Chapter Seven
First Fight
By ten o‘clock, people started arriving at our place, all on a high from the team’s win. Quinn still hadn’t come back down to our place. I had been texting her for the last thirty minutes with no reply. Jaxon was still out doing a beer run. Jace, who I guess decided not to go, had come over to help me rearrange furniture and move all the breakable things to a locked closet. We pushed chairs and tables against the wall to allow for more room. I put trashcans on the patio for the smokers and beer cans that will undoubtedly pile up. I walked down the hall to the guy’s apartment. Just as I expected, Cole’s door was closed.
“Quinn! I’m counting to three and then I’m dragging your butt out of there. You promised!” I heard shuffling around and laughing. “One… two… th-“ I was interrupted by Cole opening the door in front of me with a huge grin on his face.
“Emmy, give us a break,” he laughed. He only had a pair of navy blue boxers on.
I pushed past him and found Quinn buttoning up her shirt. I walked over and grabbed her arm as she reached the last button. “You’ve had your fun; you’ll have plenty of time later for this business. There are five of us and Jace is the only one that’s helped me so far. This wasn’t even my idea.” I walked her down the hallway to go out the door. She wasn’t saying anything, just had a satisfied smile on her face. While it frustrated me that I was left to take care of her party, I was still really happy for her and Cole. I loved seeing her this peaceful and happy.
“Hey, I resent that,” I heard Jaxon’s voice coming from the doorway. “I just supplied your whole party with booze.” He pointed down the hall. I lightly shoved Quinn toward the door to make sure she wasn’t going to turn around for more Mr. Cole West lovin’.
“Thanks, Jax, that was nice of you,” Quinn said, while walking past. He was still staring at me.
Before I could make a smart-ass comment to him, some random guy knocked on the open front door.
“Do you guys know the people next door, I have a delivery and they aren’t home?” He was wearing a shirt displaying a local florist shop but was holding a giant box of chocolates.
“We live next door,” I told him, gesturing to Quinn and me.
“Sweet, then this is for Quinn Montgomery.” She walked up to him with a confused look and took the box.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have any cash for a tip,” she told him.
“No worries, I was paid a lot for this late-night delivery. He said you wouldn’t be home till about now. You guys have a great night.” He closed the door behind himself.
“What the hell, Quinn?” Cole stepped forward, now fully dressed.
“Don’t ‘what the hell’ me, I have no idea.” She slipped the little card out from the tiny envelope and read it. “It’s just from one of my students I tutor. Here, Ems, go ahead and take out the one piece that you only ever eat.” She handed me the monstrosity of chocolate.
“You’re so weird about that, Em,” Cole mentioned while he was trying to peek at the card Quinn was holding.
“Who needs this much chocolate?” I asked while sorting through for the lone piece that’s in every box.
“What does she mean ‘the one piece you only eat’?” Jaxon stepped up behind me to ask.
“They usually only put one chocolate raspberry truffle in these things, it’s the only one I care about. Why they would send this giant box and only one raspberry is beyond me.”
I finally found it and pulled it up to my lips. When I took a bite, my eyes rolled back in my head. I never buy candy, but every once in a while, someone will give Quinn or me a box and waiting for just this one piece is worth it. When I opened my eyes, Jaxon was watching me intently with his hands gripping the countertop.
“F*ck, you can’t keep doing that in front of me. At least not for the next two weeks,” he sighed. I darted my tongue out to taste the last half in my fingers and I heard him groan while leaning forward closer to me.
Cole’s deep voice shook me out of my Jaxon-seduction, “BRYCE!?! This is from that a*shole Bryce, Quinn?”
“Babe, we literally got together like two hours ago, no one knows. Give me a break,” she said while hugging him around the waist.
He started dragging her toward the front door. “You better damn well believe everyone will know on Monday,” he grumbled and she patted his chest.
“Thanks again, Jax, for the alcohol,” she sang while continuing down the hall to our place.
He looked right at me after she said that. “Don’t look at me, I’m not thanking you. There was something I needed you to take care of earlier and I was embarrassingly denied,” I said walking past him.
He grabbed my arm before I could make it down the hall. “Wait, I embarrassed you?” he asked honestly with concern in his eyes. He backed me up and placed his hands on the wall on either side of my head.
“No, not really, but I was rejected while I had my breasts in your hands. I can definitely say that has never happened.”
