My eyes got big. “That’s why you hate me? Because of my love life?”
He shook his head, spitting out some blood. “I was there, Bri. You were upset, and I was coming to check on you, but I saw you. I know who you were with and what he had you do.” He kept shaking his head, regret forming as he looked at Luke. “You’ve never told him what happened. His dad almost killed him, and you’ve never once told him why. You just left and went straight to Elijah. You left him bleeding there and went to my best friend. You fucked them both in that one move, and you’ve not once had the balls to tell Luke the truth.”
“Emerson,” Elijah murmured.
“Stop.” Emerson rounded on him. “You know it’s true. Now it’s happening all over again. She’s fucking both of you again, except this time she’s just going back to him. I’m tired of it. I’m tired of seeing two people I care about in pain all because of this bitch.”
“That’s enough,” Luke ground out, but I saw the question in his eyes.
I had to tell him. The time had come. If this was why my cousin hated me so much, it was way past due.
“No! You don’t even know, Luke. I’m sticking up for you. For you, man.” He jerked a hand to Elijah. “And my best friend, too.” He looked to me. “Bri, it’s gone on long enough. Tell him and drop out of the fucking band, too.” He spat at my feet. “You don’t deserve to play with us.”
“Emerson.”
The rebuke didn’t come from Elijah or Luke. Both had fallen silent. This time it came from Kelly. She was back on her feet, darting to the middle of us. Crossing her arms, she stood at my side and glared at my cousin. “That’s enough,” she hissed. “I don’t care what Bri has done that you’ve decided to appoint yourself her judge and jury. You have no right to speak to her the way you do, and if you keep doing it, you’re banned from the bar. For life. Every time you step foot in there, I’ll have you tossed in jail.”
“What? We practice there.”
“Trust me.” She raised her chin, challenging him. “Rowdy will back me on this one.”
“Whatever, you’re a bit—”
“Shut up!” Luke and Elijah yelled at the same time, and Luke added, “You need to play there, asshole. Shut your hole, for once.”
Elijah added, “Besides, you’re all pissed at her, but I knew.”
“What?” Emerson dropped his mouth. “You knew?”
“The whole time.” Elijah winked at him. “She told me, dipshit, and you can stop with the name-calling at least.” He took a drag and gestured to Luke with his cigarette. “Besides, you don’t want to screw up your future. That guy, that band, it’s where you need to go to get away from Brute.” As he said that last name, the easygoing Elijah was gone again. Back was Drug Dealer Elijah with danger simmering beneath the surface as he added, “And you and I are going to have a chat about that one. I’m tired of getting calls that my own best friend is baked out of his head.”
“You sell drugs. Who are you to judge?”
A harsh laugh ripped from me, hearing that coming from my cousin. “Who are you to judge?”
He whipped back to me, his hands forming fists, but Luke stood in the middle of us and held out his hands. “Stop. Just stop, you guys. She kicked your ass, literally. You’re still half-baked, and you’re going to start another round with her?”
“I can get a few good hits in.” There were other dark promises lurking in the depths of my cousin’s eyes as he continued to glare at me.
I flung my hands out. “I’ll kick your ass again.”
And I started forward, right into Luke’s hand, he pushed me back and turned to glare at Emerson. I heard the quiet venom there as he said, “If you don’t turn off your attitude to her, I will kick your ass myself. I’m fed up with it.”
“But Luke—”
“I don’t give a shit!” he roared back at him. His shoulders and arms were rigid, and his jaw was clenched tight.
He was gorgeous.
“Change your attitude, or you’re out of the band. I mean it. Gunn can fill in for you any day of the week,” he clipped out, and then snapped his fingers and pointed to the car. “Get inside and keep your fucking mouth shut.”
Emerson let out a disgruntled sound, but Elijah grabbed him and started pushing him to the backseat. “Come on. Don’t rock the boat, Em. Trust me on that.” As he continued to herd him into the car, I heard Emerson grumble, “Where the hell did she learn those moves? From you? Did you teach her that?”
Elijah laughed, getting in behind him. “I wish. That would’ve been a whole other level of fun.”
Then Luke grinned at me. “You remembered.” Pride shone from him as he ran a hand over his jaw. “I about shit a brick when I saw you throw him down.”
“Yeah, I remembered.”
Kelly grunted beside me. “I stand by what I said. You guys are just nuts.” She let out another deep breath. “But fun at the same time.”
Luke laughed, following me to the car with his hand at the small of my back. “We usually have Braden with us, too.”
She let out a deep laugh. “I can’t imagine the stories you guys have, especially with him.”
Then we parted. Luke’s hand dropped, and he went to the other side of Emerson. I went to the passenger side, and Kelly got behind the wheel again. No one spoke on the way to the hospital.
When we got there, I went to check on my mom and Braden. Elijah took off. No one asked him where he was going. Luke went with Emerson to the emergency room to see if he needed stitches; the place under his chin where I had kicked him hadn’t stopped bleeding.
It was a surreal ending to the entire night, but in some way, it was fitting. We all went our own ways.