I was an asshole.

I watched Emmie peeking out the living room window and didn’t try to untangle the girls who still had themselves pressed up against me like a second skin. I waited until I couldn’t see her in the window anymore before I stepped away from them.

Jesse came out a few minutes later, his face a thundercloud as he stepped up beside of me. “Dick move, Nik. Don’t make me have to mess up that pretty face.”

Guilt washed over me and I sighed. “I’ll fix it,” I assured him before introducing the two girls that had just been all over me to Jesse. Then I got the hell out of there before I dug myself into an even deeper hole and went inside.

Emmie had locked herself in her room again, and I decided to give her time to cool off before I confronted her. I loved that girl with everything inside of me, but she could really be a stubborn little bitch at times. Of course, I liked that shit.

With ESPN playing in the background, I relaxed on the couch in the living room and surfed the net on my phone as I tried to find the perfect place to take Emmie for dinner the next evening. I needed to take my girl on our official date.

Chapter 13

Open Your Fucking Eyes

It was late when I finally went up to bed. Despite being stressed about Emmie and our future, I had relaxed watching a baseball game and pigging out on the pizza that the guys had ordered for dinner.

I glanced at Emmie’s closed door with a feeling of longing making my chest ache. I wanted to be behind that door with her, cuddled up after making love to her for the third time that night. My dick jerked at just the thought of being inside of Emmie’s tight little body. Grimacing, I bypassed my bed and went on into the bathroom for a cold shower.

I was still half awake when I heard a vehicle in the driveway. Wondering if Jesse or one of the other guys had come back early, I stood and went to the window. It took me a few seconds to really register what I was seeing and then my heart stopped.

A taxi pulled into the driveway and Emmie was standing there talking to the driver who had yet to get out of the car. The only light was from a street lamp, but I saw her suitcases as if it were plain as day. I hadn’t even thought of the possibility of her running away. She had been a part of my life for so long, had stuck with me and the guys through some really horrible shit. But now she was leaving us …

She was leaving me!

I turned from the window and ran. If I didn’t get to her in time I might never see her again. My heart clenched at just the thought. I nearly fell running down the stairs but somehow kept my footing. I barely paused to unlock the front door and hauled ass.

“Em!” I shouted her name.

She said something to the driver that I couldn’t hear because the blood was rushing through my ears. Fear had my adrenaline pumping and I could barely breathe from the way my heart constricted in my chest.

“Stop!” I yelled. “What the fuck are you doing?” She started to get in the back of the taxi but I reached her before she could even get the door closed. My fingers shook as I grasped her arm. I was less than gentle when I forced her to turn and face me. I instantly regretted touching her like that, but my fear in losing her had my mind all kinds of jumbled up. “Where are you going?”

“Away!”

I could actually feel the color draining from my face. Oh fuck. Oh, fuck. Oh. FUCK! “The fuck you are! You aren’t leaving. You can’t leave.” My voice cracked, and I could feel the tears forming as my throat and sinuses started to burn. “Get back in the fucking house!”

“Why?” she challenged me. “Why should I stay here? So you can torment me with all of those skanks? So that you can rub it in my face with what I can never have?” She laughed and the coldness of the sound sent chills down my spine. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m tired of it all. Tired of seeing the different women flowing in and out of your bed. Tired of dreaming of something I know I can never have.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Had she lost her mind? “There hasn’t been anyone in my bed in months! Jesus Christ, Emmie. Are you blind? Can’t you see how I feel about you?” Even after our amazing night together two nights ago she still couldn’t see how I felt?

Her brow wrinkled and I was too upset to notice how cute she looked. “What feelings?”

Her question gutted me. She was still so blind. I wanted to scream at her to open her fucking eyes. Instead, I closed my eyes, trying to calm myself. “Please, Em. Come back into the house and let’s talk. Don’t leave, baby. Please don’t go.”

She didn’t say a word and I could actually see the wheels turning in that beautiful head of hers. Emmie was stunned that I had confessed to having feelings for her. Instead of giving her time to make up her mind, I grabbed Emmie’s purse. I was only in a pair of boxers and didn’t have my wallet, so I grabbed what cash she had and handed it over to the driver.

The man unloaded the cases while I stood there watching Emmie closely, terrified that she was going to make a run for it if I took my eyes off her for even a second. Only after the taxi’s taillights had disappeared into the night did I grab her suitcases. “Come on, baby.”

I left her cases by the front door. Needing to touch her, I took her hand, tugging her up the stairs. I thought about taking her into her room but knew that I wouldn’t get much talking accomplished with the memories of making love to her on that big bed constantly filling my head every time I looked at it. I took her into my room and locked the door.

I gently pushed her onto the edge of my bed and crouched down before her. “Where were you going, Em?” My throat ached from the lump of emotion still choking me.

“Somewhere where there aren’t groupies and skanks everywhere I turn around.”

I grimaced, regretting even more that I had hurt her today. But with the regret came more hope. “Are they really that upsetting to you? Now, after all the years you have lived with us?” Had I ruined everything today?

Her glare was full of ice. “What do you think? Should I want to have this baby and subject her to all of those sluts on a daily basis? Should I let her see what you are like? The egotistical rocker who has to have all of his adoring groupies hanging off his arm while I, her mother, has to watch from the sidelines?”

Was that really how she saw me? It hurt worse than if she had actually hit me. “That’s how you feel? Like you have to watch from the sidelines?” I cupped her face, forcing her eyes to stay locked with mine. “Don’t you know that I want you beside me? You and only you.”