“Ask me again in two weeks and I f*cking swear, I’ll never say ‘no’ again.”
“I haven’t gone two weeks since freshman year,” I divulged nervously.
“Wow, really? Well, this will be good for you then.”
“You don’t have to judge so loudly,” I grumbled trying to squeeze out from underneath his arms and I heard him groan.
I should have known I wouldn’t make it far. He scooped me up into his arms and carried me back into his apartment. He walked us to his room and kicked the door closed behind him. We sat back against his headboard on the bed with me in his lap.
“Emerson, I would never judge you. I, of all people, have no place to judge. I don’t care what you’ve done,” he said, looking into my eyes.
“It’s okay, everyone does. I understand what people think of me.”
“If they think you are beautiful, feisty, and brilliant, then I would agree with them. Anything else, I don’t care about.”
I should be pushing him away right now, that would be the smart thing to do. The more I let him get closer to me like this, the more I know I’ll only let him down. He just kept sneaking underneath more of my obstacles and I was standing on the sidelines watching it happen. I told him upfront that I couldn’t do relationships; I hope he understood that was still the case. I’m not sure if he has an ulterior motive by being this way with me.
He interrupted my fears by running his fingers through my hair and pulling my head toward him so our lips could meet. His kiss was aggressive and his tongue found mine quickly.
“Holy shit, you taste good.” I could tell he sampled the chocolate from earlier, so I giggled.
I wasn’t even thinking about my fears right now. The way he was kissing me was so overwhelming, that I could think of nothing else. I pulled his shirt over his head and he didn’t fight me. To my surprise, he pulled mine off as well. We were grabbing at each other like we needed to be inside of one another, as if we needed the other one to breathe.
My bra was still in his truck, so when he bent down and started kissing the swell of my breasts, I was surprised by the instant contact. Abruptly we heard a hard pounding on the other side of his door. All of a sudden, Cole burst through, startling me. Jaxon pulled me to his chest and laid his t-shirt across my naked back.
“F*ck, why are we always caught with your shirt off?” Jaxon grumbled.
“Oh hell no, you guys get your asses up. There’s no way you’re going to interrupt Quinn and my first day together, so y’all can turn around and do the same thing,” Cole shouted.
“Okay point made, leave,” Jaxon said in a hard voice.
“I’ll wait; make sure you don’t get lost along the way,” Cole responded cheekily.
“Turn the hell around so she can get her shirt on, jackass.”
He rolled his eyes and turned around. “Trust me; I’ve seen all of Em.”
I felt Jaxon tense at that and he dropped his hands from my back. It didn’t matter how nice he tried to be, how understanding he wanted to be, it was always going to bother him that I sleep around. Even though I had reassured him I had never been with Cole, he still seemed perturbed by the fact that he had seen my body before. Cole has walked in on me one too many times; it’s a hazard of my ways. His eyes wouldn’t meet mine and he didn’t move.
“Hey, nothing has happened between him and I. You know that right?” I asked while grabbing at his face. He still didn’t budge and his mind was still in some faraway place, so I helped him out. I got off his lap and threw my t-shirt back on. When he still hadn’t moved, I walked out of the room. On my way out the door, I heard Jaxon talking to Cole, but I didn’t stick around to see what they were saying about me.
When I went back to the apartment, it was packed with football players, cheerleaders, frat guys and everybody in between. I ran down to the closet and changed into one of Quinn’s one-shoulder mini dresses. This one was a deep red and since it was Quinn’s, it was a little tight in the chest… perfect. As I was pulling my hair up, I noticed Jaxon’s message still on my hand. I doubt I’m his favorite right now.
An hour later, I was three margaritas into my night and there was no sign of Jaxon. I was in the kitchen playing bartender, as usual, with a hot guy I had never met before named, Gage. He was pretty hands-on and I didn’t mind, since he was helping me not to think about the fact that Jaxon couldn’t even look at me. There were a bunch of guys at the dining table playing a drinking game. Every once in a while, someone from the table would shout for more beer or liquor from me.
After about the third shout, Gage hollered back, “Shut the hell up and get your own damn beer, you idiots!” He smirked at me.
“Thanks, I always get suckered into being the bartender.” I smiled back. I noticed he took a final chug from his beer so I popped open a new one for him. Old habits die hard. I also decided to switch to beer, because the tequila was going straight to my head. “Do you go to our school, Gage? I’ve never seen you around.” I was pretty sure I would remember him, although he did look vaguely familiar.
