Page 60 of Connected By Souls

I almost leave but decide against it. I’m already here, and why should he ruin my fun night with the girls? If I’m completely honest with myself, I want to see him, but I bury those feelings deep and let the anger reign once more.

I hold out my glass. “Fill my glass up, please. I’m going to need it.”

“Well, this should be a fun night,” Sophia says, laughing softly.

“Yeah, as fun as a pap smear,” Bella says, pouring my glass to the top.

We get the snacks ready and decide on poker tonight. A drinking game didn’t sound like the best idea, especially since I was already on my second glass of wine. We’re setting up the table and counting out the chips when Noah and Mav walk in. Not seeing me yet, I sneak a peek at him. He looks as miserable as I feel. Dark circles are under his eyes like he hasn’t slept in a while, and he has scruff on his face from not shaving for a few days, which makes him even sexier if that’s possible. Damn him. He hugs Bella and Sophia before turning toward the table. Seeing me, he freezes, “Emma?” Looking at me like he’s not sure if he’s dreaming.

“Yeah, I was surprised too when they told me you both were comingafterI got here.” I give Bella an annoyed look.

Bella clears her throat, “Well, now that we know we’re all here, let’s play poker!” She does a horrible job of faking her cheery voice.

Mav comes over to me, looking skeptical. “I’m not going to get punched, am I, if I try and give you a hug?”

Trying not to laugh, a small smile escapes. “No, I’m not going to punch you. It wasn’t your place to tell, just like Bella and Sophia.”

“Well, in that case,” he swoops me up in a bear hug. I laugh as he puts me down. He whispers in my ear, “Please hear him out. He’s so moody lately like my sister gets when she’s on her period.”

Rolling my eyes, I try not to laugh at the last comment, “Yeah, that’s been mentioned already.”

Grabbing my glass, I turn to sit down, letting Noah know that he’s not going to get a hug. Hearing him sigh, he grabs a beer and roughly sits down across from me. This could be fun. It serves him right to squirm for a bit. Smiling, I take a sip of my wine as Mav deals the cards out.

ChapterTwenty-Three

Noah

She’s punishing me.I know exactly what game she’s playing as I watch her smile and talk to everyone but me. Nothing could have surprised me more when I saw her sitting at the table. I can see the dark circles under her eyes, and she looks like she’s lost weight. It’s killing me knowing I hurt her. From the looks of it, though, her hurt has turned to anger. I can deal with anger. Anger is good compared to the hurt I saw in her eyes when she left my house on Monday. Now all I see is fire in her eyes when I catch her glare at me.

Putting two cards down, I take two from Bella as she hands them to me. Not being able to concentrate on the game, I take another sip of beer as I eye Emma. She glares at me again before laying her cards down. Four of a kind, nice. I flip mine over, a pair of aces. Everyone else has folded, so she smugly takes the pot. She fills up her glass of wine again. What is that? Her second? Third? Getting up, I grab my second beer from the fridge as Mav comes over. “She’s punishing me, Mav.”

“No shit,” he says, grinning. “At least she’s angry and has moved on from being hurt. Angry is much better, especially angry makeup sex.” He winks at me.

“I don’t think she’ll let me touch her any time soon,” I sigh.

“It’s all going to work out. She’ll come around, you’ll explain everything, and then you two can ride off into the sunset.” He pats me on the back as he grabs a beer and heads back to the table.

Going back over, I sit down. “It’s your turn to deal.” Bella hands me the deck. I shuffle the cards and watch as Emma laughs at something Mav says. Knowing Mav isn’t crossing a line, I shouldn’t be jealous, but I am. I want to be the one to make her laugh. Mav must see me glaring because he stops talking and sits back silently, holding his hands up.

“So Bella, I heard you went on a date last weekend with Alex. Did you fall asleep at dinner as he talked about the exciting world of numbers and spreadsheets?” Mav asks, grinning.

“I heard you slept with Lucy. Did you enjoy the crabs?” She casually asks.

He laughs, “You’re just jealous because I got laid and you didn’t.”

“How do you know I didn’t?” She raises her eyebrows at him.

“Did you?” He asks, turning serious.

“I don’t kiss and tell.” She shrugs her shoulders. Frowning, Mav grabs his cards and throws them down as he folds. What’s up with him?

“I think I suck at this game,” Emma giggles. Yeah, she’s definitely getting tipsy.

“It’s all in the poker face,” Sophia says, trying to look serious. “You have to bluff and fake your way through it.”

“I guess I’m not as good atlyingas some people.” Emma stares right at me.

“That’s it.” I toss down my cards, walk over to Emma, and throw her over my shoulder. “You and I are going to talk.” I walk out of the kitchen and down the hall to the office. I’ve sat there all night and watched her glare at me, ignore me, and smile all night at my fucking best friend. I can’t take it anymore.

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