“Billie, I thought you were taking a nap with Blake.”
Dad keeps his eyes plastered on Emmett, no doubt guarding his family from a predator.
“With the way you’ve been fighting?” I say, taking a couple of steps down. “I’m surprised Blake hasn’t already woken.”
“Billie.” Emmett’s hand appears in the doorjamb. “Billie, I need to talk to you.”
His voice is a plea that rips my soul in two. He thinks he’s lost me, but he should know that I’m not the type of person to quit on someone I love, even if they could’ve handled a situation better.
“Let me talk to him,” I whisper to Dad as I continue to descend the stairs.
“Get back to your room, Bill,” he warns, never taking his eyes off Emmett.
I ignore him and his patriarchal bullshit. I’m twenty-one, not twelve.
“You need to hear him out, Dad,” I urge, taking the last step until I’m standing behind my parents, jaw almost hitting the floor when I see the state of my boyfriend’s face.
Like there’s an invisible thread between us, I jerk forward, searching for Emmett’s arms.
“Don’t you even fucking dare.” Dad thrusts the heel of his hand into Emmett’s sternum. “You’ve got some fucking gall,” he continues, rearing his hand back to hit him square in the face.
I figured the blood painting Dad’s knuckles a few hours ago was Emmett’s, although nothing could’ve prepared me for the mess he’s made of Emmett’s face.
“Stop!” I cry right before Dad’s fist connects with Emmett’s jaw. “Please, stop!”
Mom spins on her heel, wrapping her arms around me in a bear hug.
“He needs to stop hitting him,” I sob into her sweater, body going limp in her embrace.
“Scott, you’re going to get yourself arrested for assault,” Mom quietly breathes into my hair.
I peek beneath her arm, only to catch another swipe of Dad’s fist across Emmett’s jaw.
My hockey player boyfriend just stands there, hands in his pockets as he takes beating after beating from his best friend.
As he spits blood onto the ground, I can see the physical and emotional pain in his eyes.
“I’m not going to retaliate, Scott. You can take swings at me all day, but I refuse to hit the man I’ve idolized for over a decade. The father of the woman I’m fucking crazy about.”
Growing weary, Dad takes the weight of his bad leg on hisgood one. “Idolized?” He laughs. “You must be fucking joking! You’ve betrayed me in the worst way possible. Hopping into bed with my already-vulnerable daughter.”
Emmett swipes blood from his bottom lip.
Yearnful eyes lock with mine as he delivers an admission that melts my bones. “When Billie returned from Austin, I walked back into her life as a friend and a person that she and her baby girl could count on. Did I mean to fall in love with the woman who stole the air from my lungs on her twenty-first birthday?” He shakes his head slowly, eyes moving to my dad. “I tried not to. For you and for Freya, for the respect we’ve built between us and our families over the years.” Emmett’s gaze tracks back to me, a warm smile tracing his split lips. “But the best things in life often come along when you least expect them, and that’s what Billie and Blake are to me. I can’t live without them, and I refuse to walk away until I have what I came for.”
Dad steels his shoulders. “I thought you showed up to apologize?”
Emmett’s gaze drops to the ground, brows pinched together in thought. “I guess it’s understandable for you to think that way. Maria really managed to twist your mind up good, right before she admitted to multiple counts of infidelity during our marriage.”
Mom gasps, but Emmett’s face doesn’t change as he reaches out one hand for me to take.
“If you’re asking me to make a choice between our friendship and your daughter, Mr. Quinn, then I gotta tell you that there can only ever be one winner. Maybe, one day, you’ll give me the grace to prove why I have my priorities the right way around.”
Neither Mom nor Dad prevents me from taking my boyfriend’s hand.
Stepping across the threshold, I turn back to my parents. “I need to talk with Emmett for a while.” My gaze lands on Mom. “Can you watch Blake for me?”
She gives me a tight nod as I center my attention on Dad. Thepieces of my shattered heart crumble into dust when I realize that none of Emmett’s words have resonated with him. His expression is stony as his fingers flex at his sides.
