Page 10 of Tell Me No
“Good! Then she’ll be able to kick some ass when she needs to,” Everett says, walking past Amelia and planting a kiss on Scarlett’s cheek. “Hi, mama,” he says, giving Amelia a side hug. She has taken each one of us in as her own in some way, especially since Ember and Everett’s parent’s are completely uninterested in their lives.
“When are my arms gonna be full of more sweet babies, Everett Blake?” Amelia asks, a devilish gleam in her eyes. Everett and Kelsea have been trying for a few months now with no success, but they both seem to be hanging tough.
“It ain’t for lack of trying, trust me,” Everett grumbles.
“I know, honey. The good Lord provides all we need,” she replies, patting his shoulder lovingly.
The exchange between them brings to light the family we’ve all built here. As much as I’ve tried to keep my distance, these people have pulled me into their lives. I wouldn’t trade them for anything.
“Hey Eli, what time is the birthday girl supposed to show?” I ask him, and he checks his watch.
“Any second now. Ember dropped her off at home earlier to change and Kelsea texted me about ten minutes ago and said they were on the way.” He hustles around the backyard, nit picking every tiny detail. It’s honestly so fucking adorable that he wants to throw a birthday party for his baby sister. I know if I had siblings, I’d do the same for them.
“Do you really think she’s gonna like our gift?” I hear Ember ask Amelia, piquing my interest.
She huffs out an anxious sigh, “We got her a membership to a dance studio in Charleston. It’s like a members-only set up for professional dancers to have space to practice.”
“Before a few weeks ago, I didn’t even know she could dance,” I tell her, hoping I’m not revealing any information about her job at Bombshells.
Ember quirks a knowing eyebrow at me, and I feel the heat of her gaze burning a hole through me. She knows. She knows I know. She knows I know and I haven’t said anything.
“Where didyousee her dance, Breaker?” She asks with a smirk.
My eyes dart around the yard, looking for any reason to escape this conversation. Aurora’s mom is right next to us and I feel confident in saying that she does not know about her daughter’s extra-curricular activities. Ember is enjoying making me squirm far more than I like.
“Uhhhh… I just mean… ya know, at Pop’s” I clear my throat, shooting her a scornful look.
“Uh, huh, I’m sure,” Ember says with a wink.
“Who’s a dancer? Aurora?” Elijah comes up behind me, inspecting my work on the sound system. I smack his hand away when he tries to touch the wires I’ve already connected.
“Yes, babe. I was telling Break about the gift we got her,” Ember says, looking worried again. “Do you really think she’s gonna like it?”
“Of course! She’s a fucking amazing dancer, Em. I swear, if you’d seen her even five years ago, you would wonder why she wasn’t dancing professionally,” Elijah responds.
“Why isn’t she?” I ask, soaking up every piece of the puzzle I can get.
“I really don’t know,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck. “She was so excited to start the Preforming Arts Program at LSU a few years ago, and then it was like her whole life just… didn’t work out. I think it had something to do with that asshole Erik she was dating at the time. He was always telling her that dance was a stupid choice and she was wasting her time, but I never thought she’d actually listen to him. She showed up here shortly after that, and she’s been just kinda existing since then.”
Thinking about anyone ever telling Aurora she couldn’t do something she loves makes me fucking furious. What kind of person belittles someone they’re supposed to love like that?
“Amelia, do you know what happened?” Ember asks her, and Amelia’s face falls.
“No, I don't know. That boy… he broke plenty of pieces of my girl. But she’s coming back, I see it in her eyes,” Amelia smiles.
“I’d like to break plenty of pieces of him,” Eli grumbles and Ember elbows him. I nod in agreement over her head and he smirks.
“Hello? Anybody here?” Kelsea's bright voice comes through the back door, and we all turn to see the birthday girl step out onto the back deck.
“SURPRISE!” Everyone shouts, but I’m too focused on watching Aurora’s face.
As everyone rushes to embrace her, she plasters on a fake smile, gushing over everything they’ve set up for her. But I see straight through it. Her face is one of pure fear. She’s genuinely scared right now, almost painfully so. My brows draw together in question as I catch her attention. She gives me an almost imperceivable shake of her head, and I stand a little taller, making a mental note to ask her about that later.
“Surprise, Bug. I hope you’re not upset, but we wanted to celebrate you,” Elijah says, pulling her in for an enormous hug. She wraps her arms around his neck, squeezing him back just as tightly.
“Of course I’m not upset, Bubba. Thank you guys so much for doing all of this! It’s so beautiful,” she says, gesturing to the twinkling lights hanging from the trees. She smiles so brightly, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. It’s totally fake. How am I the only one who sees that?
She steps over to me, staring up into my eyes. She’s waiting for me to make the first move here, I know it. We haven’t talked about what happened this morning, haven’t had a chance to. But I don’t want her to think I regret a second of it. As much as I feel uneasy about the idea of us, I feel even worse about letting her down or disappointing her. So instead of giving her my usual gruff brush off, I pull her in for a tight hug.
