Page 71 of Falling for You
“Oh really? Apologize to me? Whatever for, dear brothers?” I clasp my fingers under my chin and rest my head, looking at both of them.
“Emma,” Hunter says through gritted teeth.
I don’t move, I don’t speak. I wait them out. They deserve it, they know they do.
“Why didn’t you tell us Ems?” Wyatt asks more hurt than angry.
“I know you guys, I didn’t want to be smothered with love. I needed to process it on my own.”
“I can’t fucking believe that asshole just left you up there alone to deal with everything. Not only did he go behind my back—”
“I’m going to stop you right there. Roman found out only a couple weeks before you did. I made the choice to keep it from him. I made the choice to keep it from everyone. And in case you’ve forgotten, he dumped me in the first place because ofyou. So before you go pointing fingers anywhere, try a mirror first.”
Hunter steps forward with his finger already pointed directly at me and I know this won’t end well for him. Liam, Cooper and Wyatt are already inching closer to him.
“Stop fucking defending that asshole, Ems. He isn’t worthy of you.”
“Hunter Keaton, that is yourbestfriend. I know you’re angry with us for lying, yes us, not just him, but you need to get yourself in check right now. I love Roman Thomas, and he loves me. Get the fuck over yourself or get the fuck out. There’s the damn door.” My chest heaves, waiting for him to make a decision.
I’m pretty sure I know which one it’s going to be but when he stomps toward the door letting it slam behind him, it still stings that he doesn’t trust Roman and I enough to hear us out.
I slump back in the office chair I was in before he left, blowing out a breath.
“So we give him five minutes then hunt him down?” Cooper asks.
“He’s going to the brewery, guaranteed,” Wyatt answers the rhetorical question.
“Yeah, great, not like I had any actual work to do today.” Liam rolls his eyes.
Violet walks in with a tray of cookies and small glasses of milk.
“Hey.” She pouts. “I said wait for me!”
Liam loops his arm around her waist and pulls her toward him. “Sorry beautiful, you know how Hunt is.” He looks at the rest of us. “Any idea why this seems to be setting him off so much more than usual?”
The boys shrug.
“I know he’s always been the most vocal about keeping assholes away from Emma. But Rome is his best friend, and the things he’s been saying…” Wyatt grimaces. “Rome is like another brother to us, obviously not to Ems, but to us.”
Liam’s face scrunches in disgust. “Can we not talk about Em’s sex life please?”
“Uh, I’m sorry, are you forgetting that I caught you two on camera, on the desk in this very office?”
Wyatt rips his hand from the desk, like it burned him. “Ew. Seriously? You know how many times I’ve had lunch here with you? And the whole time you knew that your bare ass was where I ate my food?”
Violet rolls her eyes at Wyatt’s reaction, “Please stop being so dramatic. Besides, Emma made him replace it, and now we have the old one in our house… for memories. And it was my bare ass. Not his.”
Cooper and Wyatt stand.
“Yup, Wy and I need to go find Hunter now. We’re done with this. Call us later, Liam, we can go out on the four wheelers to where you want to fix the fence tomorrow.” Cooper has beenroped into maintenance on the inn while he’s home for an extended time.
“Yeah, probably around six if that’s okay?”
“You got it.”
Wyatt and Cooper leave the three of us in the office.
Violet pats Liam’s shoulder, “Okay, out my big bad wolf.”
