Chapter 14
Emerson~
I was having the best time that I’d had since having to move to Sands Cove. Roselyn had been right about this place; the music was good, the drinks were tasty alcoholic perfection, and the guys were pretty to look at.
The club was also pretty standard as far as clubs went. There was a bar spanning the left side of the room, and it led into a hallway towards the restrooms. There was a DJ stage with the dance floor centered right in front of it, and the rest of the room was littered with random tables, both high-top and regular. There were a couple of booths along the wall where the DJ stage was, but they were so close to the speakers that there’s no way that you’d be able to talk to anyone or hear them.
Once Roselyn and I had walked in, we’d been escorted- yes, escorted -by another employee that’d been dressed in the same black shirt and jeans as Beck had been. His name was Kyle, and he was just as good-looking as Beck was. He was tall with deep brown eyes and sandy blonde hair, and he looked like he saw the gym regularly. Kyle had led us to a high-top table that was placed right in the middle of the south wall in direct line of the DJ.
It was the best seat in the house.
After we’d taken our seats, Kyle had informed us that, not only were our drinks free, but that they would be delivered by any one of the employees working tonight. It was as if we were supposed to sit down and not move. It was weird, but I knew the reason behind their strange behaviors. It was Roselyn’s claim that I belonged to Ramsey that had them all acting squirrelly.
I had given her the what for when we had been seated, but I hadn’t been able to stay mad at her. Once I’d had a drink in my hand, and I’d begun to feel the music, I had started having a good time. I’d wanted to question how we could drink when it was obvious that we were way underage, but I’d known that the answer would come in the form of Ramsey Reed.
We hadn’t danced yet and were sipping on our second drinks when I asked, “So, did you invite your boyfriend to come out and meet you?”
“Nah,” she answered, waving away the question. “We’re not here, so that I can get laid. We’re here, so that you can piss off Ramsey.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to automatically deny her claim, but she was right. I was here to piss off Ramsey. That’s why I had encouraged her to post the picture that she’d taken of us together. I was hoping that someone at the party would show Ramsey the picture, then he’d lose his hold on reality and burn the town down. I mean, I knew that he was untouchable, but, surely, he didn’t have so much money and power that law enforcement would let him burn down an entire town and not arrest him, right?
I mean, right?
“Oh, shit,” Roselyn mumbled.
“What?” I asked, taking in her expression.
Her pretty blue eyes were filling up with worry as she looked at me, then behind me, then back at me. “Ramsey, Liam, and Deke just walked in, Emer.”
My first instinct was to turn around in my seat to confirm what she’d just said, but then that would give off the impression that I cared, and I didn’t want Ramsey Reed thinking that I cared about anything that he did.
At least, not yet.
I kept my gaze trained on Roselyn’s face. “So? It’s a public place,” I said with a shrug of my shoulder, praying that my voice hadn’t betrayed me.
“Emerson, he’s-”
Roselyn was cut off when a hand snaked out, then grabbed me by my arm, twisting me around. I looked up into the face of a very pissed off, seething, sexy Ramsey Reed. His hold on my arm was so tight that I was positive that my arm would go numb from lack of circulation, but I’d risk it before ever crying uncle to this boy.
“What in the ever-lovin’ fuck are you doing here, Emerson?” he snarled down at me.
Wow.
Okay.
I’d seen Ramsey upset before, but this was something new.
Nevertheless, what did I do?
I teased the rattlesnake.
“What does it look like?” I taunted. “I’m drinking and having a good time.” I arched a brow at him. “Or, at least, I was.”
Ramsey was beyond livid. “Do not fuck with me, Emerson!” he thundered. “What the fuck are you doing here?!”
“Ram, dude,” Liam intervened. “Why don’t you take her-” Liam didn’t get to finish.
Before I knew it, Ramsey was hauling me up out of the chair, then dragging me across the dance floor. I looked back and saw Liam and Deke taking a seat with Roselyn, none of them following us to ensure that we didn’t kill each other. Or rather, to make sure that Ramsey didn’t kill me.
Ramsey dragged me through the club and past the restrooms to an open alcove that led to some storage room or offices, I wasn’t sure. He threw me into the nook of the wall, caging me in between his arms with my back against the wall. His large frame hid me from everything and everyone else in the club, but I wouldn’t necessarily claim privacy for this.
“Tell me why?” he demanded.
“Why, what?” I asked, glowering up at him.
“I honestly didn’t expect you to show up at the party, Emerson. I had hoped, but deep down, I knew that you would defy me,” he told me honestly. “But why did you come here? Why here of all places?”
I could admit that I didn’t fully understand his tone. I’d known that it was going to irritate him that I hadn’t followed his command to attend the party, but what did he care if I came to a club? “What’s wrong with this club?”
“ Why did you come here?! ” he roared, and I knew that he must be holding on by a thread.
I straightened my back. “Roselyn suggested it,” I snapped back.
His brows shot straight up. “Roselyn wanted to bring you here?” he asked incredulously.
I bit my bottom lip as I shrugged a shoulder. “Well, not here, specifically , I don’t think,” I caved and explained. I didn’t care what Ramsey thought of me, but I didn’t want him causing any problems for Roselyn. “There’s a guy she sees, and I think they meet up here some-”
“So, you’re not here to hook up with anyone?”
“What?”
What the hell was he talking about?
“Have you been with anyone else?” he asked, his jaw ticking in the worst way, and it finally dawned on me that Ramsey thought that I was here to pick up some dick.
The wise thing would have been to say no. The wise thing would have been to swallow my pride and just admit that I wanted him. The wise thing would have been to just give in and work this dangerous attraction out of our systems.
However, did I do the wise thing?
Uh, that would be a big, fat NO.
“That’s none of your business,” I spewed instead.
The next thing that I knew, his hand was holding my jaw, and he was squeezing until I thought it was going to pop out of place. “That’s where you’re wrong, Emerson,” he said, looming over me. “It’s very much my business. You’re my business, and I already told you not to test me when it comes to you and other guys.”
I couldn’t speak because of the hold that he had on my jaw, so I just stared him down until he released my face. His touch was bound to leave some bruising, and it was disturbing how much that didn’t bother me, because that would bother most normal girls.
“You’re not my boyfriend, Ramsey,” I reminded him. “That means that I can touch, kiss, or fuck whoever I want.”
After a few seconds of silence, Ramsey punched the wall next to my head, and it took everything that I had to stand there and trust that he would limit his violence to the club’s structure. He didn’t stop until his hand was a right bloody mess, and that’s when he finally stepped away from me.
With his chest heaving, his eyes blazing, and his hate palpable, he asked, “Do you really want me to leave you alone, Emerson?”
I blinked in surprise at his question. His voice sounded like he was in complete control and in complete contrast to his physical demeanor. I wanted to say no. I wanted to tell him that I didn’t want him to ever leave me alone, but this was a game. This was a game to him, and I would not go down without a fight.
I couldn’t afford to.
So, instead, I said, “Yes.”
Ramsey nodded his head once, then demanded, “Say the words, Emerson.”
Suddenly, my mouth was dry, and my throat didn’t seem to want to work. Though it took a bit of effort, I finally got my lips to work. “I want you to leave me alone, Ramsey.”
“Okay,” he calmly replied.
I watched in stunned fascination as he turned away from me, then walked back down the hallway out towards the club. I quickly followed him back to my table where he just jerked his head towards Liam and Deke, who got up wordlessly, then followed Ramsey out of the club.
My ass had barely hit the seat when Roselyn asked, “What the hell happened?”
I looked into her anxious face. “I think I just fucked-up, Roselyn.”
In fact, I was pretty certain that I’d had.