“No, I go to Columbia University. I’m just out here visiting the little brother.”
“Wow, Columbia, what a way to empty the parents’ bank account.”
He shrugged like it was no big deal. I understand that going to college in southern California wasn’t close to being cheap, but I tried to work as much as I could tooffset those expenses.
“So who’s your brother, I probably know him.”
“Micah Woods, he’s a Sig Alpha.” Of course he was.
A couple of guys at the table started laughing and Garrett opened his big fat mouth. “Oh yeah, she knows Micah, all right,” he teased.
“Oh, Garrett, let’s not talk about the time we ‘got to know’ one another. I know forty-five seconds was probably an all-time high for you, but trust me; most girlswould prefer at least a minute,” I scolded.
Everyone at the table including Gage started hooting with laughter. They all had their heads thrown back and were slamming their bottles on the table. There was a chorus of cuss words and slaps on Garrett’s back.
“Yeah, yeah, Em, that was freshman year. Try me out again,” Garret laughed, taking the ribbing well.
I turned around pulling more bottles and cans out of their boxes to put them in the fridge for later. When I stood back up, Gage was right up against me.
“Let’s go dance,” he whispered into my ear. I thought he was hot, but I really didn’t want to do anything with him. Honestly, I wanted to know why Jaxon never came. I was almost tempted to go down the hall and ask him myself. Almost. I hated that I was missing him. That thinking is exactly why I grabbed Gage’s hand and pulled him out to the makeshift dance floor in our living room. I can’t allow thoughts like that. This is who I am, right here on this dance floor with Gage.
When we got to the middle of all the other dancing bodies, I turned toward Gage and lifted my hands above my head. I started dancing in his wandering hands to the fast beat of the song. When I turned to my left, I noticed Quinn and Cole were right next to us. I leaned over and bumped her with my hip. When she turned to look at me, she had a happy glazed-over look in her eyes. Cole didn’t even look in my direction; his face was stuck in the side of Quinn’s neck. They were already disgustingly cute.
When Quinn finally noticed who I was dancing with, she gave me a confused look, “Where’s Jax?”
I shrugged my shoulders at her. “Not here,” I said and turned back toward Gage.
He leaned down and asked, “Who’s Jax?”
The last person I wanted to talk about Jaxon was with this guy. I turned around in his arms and grinded against him. I heard him groan when he grabbed my hips to pull me in closer. I knew the question was lost with each move of my hips. This is what I was good at, this is what I did; not wondering about some guy with a sexy southern accent. He turned me around and dipped down to trail his lips up the line of my jaw to just behind my ear.
He straightened up and said, “Wanna get out of here? My car’s outside.” I stared into his eyes for a long moment trying to figure out what I wanted to do.
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.”
Startled, I turned to see Jaxon standing right next to us glaring down. He was a good three inches taller than Gage and had about forty more pounds of muscle. The contrast between them was staggering; I hadn’t realized how big Jaxon was. I always see him next to his identical twin brother and Cole, who is equally as built. I was so shocked at my comparison that I forgot to respond to Jaxon’s statement.
Gage raised his hands from around my waist, “Sorry, man, didn’t realize she was taken.”
I should’ve been angry at the fact that he so easily thought I could cheat on my boyfriend, if that’s what Jaxon actually had been. But he wasn’t. I waited for Jaxon to correct him. Say something, because not saying anything at all was pissing me off. I wasn’t anyone’s.
“SHE is not taken, thank you very much!” I yelled over the music at both of them. When I started pushing my way through the writhing bodies, Jaxon caught my arm. I spun around to glare at him. Gage had already pulled one of the sorority bimbos into his arms. Typical.
“I’m sorry, Emerson.” He pulled me up against his chest. “I shouldn’t have left that open like that.” I enjoyed the feel of his chest against my face; his warm scent assaulted me every time. When he bent down and pulled me into a fervent kiss, I noticed the room got a little bit quieter. I pushed away from him when I realized the quiet was because they were all gawking at us.
“No! Just back off, Jaxon!” I yelled.
I was scared. I didn’t want people thinking that I belonged to someone. That can never happen. I was also mad at him for shutting down on me earlier. The instant the words left my mouth, I realized how much of a bitch I had just been to him. I watched as his face dropped and his hands moved away from me. It took him a second to compose himself, but then his face hardened and he nodded his head as he backed away. I walked over to the kitchen to open another beer.
