ve had more free time on both Monday and Wednesday mornings, which has meant that I’ve been able to enjoy my coffee within the café, rather than taking it to-go.
Have I hoped for a glimpse of Emery picking up her morning sustenance? Yes. Have I gotten it? No. But I have seen her roommate, Oakley, on multiple occasions. The first few times, she looked like a deer caught in the headlights. But Monday morning, she gave me a wave and I offered a nod.
Her witnessing all of us sitting in the waiting room at the hospital, at one of the most vulnerable points in our lives, and then being the one to tell us we weren’t allowed to see Emery, has created a bond between us.
And the fact that she delivered the denial to us with such grace has given her serious brownie points, in my opinion.
Hudson raises an eyebrow at Darcy. “I’m listening.”
“Well, I’d like to get some line work done with her hands.
I’ll be having her hold different things, and as much as I’m happy to use my fake hand, I could just as easily swap the prop in for your hand,” he says with a shrug.
“We haven’t used any props besides the ropes yet, so she hasn’t been introduced to Bertie.
And besides, it might be a good idea to have an extra one of you there if she is going to drop after each session.
It was really hard to watch her spiral and not be able to step in the way I normally would. ”
Darcy updated all of us last night after he’d delivered Emery home.
Even now, the mere recollection of his debrief sends streaks of discomfort down my arms. Our girl is prone to sub drop, and I suspect it is because she flies so high once she lets go.
Which is fucking fantastic for her, but coming back to herself without proper aftercare is bound to be traumatic.
“Your next session is this Saturday, right?”
“Yeah, at about ten. Maybe you could beat her there?”
“Hopefully she doesn’t turn tail and run,” Hudson jokes before taking a sip of his own drink, but I can see the worry that fills his eyes.
Emery seems to be softening toward Xavier and Darcy, and we all know she is beyond mad at me. But Hudson hasn’t had an interaction with her besides his class on Monday. And from his account, she ignored him completely.
Which, in my opinion, is a good sign. If she’s holding on to any anger toward him, I know our girl wouldn’t be able to keep it inside. The fact that her options were to ignore him or have a pleasant interaction, and she chose to ignore him, is telling.
“She still hasn’t read the letter?” I ask Xavier, who shakes his head.
“Still sealed and on her desk,” he mutters as he fiddles with his mug, pushing it from side to side on the wooden table. “She opens everything else, though.”
I tap my finger on my thigh as I consider our current situation. Her walls are softening faster than I’d anticipated. We put her through three weeks of silence, so I thought we’d be getting at least that in return.
But we did have the advantage of there being four of us versus one of her. And the way we have things set up, she is with one of us at all times. It would be hard not to cave under that pressure.
A pang of guilt hits me. Our coordinated attack will all but guarantee our success, and if I wasn’t one hundred percent positive this is what Emery wants, I wouldn’t have ever put the plan into motion.
But she does want us. She wouldn’t have fought so hard to get us back if she didn’t want to be with the four of us. The heartbreak written all over her face when we locked eyes at Obsession told me everything I needed to know about how she felt.
The guilt turns to remorse as my mind fast forwards to the elevator and how she cut me to the bone with her words.
She was right, really, to call all of us out like that.
We had taken all her choices away. We’d put her in the corner, patted her on the head, and told her to be a good little girl and wait over here while the adults fixed the situation.
But not this time. From the day she left the hospital, she’s had all the information. Not only does she have the information she needs to reconnect with us, but she also has the information she needs to make it all stop.
And I would make it stop, if that is what she truly wants. I already have plans in place with Hudson and Darcy to ensure that Xavier leaves her alone.
Those plans may or may not include an anchor bolt into the concrete floor of my basement, a chain, and double-locking wrist restraints.
Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.
“I think,” I start, running over all the facts one more time, “we need to move on to phase two of the plan.”
Darcy’s eyebrow pops up. “Already?”
“You don’t think we should give it another week?” Hudson asks, his icy blue eyes narrowed in thought. “I don’t want to rush her.”
“I’m just looking at the facts.” I raise a hand and count off all the steps in a positive direction that have been taken in the last few days.
“She let Darcy take her out for a redo date and even trusted him to look after her once he pointed out her sub drop. She’s let Xavier back into her room after expressly demanding otherwise.
Your diary is getting a workout, from all accounts. I think we’re ready.”
“Don’t forget the jock.”
Xavier’s growled words send a jolt through my system.
Ah yes, William.
I nod. “Has he been in contact lately?”
Nodding, Xavier pulls out his phone. “Two messages this morning already. She didn’t respond to him yesterday.”
It’s my turn for my eyebrows to raise. “Two? Persistent little shit.”
If I was even a little bit ruthless, I’d have Justin start to flunk him so that he would be forced to spend more time studying to keep his spot on the team and less time with my Emery.
But no. Our girl has the right to options, and as much as we want to ensure she picks us, we won’t be removing any other players from the board.
“Okay, so phase two. Time to turn up the heat. I’ll come up with something for the weekend,” Darcy offers to Hudson, who nods in agreement.
Xavier simply grunts out a noise, which I assume is agreement, before he checks his phone, stands, and leaves the rest of us as he exits Grinder without a goodbye.
I honestly can’t believe that out of the four of us, he is the one that she willingly allows into her space. All past experiences have said he is the one subs run from first. And now our entire future hinges on him having some form of restraint and following our plan.
Shoving that thought out of my head, since there is absolutely nothing I can do to control him or his actions, I start running through potential ideas for getting more one-on-one time with Emery.
But they all circle back to the one thing I was hoping to use as a peace offering. Instead, I think I’m going to have to use it as bait. And if that’s what it takes to get more time with her in the very near future, then so be it.
I just need a single opening, a chance to be able to remind her who she belongs to.