Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty-Five

Briar

" W hat do you want me to say?" Emmett asks, standing shirtless in his bedroom. I hear the shower running in his attached bathroom.

God, he's so damn sexy. I hate the fact that I just relived one of my worst memories, and I'm still drooling over the idiot.

"I don't know, Emmett, maybe ‘I'm sorry. I can't believe I was such a dick.' It was really hard to tell you what you said."

He tears his vision away from me, looking at the floor, but I step closer.

"I'm an asshole." His voice is rough like the leather on his cowboy boots.

"Look at me." I get so close I'm almost pressed against him, and I dip my head, not giving him a choice but to meet my gaze.

"What do you want me to say? I'm fucking sorry? Of course I am. Hearing you say that I said those things is tearing me apart, but sorry doesn't take it back. Sorry doesn't rewind time so I can fix it. Sorry doesn't do shit." He steps back and pulls his eyes away from mine.

"I—It would still be a nice thing to say."

"Then I'm sorry." His hands fly up at his sides.

I throw my hands in the air, matching his movement. "Oh, that was heartfelt."

He goes into the bathroom, and I follow him. He's in front of the sink, resting his palms on the counter, back arched and face etched in pain.

"I am so fucking sorry, Briar. I just…I don't know why I would ever be so cruel. The fact that I hurt you like that is killing me. For years you've harbored this hatred for me, and I couldn't figure it out. Why in the hell would you move in with me? Why would you entertain staying here after what I did?"

I sit on the edge of his built-in tub. "I'm not sure I have an answer. But it doesn't matter because you're not that guy, Emmett. My time staying here has taught me that you're not who I thought you were."

He turns around, leaning against the counter and crossing his arms. I'm annoyed with myself that I notice how it makes his biceps and pecs bulge. "I'm not sure about that."

"No—"

He raises his hand. "Don't. Don't sit there and try to make me feel better. I was a son of a bitch, and I'll own it. Don't make excuses for my behavior." He sighs. "I have no idea where we go from here."

My head tips down. I'm not sure how to answer his question. I still can't believe I'm entertaining something with Emmett, and not because of what he did when he was eighteen, but because I'm pregnant… and not with his child.

"I don't know. I'm having a baby. You're the only one who knows. I'm scared, Emmett." My tears break free. Tonight has been way too emotional, and these damn hormones make it impossible to push down my feelings.

"I'm scared, too, but I've never felt like this. Ever."

I laugh at how bizarre this moment is. "How can we even entertain this? I'm going to be huge in a couple of months. I'm not going to be this version of myself ever again. I won't ever have the freedom to come and go as I please again. My body will never look like this again."

"Is that what you think? That it's your body I want?" He pushes off the counter and sits next to me.

"I think that's part of it. And to be honest, I'm afraid it might be a little of you wanting what you can't have. But nothing will change the fact that this baby isn't yours. That we're going to try to have a relationship when I haven't even told the biological father about the baby."

He buries his head in his hands, running them up and down his face and groaning. "First of all, you're hot as hell, and that's not going to change either when you show or after. So yes, I am attracted to you, but I've been attracted to a lot of women in my life."

"Gee, thanks," I deadpan.

He turns and looks at me, and I don't even get a smirk. Okay then.

"I don't just want you because you're gorgeous, Briar. It's because you're you. It's the way you come back at me with jokes and give as good as you get. It's you making me dinner because I let you stay here. It's you taking my idea seriously and helping to try to make it successful. It's you, plain and simple. You just happen to come in a really smokin' hot package." I finally get his flirtatious smirk, and the light in his eyes returns.

"You're making this hard."

"What's hard? Other than me once I get you in that shower."

His humor undoes me, and all that runs through my mind is my earlier masturbation session.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that."

"Fair enough." He slides closer, his hand moving over my leg and falling into mine. "I'll wait."