When I leaned against the counter looking out into the living room, I noticed Jaxon was still on the “dance floor” in the middle. He walked up to Rachel Morgan who was sitting in one of the chairs that was pushed up against the wall. She looked up at him with seduction in her eyes. I wondered what kind of look he was giving her, if it was the same look that made my knees weak, the same look he had just given me in his bed before we had this freaking party. I watched as he pushed her hair away from her ear and he slowly bent down to whisper something in it. Her face lit up and she nodded her head up and down. She stood up and he held out his hand for hers. When she grabbed it and he led her to the door, it was then I realized he was leaving with her and my stomach dropped.
Jace walked over and caught them at the front door, “Don’t do this, man.”
“Do what? Leave with a girl who actually wants to be with me?” he questioned rhetorically, as he walked out the door with Rachel in tow.
I slumped a little bit against the counter. Jace, Cole, and Quinn all walked over to me in the kitchen.
“Em, go stop him. Apologize!” Quinn begged me.
“Apologize for what? For being completely honest? It’s better that I upset him now than destroy him later, if it even made it that far. I can’t be with anyone. It doesn’t work. Even Jace warned me not to hurt him.” I turned to the liquor bottles on the counter and started searching through them. When I didn’t find what I wanted, I turned to look in the cabinet above the fridge. Even standing on my tiptoes, I was still inches away from reaching into the cabinet.
“What are you looking for, Em? I’ll get it,” Jace said from beside me.
“No, I need to find it.” I went to the counter to get on top of it, but Jace lifted me up by the waist so I could reach. I dug past all the other bottles, the glass clinking together loudly, until I found the tequila I wanted. Jace set me back down on my feet.
“No way! Put that stuff back,” Quinn said, pointing to the expensive tequila, like it might jump out and bite her. It was an old bottle that used to belong to my dad; I’m pretty sure it was a gift because he rarely ever drank any of it.
Ignoring her, I grabbed a clean shot glass from the cabinet below. I knew better than to shoot expensive tequila, but I needed this in me the quickest route I could get. I wanted to forget about where Jaxon may have taken Rachel and forget about what they could be doing right now, possibly next door. Hadn’t I been the one telling him we would still be sleeping with other people? I should be happy he was holding up his end. I needed to wash away Emerson and be Em again. I lifted the old bottle and poured the golden liquid into the shot glass with “Cancun, Mexico” imprinted on the side. I remember getting this glass on a trip I took with my dad, Ellie, and Quinn when I was fourteen years old, the summer before he died. I guess it was fitting I was pouring his drink into this glass.
“Anyone joining me?” I looked around at the three sullen faces staring back at me. I couldn’t tell if they felt bad for me that Jaxon left with Rachel, or if they were disappointed in me for being the reason he left in the first place. No one stepped up to join. “Suit yourselves.”
“I’ll join you, Emmy!” Micah boomed as he came toward the entrance of the kitchen. Instantly, Jace and Cole held out their arms to bar him from coming in. “Fine, a*sholes. You know I’m getting really tired of you and your cock-blocking brother,” he said, pointing to Jace while he turned to go out onto the patio.
I shrugged my shoulders, not having the energy to get upset with yet another person for making decisions for me again.
“Here’s to losing Emerson, and finding Em again!” I raised the shot glass in the air.
I carried it back down to my lips and poured the liquid into my mouth. To compensate for shooting expensive tequila, I held it on my tongue for a couple seconds to savor the taste. The smooth burn down my throat made me slam the glass on the granite countertop.
“I was enjoying Emerson,” Quinn stated with a sad look on her face.
“Okay, are you done now?” Cole asked me with a worried expression.
“Cole, I know all you want to do right now is take Quinn back to your place. I don’t need a babysitter. You guys can go,” I snapped, while pouring another round.
He stepped up and grabbed the bottle from my hand while moving the shot back with the other. “Right now, all I care about is making sure that one of my best friends isn’t going to drink herself into the hospital tonight. You’re upset and that’s okay, just please don’t be stupid.”
