Page 20 of Bound by Destiny
Jacks moves, garnering my attention. His arm goes around Emery’s shoulder as he pulls her to his body. Not liking it is a fucking understatement. The growl comes up, but Jacks doesn’t flinch as Emery turns her head on his chest. They are way too fucking comfortable with one another.
“Got shit to do. I’ll call ya later.” He kisses the top of her head as she pulls back.
“You don’t have to leave, Jacks,” Emery argues, and I see it. Something that I never wanted to see her give another man—undiluted care. Unconditional care. She has feelings for Jacks. Deep ones. Fuck.
He smiles down at her. “I’ll call ya later.”
She nods as he steps out of the doorway right in front of me. “Touch a fucking hair on her head and I’ll end you.”
“Not like I would. Back off.”
Jacks chuckles. “You’ve been out of the loop for far too fucking long. I’m Ravage—we don’t fucking back down.”
He walks past me, clipping me with his shoulder as he does. Asshole. Jacks makes his way over to Ryker and Austyn’s place, no doubt thinking I’ll hurt Emery. Fuck no—I’d lay down my life for her, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“What do you want, Micah?” Emery stands there, her arms crossed over her chest pressing the top of her boobs up through the V of her t-shirt. I will my cock down.Nowhere near being there, buddy.
I take a step forward, but when she doesn’t move I freeze. She doesn’t show the warmth that is normally there in her eyes. To say that’s disappointing is an understatement. “I just want to talk, Emery.”
“About what? There’s nothing to talk about, Micah.”
Tension thickens at her dismissal. Not just from the other night, but from our past in general. It’s long and complicated, but it’s always been us. “There’s a shit load to talk about, and you damn well know it.”
She huffs out looking over my shoulder for Jacks, and that burns deep in my soul. No, I’m not losing her. Refuse it. When she steps to the side, I make my way into her place. It’s good sized, and the décor screams Emery with pictures of her family and lots of color.
Emery shuts the door and moves into the kitchen, putting the island between her and I, proving once again the void between us is only getting bigger. I know I did it, but it doesn’t make it any less painful. I’ve loved her for more years than I knew, and I want her with me.
“Talk, Micah. I have studying to do.”
While I have no doubt she does, she wasn’t going to do it five minutes ago when Jacks was in her place, like he knew every part of this house, intimately. It’s another shove away, just like I’d given her so many times before. Being on the other end of it sucks and makes me realize what I’ve really done.
With my hands in my pockets and an inhalation of air, I start. “I’m back for good, Em.” When she doesn’t say anything, I continue. “Look, I know I fucked up, okay?”
“Which time?” She taps her finger on her chin. “I don’t know… When you brought your new flame to one of our take-out nights in college, or was it the other night when you brought my lookalike to the club and paraded her around like a prize.”
Fuck, this is going horribly. What the fuck can I say to pull this off? There has to be a way to mend the seam that is breaking us further and further apart.
8
Emery
He’s a dick.Flat out dickhead. God, I’ve loved him for so long—dreamt of our futures together and growing old with one another. So many hopes and dreams just flushed down the toilet. And what sucks the most is I still fucking care.
Even though I’m pissed, my heart still feels the constrictions of pain. All the memories of precious moments we shared keep trying to creep in. Damn, why does he have to be so gorgeous? Dark hair, killer hazel eyes, and a body meant to be cherished. Why? It’s a distraction all its own.
“Emery, I know I made some stupid decisions, and I’m sorry.”
An unamused chuckle escapes me. “You’re sorry. What exactly are you sorry for? And why are you back for good, Micah; you don’t want to be here.”
“Yes. I want to be here. Three of the most important people in my life are here in Sumner.” I chastise my heart for jumping in my chest. “I realized that it was time to come home. Time to let the past be the past and move on to the future.”
“Well, congratulations on the epiphany. I’m sure you’ll be happy here. We’ll see each other when we have to. You’ve done your duty to face me. You can leave now.” I wait for him to tell me I’m being a bitch or that I need to shut up—not that he ever has, but if he did, then I could build on the hate I have for him and keep it close. Hold it to me like a vice and pull on it every time that he’s near, which is sounding like it will soon be a lot.
He studies me. Those eyes I once allowed to invade all my dreams locked on mine. The depths of them are deep, only reminding me of the void we have between us. “Jacklyn is a lesbian, Emery. She has a girlfriend who she’s been with for two and a half years. We’re friends, and she wanted to come with me. It was a bad decision on my part, and I take full responsibility for it.”
Lesbian. Not his girlfriend. That just doesn’t make sense. I swear my heart skipped a beat as a lump formed in my throat. The tornado of emotions builds inside me again. It’s all spinning like a cyclone out of control. Why is he telling me this? Why is he here? What is this all supposed to mean? All my questions wrap around my thoughts into a huge tangle of webs that I’m unable to sort out.
“Don’t try and play me, Micah. You held her hand the entire time you were there,” I fire back at him with the truth. The very truth that played out in front of my face, in front of my family. There’s no way he doesn’t have a relationship with that woman.
