Page 5 of Ramsey & Emerson

It’s been two days.

Just two fucking days.

It’s been only two days since Emerson had walked away from me at the party Friday night, and my body was still vibrating with unspent anger…and other things.

It’d taken every ounce of control that I possessed not to run after her, and…and I couldn’t even say why I’d been that fucking livid at her nerve. It’d been bad enough when I’d already run outside after her when she’d walked out of the house, and it’d only gotten worse when I’d shouted after her as she’d been walking towards the street. Nonetheless, I’d had to draw the line at chasing after her any further.

The fucking girl had balls; I’d give her that.

However, the shocker had come when she had pushed her tight little body up against mine, then had whispered how she liked being fucked by guys that knew what they were doing. The full extent of my weakness had been glaringly obvious when, for a split second, it had crossed my mind to actually drag her back to the house, then force her to submit to me. Her rage had called to the sickest parts of my soul, and if I wasn’t careful, I’d be destroying us both along with everything else around us.

I was in the gym, punching away on a speed bag, when I heard the door open. I didn’t bother glancing up because I knew that it could only be Deke and/or Liam. They had texted earlier that they were going to stop by to shoot the shit, but I knew better.

They were worried about me.

After Emerson had left me standing on the lawn, looking like a madman, I’d ended up storming through the house towards the kitchen, then had grabbed the first bottle of liquor that I’d seen. It had ended up being a bottle of whiskey, but I hadn’t cared. I’d just needed something to take the edge off before I ran back out after Emerson and murdered her in the street.

I had headed off to my assigned room, locked the door, then had drunk myself into unconsciousness. Since Liam and Deke had never seen me losemyself like that before, especially over a female, they were here being mother hens.

“Yo, Reed,” Deke called out.

I didn’t turn around or let up on the speed ball. These guys were the brothers that I’d never had, so they didn’t need me to entertain them in this house. All three of us were only children, so our loyalty to one another was solid, and we’d been causing havoc since we were all in the second grade together.

I could see Liam straddle the weight bench out of the corner of my eye. “So, now that you’re not unconscious from an alcohol-induced coma, or nursing the hangover of all hangovers, what’s going on with you and the new girl?”

I turned away from the still swinging speed ball, then reached down for the bottle of water that’d been sitting at my feet. I took a drink, then reached for a towel to wipe my face. I was stalling because I wasn’t exactly sure how to answer him, not that I was thinking up a lie. I just didn’t have an answer that made sense; nothing about what I felt for Emerson made sense.

“Not sure,” I finally admitted.

Deke was sitting next to Liam on a balance ball, rolling his hips side-to-side, trying not to fall off. “You owe me a note, Lee,” he announced randomly.

I looked over at Deke. “A note?”

Deke smiled. “I bet him a hundred dollars that you didn’t have any clue about what you were doing with her.” He jerked his thumb towards Liam. “He bet that it was just a game, and that you knew what you were doing.”

I growled. “Fuck you, Deke.”

He threw his head back, then laughed so hard that he almost lost his balance. After he managed to control himself, Deke looked back over at me, grinning. “Oh, c’mon, Ramsey. We were there, dude. I’ve never seen you react that way to a girl before. Hell, I’ve never seen you react that way toanyone,”he pointed out. “Since when do you lose your temper like that?”

“He’s got a point, man,” Liam agreed.

They were right, of course.

Ineverlost my temper.

Whenever I was pissed, I pulled in my anger, and then I calculated, plotted, and destroyed. The saying that revenge was a dish best served cold was spot on, and I couldn’t agree more. Uncontrolled rage or unbridled emotion were-almost always-the source of a person’s downfall. If you reacted without thinking things through, the results were almost always disastrous.

“I mean, don’t get me wrong, Ram,” Deke continued. “Once I got a good look at her, my dick was all but-”

“She’s mine,” I snapped, not being able to control myself, and I watched as Deke put his hand out, Liam slapping another hundred-dollar bill into it. “What the fuck?”

Deke smirked. “I also bet him that you weren’t going to share.”

“So, what’s the deal, Ram?” Liam asked seriously.

I sighed, then grabbed a stool to plant my ass on. I decided to go with honesty. “I want to fuck her,” I admitted.

Liam rolled his eyes. “Dude, every guy at that party wants to fuck her.” I stood up, and Liam immediately threw his hands up, then fanned them at me in a calming down motion. “Goddamn, Ramsey, calm the fuck down,” he rushed out. “Even if that girl hadn’t thrown herself into the spotlight by fighting with you, you have to admit that she’s got a body any breathing male would want to explore.”

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