I reached around him and downed the second shot. I stepped past the three of them and moved to the middle of the dance floor. I lost myself in the thumping of the music, the smell of sweat rolling off of bodies around me, and the feel of my body dancing to the music. I needed to get off this treacherous path that I was finding myself on. I’m not sure how much time went by, but I know when I stumbled into the kitchen later that night, I was a couple of shots drunker. I’m pretty sure the word for me wasn’t drunk anymore, it was wasted. Quinn, Cole, and Jace had stayed in the kitchen to keep an eye on me, even though I told them to leave; I was a big girl.
When I came in and saw Jace, I knew it was Jace but he just looked so much like Jaxon. I wondered what kind of look I was giving him because he looked a little worried. I couldn’t stop myself from going up to him and putting my hands around his neck. The only thing that stopped me from trying to kiss him right then was the fact that he didn’t smell the same as Jaxon. I don’t know what kind of cologne Jaxon wore, but it lingered in all of his clothes and I smelled it in my dreams. I loved when he would come over to study, because when he sat on my bed, I swear I could smell his cologne for days.
“Why do you have to look so much like him?” I slurred into his chest.
He rubbed my back. “Are you kidding me, I’m the good looking one.” I tried to laugh at his attempt at a joke.
“I like him a lot. I like him so much it hurts,” I drunkenly admitted.
He leaned down to whisper in my ear, so he could give our conversation some privacy, “I know he feels the same way about you. You have to let him in.”
“I wish I could. I wish I were that type of girl.” A tear slipped down my cheek and Jace wiped it away with his thumb. “I’m sorry, I’m drunk and I’m rambling. Now, I’m crying in front of his twin brother like some idiotic girl.”
“Hey, don’t say that. I would rather you ramble to me than to anyone else. Unless it was Jaxon himself.” I leaned more of my weight into his body, as I began to get tired from all the alcohol in my system.
“Em, let’s get you into your bed, before you pass out,” Quinn came over to say to me.
“Please don’t. Jaxon and I share a bedroom wall and right now, I just can’t handle that. When everyone leaves, I’ll crash on the couch,” I said incoherently, I’m sure.
“Shit, I forgot about that,” Cole said, “Well, it’s too loud over here anyway. You and Quinn can take my bed.”
“I don’t want to hear anything, Cole. I can’t go over there.”
“You have to sleep somewhere, and it’s not going to be alone. Come,” he spoke, kindly.
“I’ll shut this place down,” Jace said while transferring me over to him.
Cole and Quinn helped me get down the hallway to the guys’ apartment. I was dreading the idea of running into Jax or Rachel. When we got to the apartment, it was blissfully quiet and dark. I didn’t want to think about where they would have gone instead. We walked into Cole’s room and he handed Quinn and I both some big t-shirts we could wear to bed. Quinn helped me out of her dress and tossed it on the ground.
“F*ck, I’m living every guys dream right now. Two girls in my bedroom helpingeach other out of their clothes,” Cole laughed.
“Yeah, except there’s no way you’re getting laid tonight.” Quinn winked at him.
“And… my bubble gets popped,” he groaned sarcastically.
I grumbled. “Guys, I’m ruining your first night together. Please just let me sleep on the couch, I can’t do this to you. I love that you’re finally together.”
Cole came over and wrapped me in a bear hug. “Quinn’s not just a fling for me; I’m in it for the long run with her. Which means we have a million more nights. Right now, we need to make sure our best friend, who is drunk off her ass, is safe.”
Quinn grabbed my hand and pulled me into Cole’s large king-size bed. She pushed me down and lay next to me. Cole came in and lay down next to Quinn. I remember mumbling a ‘thank you’ to my best friends before passing out.
I don’t know how long I was sleeping before I was being jostled awake by warm hands and angry whispers.
“Dude, leave her here, and go back to bed. You can talk to her tomorrow. It was a rough night for her.”
“I know. Jace told me and that’s exactly why I’m taking her back to my room.”
“Jax, I’m being completely serious, don’t f*ck with her.”
“I need her next to me right now.”
“She’s going to be so pissed.”
“She’ll forgive me.”
“She’s so drunk; please just make sure and watch her.”
I was being lifted up off the bed into a warm, bare chest. I snuggled in closer, smelling my favorite scent. I locked my hands around his neck and sighed. Shortly after I had been picked up, I felt a soft mattress underneath me again. Strong hands came up from behind me and pulled me back into a hard body. A comforter was pulled up and over me.
“I’m so sorry, Beautiful,” the angel voice whispered before I passed out again in an alcohol-induced haze.