Page 91 of There's No Us Without You
Fuck.
I scrub a hand over my face while pacing the kitchen. “Have you messaged her yet?”
“Jesus, dude. Calm down. Why do you care where she is?”
“Don’t you?”
Frowning, he plants himself at the island bench. “Well... yeah, but maybe she just got caught up at work or something.”
“She’s not at work.” The restaurant was closed when I drove past on my way home. The long way seemed like a good idea.
“She’s out with friends, then?”
“Use your brain, dude.” I poke Emerson in the forehead. “Do you think if she had any close friends, she’d have agreed to move in with two strangers?”
He tilts his head, pursing his lips. “Good point.” Finally, he pulls his phone out. “I’ll text her.”
As he types away, I put away the boxes of Pop-Tarts in the pantry, while trying not to crack my back teeth. Eden and I haven’t spoken much since Monday, so I haven’t had a chance to gauge her reaction to my threat.
Or how she feels about what nearly happened before we were interrupted by my dickhead brother.
“Ah shit,” Emerson says seconds later. He scrubs a hand down his face. “You aren’t going to like this, bro.”
“What?” I snatch the phone out of Emerson’s outstretched hand and glare at the screen.
My suspicions are confirmed.
I fucking knew it.
She’s in so much trouble.
On Emerson’s phone is a picture of Eden and Tyler, with some random guy staring at her chest.
“I’ll kill him,” I say, throwing the phone at Emerson. “Let’s go.”
The phone skids off the island, landing in his lap. “Are you kidding? Let her have some fun.”
My heart pounds, my muscles twitching. “Just get in the fucking car, Emerson.”
I’m choosing to ignore what he just said because I don’t know what the hell is going on with him lately. His moods are all over the place, but I don’t have time to deal with him right now. Especially when I’m close to strangling someone.
“A please would be nice every now and again, dick.” The last word is said under his breath, but at least he’s not arguing as he follows me out to the car.
When we reachmy brother’s house, I jump from the car and stalk towards the front door, Emerson trailing behind me as I storm up the front stairs.
I have no plan on how I’m going to get Eden out of here without starting something. My brother’s friends aren’t exactly the welcoming type, and with our shared history, I doubt they’ll be happy to see me.
Emerson blows out a breath and rubs his hands over his jeans as we stand at the front door. “You sure you want to do this? Brady won’t be happy you’re here.”
Why is he so fucking twitchy?
“I’ll deal with Brady if I have to. You find Eden and get her out of here.”
He rubs the back of his neck. “This is fucked up. Maybe we should just let her live her life? She’s going to be pissed.”
I frown at him. “Have you lost your fucking mind? You realise if she’s with Tyler, all those other little arsehats will be here too. You happy to just let Eden hang out with them?”
Emerson rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, now avoiding eye contact. “Fine. Whatever,” he mumbles.