We sit there, side by side, holding hands like teenagers. The fact is that there are a plethora of reasons this shouldn't work between us. But the comfort I feel when I'm with him is something I've never felt with anyone, not even Chad, who I thought I loved. These feelings I have for Emmett are so hard for me to place, let alone dissect. At the same time, I can't help but wonder what it would feel like for him to hold me.

"I forgive you," I whisper.

He doesn't say anything, and I look at him, wanting him to know that I do forgive him for what happened all those years ago. He's not that same person.

"Nope. Not yet."

"What?" I shake my head, forehead wrinkled.

He turns his head, locking eyes with me. "Not until I prove to you that I'm not that guy."

"You don't have to prove anything." I squeeze his hand.

He falls to his knees and shuffles in front of me, then places his hands on my hips. I open my thighs, allowing him in. "I do. I need to prove to you that I'm not that guy. That I'm not who everyone else thinks I am. That you're my game-changer. My anomaly. My person."

"Emmett." My hands go to his at my sides, about to drag them off me because he doesn't need to say these things for us to move forward. He can't possibly mean them.

"I told you to let me prove it. So when you're ready, you let me know." He draws back, takes my wrist, and places a kiss on the inside.

He releases my hand, but I grip his, and his eyes question what I'm doing.

"I'm ready," I say in a rush.

He shakes his head and rises to his feet. "No, you're not, and it's okay. I'm a patient man."

He walks toward his shower, and I stand, steeling myself.

Take what you want, Briar.

"You stupid man," I say.

He circles back around and tilts his head. "I thought we already clarified that."

I step toward him. "You're not going to tell me when I'm ready and when I'm not."

His lips tip up at the corners, but he's fighting it.

I step forward again. "Whether you meant to or not, you've shown me how I should be treated." Another step closer. "As if I'm a prize." One more step. "You've stood by my side, supported me, haven't pushed me. I never saw you coming, Emmett. You bulldozed into my life at the worst possible time, flipping it on its axis. As scared as I am, I'm going to trust that you'll catch me if I fall."

"I will." His eyes are so earnest as they look into mine.

I approach his chest, rise to my tiptoes, and wrap my arms around his neck. "Kiss me."

His arm swings around me, pulling me into his hard chest, and he bends his neck. "I thought you'd never ask."

I giggle, but his lips fall to mine, swallowing my laugh. His lips are firm, and his five-o'clock shadow burns my face in the most delicious way.

The need to explore him with my hands burns in my veins. To feel that hard body I've been admiring for weeks. But I'm lost in the needy sounds coming from his throat as his mouth crushes mine.

All that desire that's pooled over my time here intensifies into a deep ache between my legs. I feel as if I'm lost in another dimension. His kiss is soul-crushing, and in that moment, I know he's ruining me. If this doesn't work out with us, I'll never kiss another man again without thinking of Emmett.

Finally, my hands push into the silkiness of his hair, running up and down the back of his head, not wanting him to wake me from this dream state. He hauls me up, and my legs wrap around his waist so that I feel the hardening of his bulge in his jeans. He's no longer gentle, his tongue thrusting into my mouth. I meet him stroke for stroke, unable to get close enough to him.

He carries me through the doorway into his bedroom but doesn't lay me down on his bed. And I'm not complaining—I'd glue myself to him if he continues the slow strokes of his tongue, his bulging biceps holding me up. My nipples pebble, my breasts heavy with need.

His lips pull away from mine, leaving them swollen and stinging. "Is this okay? What about the baby?"

His breathing is labored, and the little freshman girl inside me cheers that I did that to him. I'm the one taking my crush to the brink of want.

He lowers me to the mattress, but I don't release his neck, so his lips fall to my neck.

"It's fine. The baby will be fine," I assure him and loosen my hold to allow his exploration of my neck and collarbone. "I thought you were showering?" I'm more than happy to join him.

"Later. Don't rush this."

"No rushing," I practically pant.

