Page 46 of For Emery

He stayed focused on the road in front of us. “It was hard for me after you left.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t do that.” His eyes moved between me and the road. “Don’t apologize for something out of your control. It just sucked that my biggest fan was no longer at my games. My partner in crime wasn’t around to hang out. And my bedmate was no longer there for me to snuggle with.”

I nodded, having felt the exact same way.

“But you’re back,” he said, reaching across the center console and placing his hand over mine in my lap. “And I’m not losing you again.”

I fought back the tears blurring my vision. He was saying everything I’d dreamt he’d say.

Jordan cleared his throat. “Now that that’s been said…” He opened our windows then reached for the radio and cranked up some good ole country music.

I threw back my head and laughed as we hit the highway. The wind whooshed through the open windows and blew my hair around my head. Being with Jordan again, away from the huge college campus filled with unfamiliar faces that held no memories of us, felt so natural. So easy. Like being home. Did he feel it too? “I missed this,” I shouted over to him.

He reached forward and lowered the music. “What?”

“I missed this. You and me.”

“What do you think I’ve been trying to tell you?” he asked incredulously.

Before long, we were pulling down the same familiar roads where we’d spent our childhood. The hair on my arms stood on end as we turned onto the road and neared my old house. The new owners had fixed it up. The broken porch boards had been replaced, so had the screen door. Window boxes filled with colorful flowers sat on the top railing. It looked like such a nice warm place to live…now.

Jordan turned into his parents’ driveway. The sight of his house flooded me with welcome nostalgia. I glanced to the window on the side of the house. Jordan’s room. The night I approached that window, so sad and forlorn, I’d met the best friend a girl could ever ask for. Sometimes it felt like a lifetime ago. Sometimes it felt like just yesterday.

Sensing my range of emotions, Jordan reached over and linked our fingers. “You okay?”

I nodded.

He switched off the engine and looked to me. “You sure? I don’t want you feeling uneasy.”

I tilted my head to the side and stared into his concerned eyes. “You’re here. I’ll be fine.”

His lips pulled up in the corners, and while I knew he easily could have inserted a cocky comment right there, he didn’t. “Come on. Let’s surprise them.”

“They don’t know we’re coming?”

He shook his head. “They don’t know you’re coming.”

I pushed open the door and hopped out, suddenly feeling even more anxious.

Jordan met me at my side and smiled down at me. “This is so crazy.”

“What?”

“Having you here again.”

My insides rippled something fierce. The way he looked at me. The way he made me feel. They had to equate to more than just friendship. They just had to.

“Emery?” Jordan’s mother called from their open front door.

Jordan and I turned to her, not realizing she’d been standing there.

She hurried down the steps and wrapped her arms around me, holding me tightly to her. “Oh, honey. You’re here,” she gushed. “We’re so happy you’re okay.” She pulled back, her hands still gripping my arms tightly so she could look at me. “Look at you. You’re even more beautiful than when you left.”

My face pulsed with heat.

“Mom, leave her alone. You’re embarrassing her,” Jordan said.

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