Emma gripped her blanket. “She did?”
“I’m not sure how she got my number, but she texted me later to see if I liked it.”
Emma sat up straighter at that part. How did Harriet get his number? Had she gotten into Emma’s phone? She wouldn’t do that, would she?
“Emma.”
She looked over at George, not sure what he wanted from her. Acceptance? Acknowledgment? “Did you text her back?” she asked.
George hit play on the TV. “Just to thank her.” His face was so unreadable.
Waves of jealousy crashed into each other. Emma hadn’t expected Harriet to be so assertive. The girl was serious about her interest in George, and apparently, secretive.
She considered times where Harriet might have had access to her phone before it occurred to her George’s cell number was listed on the fridge with the other emergency numbers for Granddad. That was a relief. Harriet must have seen his number there. Much less stalkery.
If Harriet was pursuing him in earnest, he needed to know what happened to Elton. He had to be wondering.
Emma reached over and stole the remote from George’s lap, pausing the show in the middle of their dramatic delay of reading the results.
She stared at George for several seconds, and he stuck his tongue out at her.
“What is it, Emma? Planning to confess?”
Hesitating, she finally scooted over and tucked herself under his blanket, sharing his footrest. Forget physical boundaries. They could return to those later. “You were so right about Elton,” she whispered.
“What happened?” George asked. He adjusted so the blanket fully covered both of them.
“He came over one night and asked me out. He had no interest in Harriet.”
“But he had interest in you.” George didn’t sound surprised.
“Yeah. I told him that wasn’t going to happen.”
“Good,” George said gruffly. He adjusted until he was on his side, his body facing hers. Waves of heat came off him, and Emma felt goosebumps erupt all over her. She was in love with him. She knew it now. But the fear of being rejected ate her up inside, making her want to hide those feelings from him where he’d never see them. He didn’t think she was right for him.
“Elton was so sure I was interested in him. I don’t think he’ll come over anymore and try to watch TV with us.” Emma shrugged, the embarrassment of it all coming back.
“Emma, promise me something.” George’s face was the perfect amount of stubbly.
She nodded, her fingers itching to reach out and stroke his jaw.
“Promise me you won’t interfere in my love life anymore.”
That was like a cold splash of water in the face. Emma turned away from him, pulling her half of the blanket tight. “I won’t. I promise.” They’d crashed and burned, and he probably wanted to make sure he and Emma never came close to moving beyond friendship again. With all his mentions of Harriet, maybe he was preparing her for what would happen next. Now that she thought about it, all of George’s previous girlfriends had been the assertive types. Those two really were made for each other.
Well, she wouldn’t humiliate herself by moving back to her side of the couch, despite his warning. He’d just have to deal with the close proximity for now.
She turned the show back on, where the camera panned from couple to nail-biting couple. Donny and Denise were eliminated. Of course, they were. Tears pricked her eyes, and in panic, she held as still as possible. She couldn’t cry. George would think she was crying over Donny and Denise. She suddenly hated this stupid show. Her head hurt, and the strain of the day made her limbs ache. Grabbing a couch pillow, she tucked it under her head and rested her eyes for a minute.
***
George blinked in the hazy morning light flickering through the blinds. It took him a moment to remember where he was and why. He was so warm. The heat was emanating from under his arm, where to his surprise and slight alarm, Emma lay. They’d both fallen asleep. He remembered shutting off the TV, but that was about it.
“Psst. Hey.”
George turned to see John standing in the doorway to the den, looking both amused and shocked. How long had he been standing there? “George, what the heck, dude. That’s my sister-in-law.”
George pulled away from Emma, not that it made the situation look any better. “We fell asleep watching TV.”
