Page 12 of Love Me Ever After
Ems gulped down a couple of mouthfuls to make room. “I didn’t want to disturb you again. You seemed to be having fun.”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes as I sat down at the opposite end of the sofa to her, placing the empty wine bottle on the floor at my feet. “You wouldn’t have been disturbing anything. In fact, I reckon you and Whit would get on. Unless you’re jealous of her or something.”
The hand holding the wine glass trembled and her cheeks pinked.
Ha, rumbled.
She swallowed, pretending to be focused on her too-full glass. I wanted to call her out on it, find out what she was thinking but any further conversation was cut short by the front door being opened and then slammed shut. Sara stormed into the living room, threw her bag down and grabbed the glass from Ems’s hand.
“Fucking arsehole!” she yelled, before draining the wine.
Ems and I exchanged a glance, eyebrows raised.
“I didn’t think you were coming home tonight,” Ems said, to which Sara gave her daggers. A little unfair, I thought, she’d asked a perfectly legitimate question.
“I wouldn’t stay with him if my life depended on it.” Sara stalked off into the kitchen and I heard the fridge open, followed by a cork being popped. When she returned, instead of sitting in the vacant armchair, she dropped down between Ems and me.
“He’s an arrogant prick. I can’t believe I fell for his shit again.” She drank directly from the wine bottle.
I shook my head, sending an inquisitive look over Sara’s head towards Ems.
“This is relatively normal behaviour,” explained Ems. “Sara and Noel have had another argument about something, but she’ll be over at his place tomorrow shagging him into Sunday.”
A chuckle escaped me. I barely knew Noel, but Sara did have a history of arguing with her bloke, then five minutes later being all over him. Ems used to tell me about it all the time when she escaped to mine for some peace.
“And look at you two all cosy on the sofa on a Friday night.” Sara’s head flicked between us so fast if she wasn’t already drunk, she soon would be. “What have I missed?”
“Nothing.” Both Ems and I spoke at the same time.
She waved the hand which held the wine bottle and I dodged the droplets of liquid which splashed around. “Mmm, methinks you both protest too much.”
“Bollocks,” I coughed under my breath.
“I wouldn’t go back there,” Ems declared. “Whatever we had is in the past. Over. No second chances.”
Ems’s words crushed me in a way I hadn’t expected. Even after being away for so long, there was a part of me which still cared for her, stillwantedher. She clearly didn’t feel the same, and I hadn’t been prepared for the disappointment.
“Wow. Harsh.” Sara looked at me, expecting a response.
I sucked in a breath. “Good to know where I stand, Ems. Think I’m going to head to bed now, leave you two to chat. Without another word, I got up, fetched my laptop from the kitchen and went upstairs.
Closing my bedroom door with more care than Sara had shown to the front door, I leaned back against it. If I thought that moving in here might have been a mistake, tonight had cemented it.
6
Ems
“What the hellhappened between you two tonight?” Sara shuffled back into the space vacated by Mason, fixing me with wide eyes.
I huffed out a breath. “Nothing. I cooked dinner. He chatted to this girl he met while he was in New York.”
“Ooo, what’s she like?”
“All blonde hair and blue eyes. Looks like an Upper East Side princess, very Serena Van Der Woodsen.” I rolled my eyes.
“More wine?” She offered me the bottle.
“Might as well.” I let her pour me another glass. I’d deal with the hangover in the morning, at least it was the weekend. “What happened to you?”
