Chapter 18

A click soundedan instant before the door slammed against the deadbolt, startling me from where I'd dozed while waiting for Aurora to come back to bed.

Was she leaving? Without saying goodbye? What the fuck? I jackknifed to a sitting position and glared at the door, but Aurora was nowhere in sight.

"Why'd you lock me out?" Emerson called from the hallway.

Fuck. I jumped to my feet, and like a chicken with my head cut off, I ran around the bed in search of my clothes. Once I'd located my jeans, I stumbled around, pulling them up. My foot caught, and I teetered to one side. The mattress slowed my fall before I hit the floor.

"Dude, you okay?" Emerson banged on the door.

"Yeah, I got caught in the blanket." I winced the second the words were out, because the explanation was ridiculous. Except I'd seen Emerson do that exact thing this morning, so it wasn't unbelievable.

I pushed back to my feet, scooped up the rest of my clothes and Aurora's, and tucked them under the sheet piled on the bed, only to realize the twisted sheets and blankets screamed sex bed. So I stuffed them under one pillow, then quickly straightened the bedding. When I was finished, it looked like an eight-year-old had made the bed, but Emerson was banging again, so it would have to do.

"Whatcha you doing in there?"

Oh shit. I'd fixed the sex bed, but did it smell like sex in here too?

Heart pounding, I spun in a circle, looking for a way to fix that problem. I froze when I caught sight of the spray bottle on the dresser and lunged for it. Without hesitation, I hustled around the room, spraying Emerson's cologne, coughing as I went.

Fucking hell, this stuff was strong. But with any luck, it covered up the smell of sex lingering in the air.

"Are you purposely being an ass?" Emerson called, sounding annoyed, which was all wrong for the happy-go-lucky guy.

What the hell was going on? When the guys went out, Emerson always stayed out until well past two. He never had trouble finding women to flirt with and hang out with, and it was almost a guarantee that he'd still be there when the bar shut down for the night.

"Coming," I called. I stopped beside the bathroom door and murmured a "just keep it locked" to Aurora, hoping she could hear me, then forced myself to open the main door for Emerson.

When I did, I came face to face with a sight I'd never witnessed before. Emerson looked almost sad. Though I couldn't be sure. I didn't think he had ever experienced that emotion. Happy and goofy were his defaults.

"Why are you back so early?" I forced myself not to look at the door behind me.

"Eh, wasn't feeling it." He shrugged, but as he did, he froze. Then he lifted his nose and sniffed the air.

As he turned in a full circle, still sniffing, my heart pounded, but I kept my expression even and fisted my hands at my sides to steady them.

"Why were you spraying my cologne? Did you take a massive shit or something? Why bother wasting it? You've done that plenty of times, and you never cared that I gag."

For the love of God. I pinched my brow, praying Aurora hadn't heard that.

He sniffed again and cocked a brow. "Weed?"

"No, I just…" What the fuck, Mason? How was I going to explain this? "I just like the smell." I shrugged and quickly changed the subject back to him. "But what do you mean you weren't feeling it?" I asked, raising my voice in hopes that Aurora could hear us and be clued in to what was going on, yet still hoping she'd missed the one about the big shit. "You're always out."

"What's the matter with you?" Emerson stepped around me. "Why do you care if I'm here or not?"

On any other day, I wouldn't. But Aurora was naked in the bathroom, so he had to go. "I'm worried about you."

He tipped his head to the side, making his wavy hair flop over his forehead. "Me?" He pointed to his chest. "I'm fine. I'm just gonna take a shower and go to bed."

"No," I blurted out, my heart lurching. "You can't take a shower."

"What?" He peered around me and narrowed his eyes at the closed bathroom door.

"It's just …" I opened my arms wide. "I need a hug."

Emerson was the hugger of the group. There was no way he'd turn me down. But it would only buy me a minute. I had to figure out how to get rid of him.

"You want a hug?" His expression morphed from slightly annoyed to relaxed. "Aw, bring it in."

I awkwardly patted his back as I went through my options. And when he pulled back, I did the only thing that made sense. I rubbed my shoulder.

"You're hurting?" His eyes went wide. Bingo. Of course he'd be worried. The whole team had been stressing about it all freaking week.

"Yeah, it's just sore." I hunched over and stretched my good arm back farther, exaggerating the struggle of finding the right spot and rubbing at it. "I just don't want them to pull me."

"Dude, none of us wants that. Potter can't hit for shit. Want me to go get Rory?"

"Yeah," I said, keeping my tone even. "Could you find her for me?"

With a nod, he spun, tripping over his own feet, then headed out the door.

The second the door was shut behind him, Aurora stepped out of the bathroom, wrapped in a white towel. "How is he going to find me?"

"Since you're here, searching for you will keep him busy for a while. And it was the only way I could get him out of the room." Heart still beating a bit too hard in my chest, I wrapped my arms around her.

She sighed against my chest, and just like I knew she would, she tried to throw up walls.

"We're not doing this again. I almost had a heart attack." Her voice cracked on the last word.

Fuck. I felt like an ass.

"I know, babe. We can just hang out at home."

With another defeated sigh, she nodded and stepped out of my hold. "Where are my clothes? Apparently, I need to head out so Emerson can find me."

I pulled the pillow back to reveal them, and she dressed quickly. After she'd finger combed her hair and I'd stolen another kiss, I cracked the door and peeked out into the hallway. When the coast was clear, I ushered her out. As the door to the stairwell slammed behind her, I slumped, rubbing at the ache in my chest. Damn. This whole situation stunk. With a defeated sigh, I flopped onto the bed and threw my good arm over my eyes.

Two minutes later, the door opened again. "Sorry, man, I went by her room." Emerson shrugged. "She must be out with someone."

I held back a smirk. She'd definitely been with someone. But I couldn't tell him that I was that someone. And damn, I hated that.

"I mean, objectively, she's hot."

I locked my jaw and tried my best not to glare at him.

"What?" he asked, clearly reading into my silence incorrectly. "You didn't notice that? You were with her for a whole week."

"I'd be blind not to notice." I tried to keep the growl out of my voice. "Did you want a shower?"

He studied me, his brows pulled together, but after a moment, he shook his head. "You sure are acting weird tonight."

I blew out a breath. "Yeah, man. I just need a good night's sleep."

Because it was going to be a long four days on the road if I could only see her from a distance.