His hands slide up the hem of my shirt, pushing it over my head. "That day in the white dress… just so you know, we're reenacting that without a bra or panties."

He reaches behind me and unhooks my bra. I help him take it off, and his gaze fixes on my nipples.

"I knew you'd have perfect nipples." He bends, taking one in his mouth.

I suspected Emmett would be a talker, but he's ratcheting up this orgasm one step higher with every desire he's confessing. I arch my back, my hands going to my jeans, unbuttoning and lowering the zipper.

He strips his mouth off me and stares at me. "That's my job."

"Then get me naked."

That million-dollar smile hits me full force, and I inch up, capturing his lips in a fevered kiss, never getting enough of him. His fingers hook in my jeans, and I lift my hips to get them off. He takes my jeans and underwear in one go, leaving me completely bare beneath him.

He stands in front of my open legs, and his fingers manipulate the button of his jeans. His muscled chest and the intensity in his eyes staring down at me remind me of a caged animal who can only be patient with its prey for so long. He quickly unzips his jeans, pushing them down with his boxer briefs. His dick springs free, and lord, is it everything I thought it'd be.

"Now I'm a little worried about the baby."

He laughs, and his head falls back. "I love that fucking mouth of yours."

"Wait until you see what else it can do."

His dick twitches at my words, and he slides his hand down his length, pumping it a few times, his gaze soaking up every inch of my body as though he's committing it to memory. I melt into the softness of his mattress, eager for what's next.

"I've been recently tested. I don't have any STIs," he says.

"Same. And clearly, you can't get me pregnant twice."

His nostrils flare, and his Adam's apple bobs. "Are you telling me what I think you are?"

He's still stroking himself, and I'm mesmerized by the vision. I nod.

"I can take you bare?" he clarifies, and I laugh.

"Well, if you'd rather use a condom."

He bends one knee on the bed, the mattress dipping, then hovers over me, his weight about to bear down on me. "Not a chance." He shakes his head, swiping a finger along my folds until his eyes flutter closed. "So wet and ready."

"I've been ready for a long time."

Our gazes meet and hold, and he positions the tip at my opening. Inch by inch, he slides inside me, placing his lips on mine and kissing me until he stretches me in the most glorious way when he's fully seated inside me.

His lips leave mine, and he grunts. "Shit, you're about to make me a two-minute man."

I bring his mouth back to mine, lost in this private space we've created for each other.

He circles his hips and draws in and out of me, and I grow wetter with every stroke. His tongue licks up my neck, then he nibbles my earlobe. Hearing and feeling his breath intensifies every sensation.

"Harder," I say.

"I don't want to?—"

"Harder," I repeat.

He listens, drilling in and out of me. My hands fall to the comforter, gripping it while my hips rise off the bed, meeting him thrust for thrust. It's all too much. This. All the tension we've been living with. The electrifying small touches. The discreet glimpses at each other.

My moans turn into cries, and everything in the room blurs until all I can feel, see, and hear is Emmett. Only Emmett. Only us .

His eyes lock with mine, so transparent. All the promises he wants to deliver on, everything he wants me to see in him, it's all alive inside of them.

I bring his mouth to mine again and come so hard I buck and clench around his dick. He grunts and groans, not moving until I can't hold the kiss anymore from the euphoric feeling inside me.

"Next time, I'm watching," he says, getting up on his elbows and grinding in and out of me at the same pace he was. His one hand squeezes my breast, showing me how strong he is. "God, Briar, you're killin' me."

He mumbles a curse before he pumps inside me, stilling with a loud groan, then lowers his body to mine.

He pushes my blonde hair off my forehead and kisses me again. "Are you okay?"

"I'm great," I say, running my hands through his sweaty hair.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For trusting me."

It's the expression in his eyes that makes my nose tickle as wetness pools in my eyes. There's so much conviction in them and gratitude that someone is taking a chance after seeing the real him. And I feel so privileged to be the one chosen.