Page 7 of Replay
We’re both breathing hard, and I feel like I can barely move. I just want to collapse on top of her and keep her like this forever. Turning my head I nuzzle her neck, kissing her lazily while we come down from our releases. I told her I loved her and it's okaythat she didn’t respond. I hurt her and it will take time for her to trust me again. Nothing she does will change how I feel about her.
Eventually I move off of her and run to the bathroom, grabbing a warm cloth and bringing it back to her. Together we clean the blood from the inside of her thighs and off my cock, before I drag her back to bed. She shoots a quick text to Sam telling her that she’s staying with me tonight and not with her before we settle in. All I can think before my eyes close is that I never want this moment to end.
“Hawke.” Her voice is gentle as she nudges me. “Hawke, it's your phone.”
My eyes blink open, focusing on the beautiful sight in front of me. My Emmarys, still naked, her hair messy and draped over the pillow, with her lips bruised and puffy. “What?”
“Your phone, babe,” she mutters, and this time I fully hear her. I sit up, noticing the room is still dark. The clock on the nightstand lets me know it’s only a little past five in the morning. I take the phone from her grasp and see my brother’s name lighting up the screen. He’s called seven times already.
“Yeah,” I answer on the next ring. Emmarys lies next to me, her hand on my chest, while I try to get my bearings.
“About time, dickhead.” Falcon breathes out a harsh breath. “You need to get back here. I don’t think Grandpa knows where you are but last night he suddenly called a family brunch for this morning. He asked that we both be in attendance. When you didn’t respond to the family text, I told him you went to bed early and that you were exhausted after practice.”
“Fuck,” I groan and bolt out of bed. “When is brunch?”
“At eleven,” the fucker answers.
“I’m still in Crimson Bay. It’s still an almost twelve-hour drive even if I leave now, I’ll never make it,” I respond, while zipping up my pants and throwing on my shirt.
“I got you, bro.” He taps his phone a few times. “See this is why it pays to know people. Riggs has a friend that goes to All Saints Academy, who knows a guy who is loaded and is going to let you use his private charter plane. He’ll meet you at the airfield and get the car keys off of you and his friend’s cousin is going to drive Riggs’s car back.”
“Are you sure?” I question, thinking this has to be too good to be true.
“Positive,” my brother answers. “Alright, hurry. You’re looking for Carter.”
“Thanks,” I tell him and hang up before shoving my phone in my pocket. When I turn around Emmarys is sitting on the edge of the bed, a sheet wrapped around her body and her eyes narrowed.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I think he found out or he’s trying to trap me somehow. I have to go.” I grab my wallet and keys.
“Okay,” she answers, and the broken way she says it makes my chest hurt.
“Hey,” I pull her attention to me. Even with my hand on the door handle, I can’t leave letting her think this is like last time. Just a few more months and she’ll be with me again on campus. Who cares if we have to sneak around, at least she’ll be with me. And in another year and a half, my grandfather won’t be able to do shit because I’ll have my inheritance. “I love you, Em. It will always be you. Once you get to Texas this fall, we’ll make it work. It's just a few more months, please don’t give up on us.”
She stands and her eyes are glazed with anger while she shakes her head. “I’m not going to Texas, Hawke. I’ll be in Michigan.”
Her words hit me like a sucker punch to the gut, taking my breath from me, while I stare at her in shock. Did she just say Michigan?
“What do you mean?”
She sighs, shaking her head and I swear I see tears in her eyes. “It's been a year, Hawke. You broke up with me and destroyed my heart. I haven’t heard from you until tonight. How could you expect that I hadn’t changed the plans we made when we weren’t together?”
My heart plummets, but I have no chance to talk about it with her because my phone is vibrating in my hand and I have a plane to catch before I’m caught. I want to shake her, kiss her, demand answers, only this time my phone is flashing a missed text from my grandfather’s assistant.
“Shit,” I mutter, squeezing my eyes shut and taking a deep breath, trying to think clearly. “I’m sorry, Emmarys. I am. I hope you’ll reconsider and be in Texas with me.”
She opens her mouth to say something but my phone vibrates again. “Fuck, I need to leave,” I say before leaving the room and jogging outside to the car. It's not my finest moment, but all I can think about is getting back to Texas. I can’t risk him finding out. I’ll figure out the rest of this mess once I’m back and once I know she’s safe.
I speed to the airstrip and sure enough a plane sits ready for takeoff. A guy walks toward me, and I instantly remember him from my time at school here. Carter Rowe is a star defenseman for the Saint’s hockey team. He and his two best friends are well known in their circle, and the only reason I ever paid attention was because his best friend was rivals with my girl’s best friend.
He approaches and there’s a wariness about him, like he isn’t sure about what is happening. “Hawke Sheppard, huh. I didn’t picture Emms with an ex-Saint. A football player nonetheless.”
My jaw tightens when he uses Emmarys’s nickname suggesting he’s familiar with her. I’ve kept away from all things Crimson Bay when I left for college and I’m not exactly up to date on who is dating who or friends with who anymore. “Carter Rowe. You’re a friend of Riggs?”
The guy’s smirk falls slowly and his hands clench. “Something like that. Look, the plane is ready. I’ll take the car and somehow it will find its way back to Texas.”
My brow rises. “Somehow? You don’t know who’s taking it?”
“I don’t usually get all the details on the more hairbrained ideas. I’m just providing the favor because I owe someone,” he answers dismissively, but I catch the undercurrent of annoyance in his tone.
