Chapter 5
Emmett
The sound of the music hums in the background. People are laughing, drinking, and having the time of their lives on this Friday night.
I stand in the back, watching the crowd of people like a hawk, making sure things are running smoothly.
I take my job very seriously, and my top priority is making sure everyone has a safe and fun time.
But tonight I’m struggling to keep my attention on other people when all I want to do is search for her.
She’s at the bar helping her sister. Tonight is the busiest night of the week, so Lexi often helps Silva out.
I’ve been a worried mess since the visit with the doctor. I’m not sure if Lexi is sick of me by now, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to go home. I’ve been camping out on her couch the past few nights.
She’s not herself right now, and it kills me. Holding her as she broke wrecked my soul. All I wanted to do was take her worries and pain away.
I can’t, and I know that, but I can do my best to make her feel a little bit better. Even if that’s making sure she eats when she refuses to, checking in on her to make sure she’s feeling alright, and just giving her company so she’s not alone with her thoughts.
We’ve always had a close bond. It clicked almost immediately after I came to Widows Peak. She didn’t care that I was obviously a lovesick puppy when it came to her.
She treated me like a human, like an adult. She never made me feel younger than her, or less than. She quickly became my person, my best friend, my... everything.
I’ve been in love with that woman since the moment I met her. I've never once said the words, even though I know she can tell. I’ve never pushed for something more because even if all we could ever be is friends, it’s enough for me. She’s enough for me. Just her being in my life has kept me alive.
If she ever wanted more, I’d take her in a heartbeat. If she ended up with a pack, I wouldn’t care who she was with as long as I got to be with her as well.
Even if it was just as friends.
Friends. Fucking friends. Damn it! I wish we were more.
My soul burns for her. Craves her in every way possible.
Call me dramatic, but I’d die for her. I’d lay my life on the line any damn day if it meant keeping her safe.
She saw me as something more when everyone else treated me like nothing. She was there for me when no one else was.
She knows every deep, dark secret of my past and has never judged me. I know the same for her. And if I had the power to do it, I’d find Gideon and put a bullet between his eyes. Luke, on the other hand, is not off the list.
The night goes smoothly, and I’m not surprised. People know the rules of Widows Peak. They won’t risk being asked to leave. The worst we get is a sloppy drunk who needs a ride home.
Once the last person leaves the club, I lock the door and go check on Lexi.
“Hey.” I rub my hand up and down her back when I find her sitting at the bar, her head against the bar top.
Silva looks at me, a mask of concern on her face.
“Hi.” Lexi sounds tired, and not just because it’s two in the morning.
“Come on. Let’s get you home, Peaches.”
Silva gives me a raised brow as she watches me scoop her sister up into my arms. I give her a sly smile back.
Ever since I picked her up to carry her to my truck the other day, I’ve been looking for any excuse to touch her again. I like having her this close, in my arms. Maybe a little too much.
I know I’m just torturing myself, but I can’t find it in me to care.
Lexi doesn’t protest, just wraps her arms around my neck with a soft sigh, burying her face into my neck.
When she breathes in my scent, I order my cock to behave.
Something has changed between us, I’m almost positive. Or maybe it’s just me getting my hopes up for something more.
I see the way she looks at me now, the little bouts of jealousy she has when someone else shows interest in me.
The way she was reacting to me the other day?
My touch, the close proximity, it was undeniable that she was aroused.
I could smell her sweet, mouth-watering peaches and cream scent grow thicker in the air.
“My car,” Lexi grumbles as I carry her to my truck.
“You didn’t take your car,” I chuckle. “I drove you, remember?”
“Oh,” she sighs. “Yeah.”
By the time we get to her place, she’s passed out. Her lips parted as her chest rises and falls with her soft breaths.
Smiling, I chuckle softly and get out of the truck, going to her side to carefully lift her into my arms.
She doesn’t wake as I carry her into the house and up to her room. Lying her down on her bed, I take off her sneakers, before pulling the blankets over her. I won’t dare undress her when she’s asleep and in a vulnerable position.
She trusts me, and I’d never take that for granted.
I know if it were anyone but me, she wouldn’t even allow herself to fall asleep. She feels that comfortable with me.
However, I do lean down and press the softest of kisses on her forehead.
