“Still sealed and on her desk,” he mutters as he fiddles with his mug, pushing it from side to side on the wooden table. “She opens everything else, though.”
I tap my finger on my thigh as I consider our current situation. Her walls are softening faster than I’d anticipated. We put her through three weeks of silence, so I thought we’d be getting at least that in return.
But we did have the advantage of there being four of us versus one of her. And the way we have things set up, she is with one of us at all times. It would be hard not to cave under that pressure.
A pang of guilt hits me. Our coordinated attack will all but guarantee our success, and if I wasn’t one hundred percent positive this is what Emery wants, I wouldn’t have ever put the plan into motion.
But she does want us. She wouldn’t have fought so hard to get us back if she didn’t want to be with the four of us. Theheartbreak written all over her face when we locked eyes at Obsession told me everything I needed to know about how she felt.
The guilt turns to remorse as my mind fast forwards to the elevator and how she cut me to the bone with her words. She was right, really, to call all of us out like that. We had taken all her choices away. We’d put her in the corner, patted her on the head, and told her to be a good little girl and wait over here while the adults fixed the situation.
But not this time. From the day she left the hospital, she’s had all the information. Not only does she have the information she needs to reconnect with us, but she also has the information she needs to make it all stop.
And I would make it stop, if that is what she truly wants. I already have plans in place with Hudson and Darcy to ensure that Xavier leaves her alone.
Those plans may or may not include an anchor bolt into the concrete floor of my basement, a chain, and double-locking wrist restraints.
Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.
“I think,” I start, running over all the facts one more time, “we need to move on to phase two of the plan.”
Darcy’s eyebrow pops up. “Already?”
“You don’t think we should give it another week?” Hudson asks, his icy blue eyes narrowed in thought. “I don’t want to rush her.”
“I’m just looking at the facts.” I raise a hand and count off all the steps in a positive direction that have been taken in the last few days. “She let Darcy take her out for a redo date and even trusted him to look after her once he pointed out her sub drop. She’s let Xavier back into her room after expressly demanding otherwise. Your diary is getting a workout, from all accounts. I think we’re ready.”
“Don’t forget the jock.”
Xavier’s growled words send a jolt through my system.
Ah yes, William.
I nod. “Has he been in contact lately?”
Nodding, Xavier pulls out his phone. “Two messages this morning already. She didn’t respond to him yesterday.”
It’s my turn for my eyebrows to raise. “Two? Persistent little shit.”
If I was even a little bit ruthless, I’d have Justin start to flunk him so that he would be forced to spend more time studying to keep his spot on the team and less time with my Emery. But no. Our girl has the right to options, and as much as we want to ensure she picks us, we won’t be removing any other players from the board.
“Okay, so phase two. Time to turn up the heat. I’ll come up with something for the weekend,” Darcy offers to Hudson, who nods in agreement.
Xavier simply grunts out a noise, which I assume is agreement, before he checks his phone, stands, and leaves the rest of us as he exits Grinder without a goodbye.
I honestly can’t believe that out of the four of us, he is the one that she willingly allows into her space. All past experiences have said he is the one subs run from first. And now our entire future hinges on him having some form of restraint and following our plan.
Shoving that thought out of my head, since there is absolutely nothing I can do to control him or his actions, I start running through potential ideas for getting more one-on-one time with Emery.
But they all circle back to the one thing I was hoping to use as a peace offering. Instead, I think I’m going to have to use it as bait. And if that’s what it takes to get more time with her in the very near future, then so be it.
I just need a single opening, a chance to be able to remind her who she belongs to.
Chapter 47
Emery
Why are cupcakes so awkward to eat? Like, seriously. Who thought it was a good idea to make a cake that is the maximum height of an open mouth, then add another two inches of icing and fancy garnishes on top?
