“Smexy? Is that even a word, Emma?”
“Yes, it is, and you, Ashton Barclay, have it in bucket loads. Hiccup. You’re the smexiest!” Hiccup. “God, I want to lick you… can I lick you?” Before I even get a chance to answer her, she runs her tongue up the side of my face. “Mmm… yummy.” Hiccup.
I laugh.
“God, I miss your orgasms.” Emma balls up her hands and places them either side of her head. When she reopens them, she splays her fingers out wide mimicking an explosion. “Your orgasms blow my mind.” Hiccup. “Did you know that?”
“I do now,” I say, my smile widening. Her words are coming out like verbal diarrhea, but I’m thoroughly entertained.
“One day I’m going to fuck you, and you, my friend, are going to rock my world.” Hiccup.
Drunk Emma is also hot.
My cock goes instantly hard.
“Carla said I should ride your face.”
“Carla sounds very wise,” I say, chuckling.
“She’s the best. She’s my only friend in the whole wide world.” Emma blows out a puff of air. Hiccup. “I love her so much.” She bangs her fist over her heart as tears glisten her eyes. She dips her head, and I know it’s the alcohol making her emotional.
I lift her gaze back to mine, gently skimming my thumb across her cheek. “Hey, we’re friends, too.”
She closes her eyes and leans into my touch. Hiccup. “No, you’re my screw-buddy. Well, you will be when we finally fuck.”
Sweet Jesus.
She’s never been so open and upfront with me. I need to liquor her up more often.
“It’s fuck-buddy, Em… not screw-buddy.”
Hiccup. “Do you want to be my fuck buddy, smexy?”
I pull her lips down to mine.
If she weren’t so drunk, I’d show her just how much.
Drawing back, her eyes scan over my face as she runs her fingers through my hair. Hiccup. “I like you, Ashton Barclay… like really, really, like you. I’m trying not to let you into my heart…” hiccup, “… but I’m losing the battle.”
My stomach drops.
Why did she have to go and say that?
She can’t let me into her heart, and I can never let her into mine.
I need to put a stop to this before it gets out of hand.
Fuck!
Chapter Twenty-Five
EMMA
“Let me in, goddammit,” Carla calls out. “Emma, can you hear me?”
I glance at the clock and see it’s just after two in the morning. “Gah.” There’s a pounding in my head matching the one on the door, and my mouth feels as dry as the desert.
I bury my head under the pillow.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Open up.”
“Use your key.”
“I did, but you have that damn safety thing on.”
“Ugh.” Begrudgingly, I drag myself out of bed and slowly make my way to the front door. It’s pitch black, but I can see a small amount of light filtering in from the landing through the crack in the door.
“Hold on.”
“Hurry up, I’m dying here.”
“Makes two of us.”
My eyes widen when I take in Carla’s disheveled appearance. Her usual immaculate self has been replaced by someone who looks like she’s been dragged out of a trash can, then run over by a truck. Repeatedly.
“You look like death.”
“And you look fucking green,” she retorts, shoving me out of the way and heading toward the kitchen.
I release a small laugh, but even that hurts my head.
I feel green.
She starts opening and closing the cupboard doors before moving to the drawers. “Ugh. I need some Tylenol…” She waves her hands around. “Help me here.”
“They’re in the basket on top of the fridge,” I say, turning and heading back to bed. A few minutes later, I crack an eye open when I feel a dip in the mattress.
“Move over.”
“What? You don’t share beds with people.”
“I know,” she says, climbing in and laying her head on the pillow. Shes groans as she pulls the blankets up around her chin. “But, I don’t want to die alone.”
“You’re not going to die.”
“I feel like I am.”
“Yeah, me, too. I’m never drinking scotch again.”
“I never drinking again, period,” she replies. “I’m surprised you’re even here. I thought you’d be spending the night at Ashton’s again.”
“I don’t remember much after the scotch, but I think I may have told him I want to fuck him. It’s all kind of hazy.”
I cringe at the thought.
What else did I say?
“Alcohol is like truth serum for you. You open up and say weird shit when you’re drunk. Things that are out of character for you.”
“I do not.”
“Yeah, you do. You’re always a good girl, Em, but when you’re drunk, your bad side tries to break free. I see glimpses of the devil on your shoulder.”
“God.” I cover my face with my hands.
“Did he fuck you?”
“No, I don’t think so. I vaguely remember him trying to get me to eat pizza, then bringing me home. The rest is a blur.” Shit, I hope I didn’t have sex with him. I slide my arm under the covers, placing my hand between my legs and pressing down. “I’m not tender,” I say.
“Did you just touch your kooch?”
“I have underwear on.”
She snickers from beside me.
“He probably thinks I’m a slut.”
“You’re far from a slut, Emma. Besides, guys like that shit… an angel in public and whore in the bedroom. Maybe it was safer for him to bring you here, rather than risking taking advantage of you while you’re drunk.”
“Maybe.”
“Do you want to hear something weird?”
“What?”
“Grayson told me he loved me yesterday.”
“Wow. Jesus, that’s huge. What did you do?”
“I kind of freaked out, then I cried. Fuck. I’m such a girl sometimes.”
“I hate to break it to you, but you are a girl.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Are you in love with him?”
“I don’t know… I think so. I’ve never felt this strongly for a guy before, but I’m scared.”
“Why are you scared?”
“Because we were having fun, enjoying each other. Then he had to go and complicate things.”
“Telling someone you love them doesn’t complicate things?”
“Yes, it does. Now feelings have come into play, I don’t know… it changes everything.”
“How?”
“Because my heart’s on the line now.” She sighs. “What if I lose him, Em? He’s the only other person, aside from you, to say those words to me.”
I gasp. “I was the first person to say I love you?”
“Y-yes,” she whispers into the dark. I can’t see her face, but I don’t miss the crack in her voice.