Chapter 28
JACK
“This is Emmeline. You know what to do.”
“Em,” I say resigned to leave her a message. “It’s Jack, I’ve been calling you for the past couple of days, and the call goes directly to voicemail. Are you okay?”
I pause, staring at my screen. Should I send a message to Amy and tell her the truth?
“I want to apologize for being out of touch for the last couple of weeks. Between my work and family, I haven’t had time for myself.
Plus, I had a few things to sort out. The last time we saw each other was intense.
You were right, we’re not ready to jump into something serious, but for a moment I wanted …
fuck, I sound like a fool. It’s Friday—”
The stupid machine cuts me off. Damn it. I call again.
“As I was saying. It’s Friday, and I wanted to see if you wanted to go to the gallery down in Cherry Creek.
We could get dinner afterward maybe have some wine.
I scored some tickets for Smashing Pumpkins tomorrow, Saturday.
I know they’re an old band, but I thought you’d get a kick out of a blast from the past.”
Thursday, May 19th, 12:43 p.m.
Emmeline: I got your voicemail. I’m fine, but busy. FYI, it’s Thursday. Smashing Pumpkins are playing tomorrow, Friday.
Jack: What are you doing tonight?
Emmeline: The 1975 is playing at Red Rocks tonight.
Jack: Just got you a pair of tickets, I’ll pick you up at 5:30.
Emmeline: I just made a comment, I mean, I have my ticket.
Jack: You’re going by yourself?
Emmeline: I usually do. It’s me and their music. Most likely I won’t even notice you’re there so you can come or not.
I get it, you’re pissed at me because I didn’t call until now. Let’s make perfect Jack behave like a prince. I’ll call Jeannette, my sister, to ask for guidance.
Jack: I’ll pick you up at 5:30.
Emmeline: I’ll be safer if I go in my own car.
I laugh, at least she listened to me but what the fuck am I going to do if she asks me for my last name?
Jack: Safer?
Emmeline: I just realized that there’s a lot I don’t know about you. What if you’re planning on kidnaping me?
Jack: If I wanted to kidnap you, don’t you think I would’ve done it before. We already rode to Aspen and back. You are safe.
Thursday, May 19th, 2:31 p.m.
Jack: Em, what’s going on?
Emmeline: Busy, I don’t have time to argue.
Jack: Five-thirty at your place.
Emmeline: Sorry, let’s try something over the weekend.
Jack: Smashing Pumpkins tomorrow?
Emmeline: Call me tomorrow.
Thursday, May 19th, 11:31 p.m.
AWalk90: I’m at the hospital.
JSpear84: What happened to you?
AWalk90: It’s Ramen.
JSpear84: What happened to her?
AWalk90: I dropped my cats at the boarding place earlier today. They called to let me know that Ramen’s been injured.
JSpear84: You’re not making any sense.
Against my plan to keep things separate between Jack and Jackson, I call her hoping she has her personal phone.
“Hi,” she answers.
“Hey, I know it’s late. Can you talk?”
“Maybe later?” she says with a shaky voice.
“Where are you?” I ask, trying to speed things up because I hate knowing she’s alone.
“I’m at the animal hospital. Ramen …” she sobs.
“Text me the address, I’ll be right there,” I tell her.
Friday, May 20th, 12:08 a.m.
I arrive at the animal hospital. Emmeline is the only one in the waiting room. She clutches a black duffle bag to her body. Once I get closer, I notice it's a fabric kennel. One of her cats is inside.
“Hi,” I greet her, squatting right next to her.
My heart squeezes when I see her red eyes filled with tears.
“Hey,” she says with a sob.
“Is this Sushi?” I ask, and she nods. “What happened with Ramen?”
Em explains to me that Sushi escaped her cage, and a dog attacked her. They don’t think there’s any internal bleeding, but she needs several stitches on her shoulder and arm.
“I just don’t understand how this happened,” she whispers. “They can’t just be leaving the door of the kennel open. How didn’t they notice she was on the loose or not have a German Shepard on a leash?”
“She’s going to be okay,” I insist. “They’re just going to stitch her arm.”
“Poor girl, she must be terrified,” she sobs. “At least they brought her to the veterinarian right away.”
I cradle her, speechless about the incident. Those kittens are her babies. She adores them.
“That’s why I have a pet sitter,” she explains. “But Jared is on vacation, and I should’ve waited. Do you know how much they’ve suffered already?”
“She just needs a few stitches, and we’ll take her home,” I say, rubbing her arms. “Do you think Sushi is okay?”
The poor cat is inside the kennel, his amber eyes glaring at me. I swear he hates me. If I ever sleep over at Em’s, he’s going to suffocate me with his chubby body.
“Thank you,” she says again. “You don’t have to stay.”
“I know I don’t have to, but I want to be with you. After they update us, we’ll figure out what to do next. We can take her home or go home and sleep a couple of hours before we come back to get her.”
She nods, resting her head on my chest. I’ve had a few relationships in my life.
One during junior high that lasted almost a week.
The second was during my senior year of high school.
