Page 86 of Beautiful Crazy

Beckham:Sorry you’re havin’ a bad day, man. Tomorrow’s a new day though.

Graham:Hey Beck, are you and Had coming to Mom’s tonight?

Beckham:Yep. We’ll be there. Hadley made a cherry pie.

Asher:I’ll be late. Working till eight tonight.

Graham:Great, we’ll see you guys there.

Sitting here watching my brothers have a conversation about hanging out tonight does nothing for my attitude. Some days I fucking hate living in this town so far away from my family now that they’re all building lives for themselves in Bardstown. I wish I could build a life for me there too so I could be closer to my brothers. They’re my best friends. And on top of that, I don’t want to lose Mom the way we lost Dad. I wasn’t always there during his bad days. It killed me to hear updates from Asher and Graham. I was always so close but so far away at the same time.

But Bardstown is a small town and marketing firms aren’t hanging out on every street corner. This is where I’m meant to rise to the top and make a name for myself. It just feels like some days not being near my family is slowly sucking out my soul.

Beckham:Emmett, St. Patrick’s Day at Wood’s, yes?

Me:Wouldn’t miss it.

Beckham:*thumbs up emoji* See you then!

I’m really not sure that conversation made me feel any better about myself, but I suppose it’s a teeny bit reassuring that my brothers don’t think I’m a sex addict. I’m just a guy in love with a girl. A guy who wants to be with his girl whenever he can. A guy who wants to build a life with his girl. Graham’s right. I should go home to Emily. She’ll help me feel better.

An Emily hug makes everything better.

I’m home in less than fifteen minutes after paying my bill at the bar and high-tailing it out of there. Anxious to wrap my arms around Emily and tell her about my day I swing open the door, greeted only by disappointment and defeat. A cluttered mess of clothes is strewn across the living room, including random papers and books of Emily’s. And the kitchen has a sink full of dirty dishes, some from this morning’s breakfast but the rest from some point today.

So much for a relaxing evening.

Why does she insist on leaving laundry all over the place?

And what the hell was she doing in the kitchen?

Lola meows at me, hopping down from a windowsill across the room, and swishes her tail as she leads me into the kitchen wanting fed.

“Hey Lola.” I look around for Emily, but she’s not in the living room, kitchen, or at her desk working as she usually is at this time of day. “Where’s Em, Lola?”

“Em? I’m home!” I shout as I take my coat off and hang it on the hook by the door. I kick off my shoes and wander back to the bathroom, assuming she’s in there.

But the bathroom is empty. Peering across the hall, I see she’s not in her room and she’s not in mine either. “Emily?”

“Mmm?” Her small groan comes from the area of the living room where I realize I never really checked the couch. Peering over it, there she lies, wrapped in a blanket, lazily opening her eyes. I spot a glass of water and a bottle of Midol on the coffee table amidst the mess of papers and books.

Shit.

There go my evening plans.

“Hey,” I murmur as I come around the corner of the couch and crouch down in front of her. “Not feeling well?”

She shakes her head. “It’s day two and I think my uterus hates me more than she’s ever hated anyone before.”

“Has she ever hated anyone else before, or just you?”

Emily smiles weakly. “Okay I guess she’s only ever hated me, but I think this time she wants me to die. My cramps were so bad I couldn’t even sit at my desk and do work. So, I curled up on the couch and tried to get something done, but clearly that didn’t happen.”

“Is that where all the mess came from? And what did you do in the kitchen?”

Even laying down I can see her head tilt a bit as her brows knit together. In hindsight, maybe I shouldn’t have mentioned the mess. “I’m sorry, Em. That came out wrong. You rest and I’ll—”

“I was drying laundry that didn’t dry all the way in the drier.” She sits up, very clearly bemused by my question. “I’m sorry that I didn’t have it all cleaned up before you got here.”

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