“You have no idea how much I adore you, Peaches,” I murmur, brushing some of her hair off her cheek.
“I’ve heard what some of the people around here say about me.
That I’m too young, too foolish to believe that I’d ever stand a chance with a woman like you.
I know I don’t deserve you, because you deserve the world.
That doesn’t mean I won’t stop trying to give you everything that I can.
Even if you never feel the same way about me, I’m forever yours, sweet girl. ”
Leaving her to get some rest, I head into the bathroom for a quick shower and change into something clean from the bag I’d brought over the first night.
I lay on the couch, looking out the window as the moonlight streams in, and I wish for nothing more than to be in the bed next to her.
We’ve done that before, slept in the same bed. Every time I got the best rest of my life because I knew everything was right in the world.
I could go crawl into bed with her, but I won’t because I won’t get any sleep. I’d just stare at her like a creep and bite my tongue to keep from confessing everything I feel for her and begging her to give me a chance.
I was so damn close to kissing her at the doctor's office, her lips were less than an inch from mine. Restraining myself was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.
But I can’t be the one to blur those lines, to push past them into new territory.
If Lexi wants me, I’m hers, but she has to be the one to make that change.
I’m just done plating the fried eggs and bacon when Lexi comes down the stairs. “Morning, Peaches,” I chuckle. Her hair is rumpled, and there’s an adorable, sleepy look on her face.
“You made food.” Her voice is raspy from sleep, and I’m glad I’m standing behind the island, or she’d see just how hard I am from simply the sound of her voice.
“I did,” I confirm, placing the plate on the kitchen island as she sits at one of the stools on the other side. “Just like I do every time I’m over.”
“Thanks.” She gives me a soft smile. “What would I do without you?” she sighs, taking a bite.
You’re never going to have to find out. Not if I can help it.
After making a plate for myself, I take a seat next to her. “So,” I say. “I’ve talked to Silva, and you’re taking a few nights off.”
“What?” She frowns up at me.
“And so am I.”
She shakes her head. “Emmett, you can’t do that.”
“I can, and I did. You are stressed, and it has me worried. So, we’re going to go to the cabin for a few days. I already have my truck packed with everything we’re going to need.”
She gapes at me. “Emmett. No.”
“Yes.” I raise a brow.
She glares at me, but thankfully doesn't put up a fight. Huh, that was easy. Too easy. Lexi takes her job seriously. She hardly takes any days off. She doesn’t need the money, but she works anyway.
She, her sister, and the other women who founded Widows Peak are like royalty here, in a way. They won’t ever want for anything, but they don’t take advantage of that fact and work just like everyone else.
“I need to pack,” she says after she’s done eating. “And shower.”
I nod. “I’m going to go out and grab a few more last-minute things. I’ll be back in an hour. Is that going to be long enough?”
She looks at me with tired eyes and nods her head. “Yeah.”
Damn it, I hate seeing her hurting.
Almost two hours later, we’re in my truck, headed up the very shitty, bumpy road that leads deeper into the mountains. It’s not far from town, but enough to have some privacy.
Once I got my life established in Widows Peak, I brought up the idea to Lexi of always wanting to own a cabin.
When I was younger, around ten, my father would take me on his hunting and fishing trips with his buddies.
He worked a lot, and I didn’t get to spend much time with him, so getting days to hang out with him was amazing. Some of my best memories.
Then he got sick, and Mom left. Life went downhill, and the rest, well, it was depressing as fuck.
Lexi, the fucking angel she is, surprised me for my twenty-first birthday with this tiny cabin with a living room, kitchen, and one bedroom, and an outhouse in the back.
She got together with some guys from the town and built me my own cabin.
Before that birthday, the last time I cried was when my father died. But I cried so damn hard I couldn’t breathe when she showed it to me. She stood there, her hand in mine, and said nothing as we stared at it.
It became one of my favorite places. It’s also the place I’d start to have my heats.
Lexi isn’t the only one who is afraid of someone taking advantage of them in that situation.
Having heats at the cabin gives me peace of mind knowing no one can hear me or get to me.
I want to extend that offer to Lexi, too. She’s been off her suppressants for a few days now, and I don’t know how she’s feeling. She’s been very close-lipped about it. By the way she looks, I don’t know if it’s stress or withdrawal from the meds.