We only lasted a couple of months before realizing we were both leaving Sacramento and it wasn’t worth it to get attached.
During college, I had hookups, a few short-term relationships, and then I met Vivian.
Never in my life have I felt as if I belonged to someone.
Not even my ex-wife. If I knew then what I know now, I would’ve waited all my life for Emmeline to share this precise moment.
It’s crazy to think that being at the vet and consoling her is more meaningful than any other moment I’ve spent in my life.
In this moment, she’s both being herself and trusting me.
I’m what she has and needs right now—not her friends from Boston or anyone else.
I never thought being this close to someone would feel this fucking amazing.
Except, now I get what she means when she says the perfect moment or the perfect love.
It’s about feeling exactly right. It’s about how you feel. Just right.
“She’s not going to be happy,” Emmeline says letting out a long exhale. “She’s very picky and doesn’t like when people touch her.”
“Should I remind you that she has let me touch her?”
Emmeline huffs.
“Will you help me take care of her?”
“Of course, I’ll even take the week off to be with her,” I offer and surprise myself with the words.
“You are one of the good guys, aren’t you?”
Good guys? I don’t know about that. In my experience, I suck at relationships—from the very first to the last—and I’m not doing that great in the current one. Since Vivian, I question if I’m the problem. Women aren’t easy to understand, but I’ve seen my parents happily married for years.
My mom is complicated, just like him, but they make it work.
Whatever happens between them is handled just between the two of them.
Life would be so much easier if we had a clue of when the love of our lives would arrive.
I gaze around the waiting room of the animal hospital.
There’s no one else in here but us. I could be at home, or on my way to California to see my family, but I’d rather be here with Em.
It scares me shitless to finally put myself on the line. The last time I did, I lost my privacy, my sanity, and even my zip code. It’s not like Em is asking me for a ring or giving me some shitty ultimatum. But what is she expecting?
“Ramen Lancaster,” someone calls out from the reception.
“That’s us,” I say.
I take Em’s hand, and we rise from our seats.
“How is she doing?” Em asks, studying the doctor in front of us.
“She’s sedated. We stitched her up. Four in her shoulder and a couple on her left paw.” She looks at her clipboard. “We recommend you come back to pick her up after seven.”
“It’s one,” I say. “We can get Sushi settled, get a few hours of sleep, and then come back to get her.”
Em looks at me and nods once. “Okay.” She turns back to the doctor. “Were all the wounds superficial like they said at the kennel?”
“Yes, there’s no internal bleeding or organ damage.”
“Let’s go, babe,” I insist. “We need to get some rest. Our girl needs us.”
She smiles at me, and her eyes look peaceful but still sad.
We drive to her place in silence. I park a block past her building.
“You would think there would be parking spots at one in the morning,” I complain.
She laughs. “We’re close to downtown, people are out at the bars. It’s the weekend.”
“Jesus,” I curse under my breath, shivering. “It’s fucking May. Shouldn’t it be warmer.”
“How long have you lived in Colorado?” she asks. She’s trying to hide her smirk but doing a poor fucking job.
“Come on, buddy,” I say opening the back door and taking Sushi’s carrier. “You’re home.”
Emmeline settles Sushi into his bed, gets him fresh water and makes sure that his bowl is full. Once she’s done, I zero the distance between us and pull her into my arms for a kiss.
Our mouths lock together eagerly. There’s no softness or finesse.
Only urgency and desperation. Our tongues tangle.
Frantic. Greedy. Emmeline whimpers and wraps her legs around me.
Her arms around my neck and her fingers run through my hair, pulling it.
She’s gone wild. Every lap of her tongue sends shockwaves straight to my dick.
I’m getting fucking hard. I grind up against her.
“What are we doing?” I ask because last time she couldn’t handle this, and right now she’s vulnerable.
“I’m not sure.”
Fuck, that’s what I thought.
“I’m sorry for disappearing on you the way I did,” I open with an apology. “Can we try again?”
She nods and says, “I’d like that.”
“Should I stay with you for the night, or would you like me to pick you up at seven?”
She looks at the bed then at me and sighs. “We’ll fit, it’s a king size.”
“But you’re not ready for more than a roommate for the night.”
“An understanding guy might help,” she adds sheepishly.
“You’re in luck,” I offer. “You got one. Let me take a cold shower, and I’ll join you.”
She seems a little distressed.
Intuitively, I crook a finger at her and say, “Em, come here.”
She takes a step closer to me, and I pull her in for a hug. Then I whisper in her ear. “I’ll wait for you. This doesn’t mean I’ll disappear on you. Believe me, the reason I didn’t call had nothing to do with sex and everything to do with my own fucking insecurities.”
She looks up, her eyes vulnerable.
I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to pull her jeans and lacy panties down. I’d give my left ball to be able to push her down to the couch and taste her pussy. Lick her slick core until I drove her crazy with lust and she came in my mouth.
But tonight, I’ll take care of myself—as I’ve been doing for the past month—and hold her against my body while she sleeps.
“You surprise me,” she whispers against my chest. “Thank you for calling at just the right time.”