Page 45 of Ramsey & Emerson

Ramsey had told me all about his parents and their plans for his future, but then had proceeded to tell me abouthisplans for his future. He’d told me all about being groom from a young age to be cunning and ruthless. He’d actually gone so far as to begin to tell me all about his blackmail stash, but I had ended up stopping him. I’d already known that this town’s adults were crap, and that their children weren’t faring any better; I hadn’t needed proof of it.

In turn, I’d told Ramsey about my father and mother, and all the years of abuse that we had endured. I’d even told him about how my upbringing had shaped the way that I felt whenever he touched me. I’d been completely honest, vulnerable, and open.

Ramsey had fucked me in the most brutal way after that particular admission, showing me that darker side of him. He’d done everything that he could to make me welcome his viciousness and not feel the shame that came with it sometimes.

I had also believed him when he’d told me how much he loved me. However, the mention of marriage this morning had thrown me for a loop. Granted, we were going full speed on this crazy train, but marriage? I was only seventeen-years-old, for Christ’s sakes.

I was already sitting down in fourth period when Deke took the seat to the right of me, then Roselyn dropped in the seat to my left.

“What the hell, Emerson?” she started in immediately. “You get attacked on Thursday, basically tell every student in school to go fuck themselves on Friday, then tell me you’re going to rest all weekend. And now, you showup arm-in-arm with the devil incarnate. What in the hell happened this weekend?”

“Ramsey quit pulling on my ponytails, and I stopped stealing his crayons,” I quipped. Deke chuckled next to me, and I suspected it was because he thought that was close enough to the truth.

Roselyn rolled her eyes. “C’mon, Emer, you gotta give me more than that.”

“He broke into my house on Saturday, then held me hostage until I gave in and professed my undying love for him,” I exaggerated, but not really.

She straightened in her seat as she said, “Now,that, I believe.” Then as she was opening her textbook, she whispered, “Just as long as you’re happy and know what you’re doing, Emerson, then I’m game.”

I smiled over at her because Roselyn was proving to be the best kind of friend. “Thanks.”

Deke shattered the near intimate moment when he snorted, saying, “Don’t act like Emerson’s the only person riding on her own personal crazy whirl ride.”

Roselyn leaned forward to look around me, then gave him some serious stink-eye. “Mind your own business, Deke Marlow.”

My brows rose. “Well, well, well…what’s this all about, kids?”

Deke mimicked Roselyn, leaning forward, so that he could look at her. “Just that Roselyn has her own closet full of dirty, private, little secrets. Don’t you, Linnie?”

I didn’t care what it was that I didn’t know. Roselyn had been nothing but a great friend to me, so I wasn’t going to let Deke intimidate her. “Leave her alone, Deke.”

His dark green gaze shot towards mine, but he just grunted as he righted himself back in his seat. I knew that something significant had just happened, but I didn’t want to push him. I also didn’t want to push Roselyn. If there was something that she didn’t want me to know, then I could respect that. Everyone was entitled to a little privacy.

The teacher’s voice turned our attentions to class, so nothing more was said. It wasn’t until the bell rang, and Deke silently got up, then walked out of class, that Roselyn finally spoke. “Sorry about that,” she mumbled.

I shook my head as I gathered up my stuff. “No need to be sorry, Roselyn,” I reassured her. “If something isn’t my business, then it’s not my business.”

“Emer-”

“It’s fine, Roselyn. It really is.”

I thought that’d been the end of it, but as soon as we exited the classroom, she grabbed my arm, then dragged me into one of the nooks that the design ofthe hallways created. “Ugh, fine,” she huffed dramatically. “Beat it out of me, why don’t you.”

“Uh…”

“What I’m about to tell you, no one else in the world knows besides Deke, Liam, and Ramsey,” she whispered, and I was blown away by the sheer fact that she shared a secret with Satan’s Trio.

This entire time, I’d been under the impression that Roselyn had hated the boys. “Okay, but, Roselyn, if you don’t want-”

She flapped her hand in my face, shutting me up. “It’s not that,” she said. “I trust you, Emerson. I trust you more than anyone else here. It’s just…” She trailed off, and I knew that whatever she was about to tell me was something big. My heartbeat actually started to turn into a hummingbird flutter.

“Roselyn, whatever it is, you’re my friend. That won’t change with whatever it is that you want to share.” I watched as Roselyn’s eyes darted around to everything but mine. She looked utterly embarrassed and…scared, I think. “Roselyn, I don’t want to know, okay. Whatever-”

Her big, beautiful, serious blue eyes landed on my grey ones, then she blurted out her secret with no caution or grace. “I sleep with Liam and Deke.”

I wasn’t sure how long I was silent for, or how many times my eyes blinked just staring at her, but after about seventeen centuries, I finally managed to ask, “Do you mean…that…that you’ve slept with both of them at some point?”

Her light, flawless, perfect complexion took on a rosy hue. “No, Emerson. I mean…I sleep with them,” she corrected. “As in I’m fucking them both, and sometimes at the same time.” Her voice lowered to a barely audible whisper. “Most of the time, it’s at the same time.”

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