“Yeah, of course.”I shifted closer to the armrest.It was still a tight squeeze.Her thigh and arm pressed against mine, and she held her shoulders tight taking up as little space as possible.
I swung my arm over her head to drape it across the back of the sofa.Shifting my back toward the armrest as much as I could, I tried to give her room.“Is this okay?”
“Yes, thank you.”Her shoulders loosened.“That’s so much more comfortable.”
There was a breath of awkwardness that my nerves were too fried to deal with.I needed some small talk and quickly.“So, what’s been going on with you this week?”
She blew air through her lips.“Work is already busy for tax season.”
“Will it be a less intense spring?”
“No, I think it means that my busy period will just be longer.”
“So, I should schedule with you now.”It was a lame attempt at a joke, but we were keeping it light.
A sardonic smirk fit onto her face, and she shook her head.“Yes, that’s exactly right.”
“Understood.”I grinned down at her, but I still noticed the front door opening.
Emmett held it for Alicia.The room shifted in her direction, gravity pulled me toward her.The lights in the room dimmed as all the energy was sucked into her.She was heat and power.She was the pull that I kept resisting.
Her eyes met mine then landed on Lola tucked into my side and under my arm, before darting away.
Fuck.
Shit, meet fan.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Alicia
Theedgesofmyvision darkened, and my cheeks burned.The only thing that saved me from marching across the room to give Remi a piece of my mind was my job.My very important job.I couldn’t quite list all the reasons it was important at the moment, but I did know that it was, and that I loved it, and that I desperately didn’t want to fail at it.
He looked cozy with his arm around another woman—which he had every right to do.But also, and I meant this from the bottom of my feet to the top of my head, fuck him.
For making me confused and jealous.
For making me cry.
I thought he’d grown out of being a piece of shit, but apparently he hadn’t and that was fine, because fuck him.It was humiliating to fall for the same asshole twice.I thought I had grown out of him too.
“I need a drink,” I said to Emmett, hoping that I sounded less frantic to him than I did to me.
He placed his hand on the small of my back and led me through the room and into the kitchen.The smell of chili powder and cumin came from a crockpot on the countertop.
Just inside the door, he paused with a hand on the wall by my cheek, his body creating the semblance of privacy.“Ya all right?”
“Of course.Why wouldn’t I be?”I sounded almost convincing.
He rubbed at the back of his neck.“I might feel a bit ...ya know ...if I were you.”
Yeah, I know.
“I’m okay,” I lied.“Thank you for checking.”
I wanted a drink in my hand to keep them from clenching, and if it had enough bite to it I could blame the tears stinging my eyes on that.How had I let Remi in enough to hurt me?Again?
Emmett took a step back, letting his hand slip back to his side.With a little jerk of his head, he led me further into the room.“What do you wanna drink?”
