Page 37 of Beautiful Crazy

“I’m proud of you too, Dad,” I whisper to the ceiling, assuming Dad can see me from wherever he is. “You fought one hell of a fight and I miss you every fucking day. I could really use some dad-talk right now with this one,” I say, gesturing with my head to the sleeping beauty on my lap. “I’ve always been the confident one, Dad, but I don’t know. Something about her makes me weak and I don’t know what I’m doing. I’m scared to break the rules. Maybe you could send me some courage from wherever you are, alright? I’d really appreciate it. Thanks Dad. I love you.”

As I’m folding the letter to place on the side table for the night, Lola leaps onto the last cushion of the couch, sniffs at Emily’s sleeping body, and then curls up next to her.

“I guess it’s family bedtime.”

Smiling, I reach up to turn off the lamp plunging Emily, Lola, and me into near darkness. The only other light on is above the kitchen sink behind us. With a hand on her fleece covered hip, holding onto her body, I lean my head back against the cushion of the couch and close my eyes, Lola’s purring lulling me to sleep in no time.

Chapter 9

Emily

It’s freaking cold outside. The wind is howling and snow swirls on the other side of the windows. It’s enough to make me grateful that I work from home, and I have nowhere important to go today. Comfy, cozy, warm clothes will be my outfit of choice. In fact, to hell with it. There’s nothing stopping me from staying in my pjs all day. I roll out of bed and look around for Lola, expecting her to be snuggled up on the throw blanket I keep on my bed for her, but she’s not there. Grabbing a hoodie laying on my floor, actually it’s Emmett’s hoodie that I borrowed the other day, I throw it over my pj shirt and head to the bathroom to begin my morning routine.

I’m just about to turn on the shower when my cell phone rings. Seeing April’s name come up on the screen, I swipe to answer her call.

“Hey April.”

“Good morning, Sunshine. That’s some snow out there, huh?”

“Right? This is one of those days I’m glad I’m working from home.”

“So are a lot of people, I guess. The news was all a tizzy over the seven inches on the ground and counting, though I heard it’s supposed to taper off around noon.”

“Poor Emmett. I should check in with him after my shower and make sure he made it to work okay.”

“Speaking of Emmett, how are things?”

I sigh, inwardly telling myself it’s too early to be talking about my feelings for Emmett.

“Honestly? I don’t know where we are.”

“What do you mean? Is this because you guys shared a bed and he almost kissed you?”

“No. I mean…yeah, maybe. I guess I feel like things are in an unspoken limbo and I’m really not sure what to do at this point. But it’s also not like I’ve put on my brave button and outright asked him what’s going on either.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

There’s a click outside the door and then Lola meows. I roll my eyes, knowing she’s probably getting into something she shouldn’t.

“What do you want to happen?”

“I don’t know. Are you asking if I wanted him to kiss me? Yes. Yes, I did. At that moment, I couldn’t think about anything else. He was right there. I should’ve just let him do it, but then my brain woke up and said ‘Don’t be an idiot, Emily. If you cross that line and it doesn’t work out, you’ll lose your best friend.’”

“But you want him…”

“Yeah, I want him. Emmett’s like a walking thirst trap, April. I can only imagine what his hands on me might actually feel like, and I’ve had dreams about his tongue. Hell, I even named my favorite vibrator Emmett.”

She chuckles. “You did not.”

“I fucking did. The big purple one I bought at your last Passion party is named Emmett and my little clit licker is Emmett Jr.”

April outright belly laughs. “Oh my God, it’s too early in the morning for this conversation.”

“You’re telling me. I haven’t even showered yet…or had my coffee.”

“Well, I won’t keep you. The reason I called originally was to let you know I know of a couple other authors who might be looking for some PR help if you’re up for it. I can send their info your way.”

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