Page 25 of Owning Emma

I furrowed my brows in confusion until it dawned on me what she meant. “You had Shaw in the kitchen?”

“I mean, he wasn’t the worst in there.” She scratched at the spot behind her ear.

I laughed. “But he sure as hell wasn’t the best.”

She fought the smirk she was trying to hide. “He sure as hell wasn’t the best.”

* * *

Shaw wasasleep when we arrived at our place a few hours later and for that, I was thankful. My mother had taken good care of him, laying him in my bed and setting him up with a moist rag, water, and lots of attention. Attention I knew he would hate if he were lucid.

Emma helped my mother prepare a simple meal for the crowd of men and I sat with him doing some work while he slept it off. It was just past eight when Emma had knocked lightly on my bedroom door before pushing it the rest of the way open.

“I brought him soup and you some dinner,” she whispered. “How is he?”

“Sleeping like a rock. I think he will be okay, but I want to tear whoever did this to pieces. I’m talking rip of their head, dismantle their arms and legs from their torso.”

I saw her cringe as she sat the tray down on the dresser before mumbling, “Yeah, me too.”

She grabbed a plate off the tray and brought it to where I sat, offering it to me. I reached for the plate, removing it from her hands. “Thank you.”

“It’s the least I could do.” Then she grabbed another plate and sat on the floor to eat.

“You didn’t eat downstairs?”

“I wanted to eat up here and keep you company, I mean if that’s alright. I can leave if you want, but you’ve been up here for a few hours and he doesn’t look like he’s ready to host any guests anytime soon.” She fidgeted with her fork waiting for an answer.

“Go ahead and stay, he wouldn’t mind.” I glanced over at him, where he had rolled on his stomach to sleep, his preferred sleeping position. “He’s my best friend. He has been since we were kids, but I think if things were different, life were different, he wouldn’t be here. He’s tough, don’t get me wrong, but his soul is gentler than the rest of us, made tough by circumstances. So when shit like this happens, when he’s unnecessarily attacked and personally targeted, it hurts me more than him. This shouldn’t be his life.” I had to fight the urge to brush hair from his face. “Do you have a lot of friends Emma?”

She licked her lip before biting it. “I-I don’t have any friends.”

I blinked a few times. “Not one?”

“Nope. Most of my time was spent helping my dad growing up. I didn’t get to do the fun stuff most kids got to do.”

“Movies?” I questioned.

“Only with my dad.”

I blinked again in shock. “Miniature golf?”

“No.” Okay, that one I understood. I actually hadn’t played until my twenties.

“Prom?”

“No.”

“Does that make you sad, that you missed prom?” I asked when I saw her expression drop.

She shrugged. “Sort of. I wouldn’t have had anyone to go with me anyway, but it would have been nice.”

“No boyfriend?”

“Nope. I would have been completely solo. I was a complete nerd,” she confirmed.

I snorted, I could see that. I pushed her again. “No boyfriend?”

She tilted her head. “Didn’t you just ask that?”

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