Bringing my hand down to her head, I glide my fingers through her soft, light blonde hair. “I love you, Buttercup.” Then pull my hand back and finally exit her room, closing the door quietly behind me.
Emma still hasn’t emerged from her room since she left, but I don’t hear the water running anymore, so I know she’s done with her shower. I take the two steps to her bedroom door and knock lightly on it, then wait to see if she answers. The light in her room is also still on, which means she’s clearly not sleeping either.
“Come in,” her quiet voice says through the door as I grab the doorknob and twist it, then push the door open.
I find Emma sitting at the end of her bed as she watches me step into her room, with that same lost look in her eyes. I was hoping her shower had pulled her out of whatever is going through her mind, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.
“I was just coming to see if you wanted to come down and have a drink with me before we head to bed,” I say as I gaze over her features, trying to get a read on what exactly is going on right now in that beautiful head of hers.
“I think I might just call it a night, if that’s okay?” She forces a smile for me, but it’s tight and not one of the big smiles I’m used to seeing.
I sigh and walk over to her bed, plopping down beside her. “Talk to me. What’s going on in that head of yours?” My eyes bore into hers. “Is it because of what I said at your parents’ place before we left? I know I can’t really force you not to see them, and if that’s what you want to do, it’s okay. But I really wish you wouldn’t, they don’t deserve your presence, at least not your mother. You shouldn’t have to tolerate that sort of manipulative and disgusting behavior.”
“No, no.” She shakes her head. “It’s not that. You’re right, I shouldn’t be tolerating that kind of shit.”
“Then tell me why you’re sitting here looking all lost in your mind then.”
“Oh, you know, the usual. Just a little session of self-loathing before falling asleep. It’s my nighttime routine as of late, haven’t I told you?” she says sarcastically, but I can sense there’s a lot of truth to her words.
“Bunny…” I bump my shoulder against hers. “Come on, be serious with me for a few minutes.”
She sighs, her shoulders dropping, and she looks down at her hands and fiddles with her nails. “It’s just… Seeing Tommy tonight made me realize some stuff.”
“You miss him?” Even though I hate the guy and wish she would never think about him again, I know it’s not that easy to just move on when you have shared history with someone.
“Oh God no, not even a single bit,” she laughs. “If I could erase his name from my mind, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”
“Then what is it?”
“I don’t know, I just feel so freaking stupid right now.” Emma drops her face in her hands and groans into them before coming back up. “God, I spent two years with him, two freaking years!And you know what the worst part is? I already knew he wasn’t good to me, I did. But like a fucking idiot, I let him treat me the exact same way my mother does. I swear, you’d think I like being insulted constantly and told everything I do is never good enough.” She laughs humorlessly.
“I really don’t know what I ever saw in him,” she says more quietly while letting out an exhausted breath. “I guess I was just a bit jealous of Cece getting her happily ever after and wanted that too… I don’t know…” She looks back down at her hands once more.
“I think being slightly jealous of what your friends have is a natural part of life, and it's completely normal to crave those things as well. Everyone wants to find someone who only sees them, even if most don’t admit it,” I tell her genuinely. “And I don’t think you’re an idiot for being with him and trying to make it work. You fell for the version of him he showed you, and when you noticed that side of him didn’t exist, you kept hoping it would somehow come back with time.”
“Maybe.” She shrugs, then drops back to the mattress with a groan, the camisole she has on lifting slightly to expose a portion of her smooth stomach. “Ugh, and to think I spent over two hours making myself pretty to surprise him that day.” She scoffs. “It pisses me off because I looked hot as hell, and no one even got to see it. Wasted fucking time and effort.”
“Was it really that good?” I chuckle at what she’s focusing on right now. At least it’s much better than that asshat directly.
“Oh, yeah.” Emma turns her head toward me, her gaze finding mine as she places an arm above her head. “I was a smoke show, like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Like‘I want you to rip my clothes off and fuck me in public’type of hot.” She giggles. “You probably would have fainted if you saw what I had on.” She winks with a smirk while all I can do is snort.
“Really? Why don’t you show me then?” I know we agreed we wouldn’t go there again, but with the way she’s describing it, I kind of have an itch to see her in whatever the hell she calls hot to that level.
“You want me to put it on… right now? For you?” she questions skeptically.
“If you have it with you, why not? At least someone will have seen it now. Besides, I’m having a hard time believing it was reallythatsexy.” I smirk, knowing that will convince her. Emma likes to prove me wrong.
“Excuse me? I’ll have you know it really wasTHATsexy.” She sits up and pushes off the bed. “Now you stay right there and let me prove you otherwise.” She takes a step toward the closet but stops and spins back around. “Actually, no. Go sit there. I want you to be in the moment and feel just howsexyit really is.” She points to her makeup vanity before continuing her path to her closet.
I chuckle and get up, going over to it, where I pull out the chair and sit down. “And what exactly am I supposed to do here?”
She huffs out and steps into the walk-in. “Pretend you’re at work and that’s your desk. What else do you think? We’re role-playing here, Greyson. Ijustsaid I wanted you in the moment.”Well then, I’m good with that. Never been much into role-playing, but I guess I could get on board for Bunny.
Emma comes back out a few seconds later with a few items bundled up in her arms as well as a pair of heels, then scurries into the bathroom and shuts the door behind her. I sit back in the chair, swiveling from side to side as I wait for her to return.
Five minutes later, Emma cracks the door open slightly until all I see is one of her eyes staring at me. “You ready to be amazed, Ford?”
I wet my lips, knowing her eyes will zone in on the movement like they always do. “Give it to me, Bunny. Show me what you’ve got.”
