“Oh….” She steps back as if realizing that she was threatening to drive drunk in front of a police officer. “Shit.”
Once I’m assured by Tabitha’s friend that she won’t let her drink and drive, I turn in search of Emily, but she’s nowhere to be seen. Of course, she left before I could explain myself.
Why would she stick around and think the best of me when she never has?
I need to talk to her. To try one last time before giving up for good. What’s the worst thing that could happen? She laughs in my face. That’s better than ignoring me. I’m fucking tired of that.
I grab Dominic’s shoulder. “Where’s Emily?”
“She left.” Bella glares at me from around Dominic. “What’s up with you and Tabitha? Making plans for later tonight? You did see her propositioning Dominic, right?”
Seriously? She’s going to jump on my ass too?
“That’s bullshit.” I stomp off. I’m tired of defending my honor and begging people to believe I’m not a player. Or not a player anymore.
I can’t even remember the last time I had sex.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Emily
When I step into my mother’s kitchen, my brother walks around the corner and frowns. “What’re you doing back so soon?”
“I wasn’t feeling the bar scene.” I hang my purse on the peg next to the door and shrug off my jacket.
Tabitha? I shudder. He could do so much better than her. But it’s not like she was the only one giving him a side look in the ten minutes I was there.
Forget about him. He’s a fucking player. I slap my jacket on the same hook as my purse and spin to face Kaleb. And to think I offered to set him up with Ruby.
“You should’ve saved yourself the drive and gone to Rusty Nail Tavern,” Kaleb chuckles.
“And gotten my ass grabbed by Joe?” The owner of the bar, Joe Parkhurst, is a sleazeball. I’m certain the only reason he runs the bar is in hopes that underage girls will sneak in and try to get him to serve them alcohol. I don’t want to know what deals he makes with them.
“Absolutely.”
“Before or after he pees himself?”
My brother’s laughter fills the room as some of the tension eases from my shoulders.
“What’s going on?” My mom’s voice calls out from the living room.
“Great, now you woke the baby up.” Kaleb shudders in mock horror.
“You’re rotten.” I slap his shoulder and step into the living room, where our mom remains propped up against the cushions. She’s dressed in a pair of sweats and a button-up shirt to make it easier for her to change her clothes now that she’s getting more mobility.
“You weren’t gone long.” Her eyebrows arch up in question. “Did something happen? I thought you were going out tonight.”
Kaleb smirks with gleaming eyes. “She’s pissy because she didn’t get any.”
“I’m not pissy, and everything’s fine,” I groan with more force than I should, but listening to Kaleb’s too accurate of description of my troubles is more than I can stomach. I snap my mouth shut so I don’t say anything about Tabitha hanging all over Jake.
“Did you see Jake?” My mom’s eyes narrow as she focuses on me.
Of course, she’d bring him up. “Yes, he was there.”
“Did he say something? Was he there with someone? Is that why you came home early?”
“Mom….” My face floods with heat as Kaleb crosses his arms over his chest.
