Page 41 of I Need You

I close my eyes tightly and speak before I lose the nerve.

“I have something to tell you.”

“What, that you’re in love with me?” Emmett says.

My eyes fly open and I look at him.

“What? No, I—you, no—”

Emmett bursts into laughter and places a hand on my shoulder.

“What do you need to tell me, gorgeous?”

I break eye contact with Emmett and rhythmically squeeze each of my fingers on one hand while I try to work up the nerve to speak. After a few moments, Emmett’s warm skin is on mine. His calloused hand stops me from my nervous habit as he laces his fingers in mine and patiently waits for me to tell him what I need to.

I look up at him, at his blue eyes shadowed by his baseball cap, and let out a shaky breath.

“My parents have informed me I’m to be married in two months and I don’t know how I’m going to get out of it.”

The words rush out of me quickly, all in one breath, and I’m panting when I finish. Emmett says nothing at first, but soon a low chuckle comes out of him that turns into him falling back in a fit of laughter. I’m not as amused as he is. I get up to leave, but he grabs me by my arm, stopping me.

“Woah, where are you going?” he says, sitting back up.

“I don’t need to be laughed at,” I say, trying to yank my arm free. “We may have established that I’m sheltered, naïve even. But I’m not unintelligent and don’t need to be mocked.

Emmett holds tighter and brings me to him, wrapping his arms around me. I let my back fall against his chest.

“Hey, I’m sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you or trying to mock you—but, Aubrey, how can you say that? You’re nineteen, your parents can’tmakeyou get married. And who the hell do they think you’re going to marry, anyway?”

My body relaxes into him.

“Thomas Hill. I’ve talked to him exactly one time.”

Emmett’s body goes stiff below me.

“Wait–You’re serious? They really think you’re going to marry this guy?”

I nod my head against his chest and he wraps his arms around me tighter.

“Do you want to marry this–this Thomas guy?”

“Of course not, Emmett. I told you, I don’t even want to be part of the church anymore. But what am I supposed to do? My parents and Pastor Johnson have already made up their minds. I haven’t saved up enough to move out on my own yet and I can’t just say no, there will be—” I pause, wondering what the point of this conversation even is, wondering why I’m allowing myself the pleasure of being in Emmett’s embrace like this. “There will be consequences if I say no.”

“If money is the problem—” Emmett says.

“No.” I cut him off. “I can’t let you help me, not in that way. I’ll uh—I’ll figure something else out. For now, can we just talk about something, anything else?”

Emmett places a kiss on top of my head and my body tenses for a moment, but as he runs his fingers up my bare arm, I relax again. If my parents or Pastor Johnson knew what I was doing, sitting up here in the dark being this intimate with a boy who isn’t even a member of the church—I shudder at the thought of the consequences. Emmett holds me tighter. He must think I’m cold.

We sit on the water tower for hours and talk about everything—everything except my fate. When the darkness we’ve been sitting in isn’t quite as dark anymore, I know it’s time to head home.

“Here, put your number in it,” Emmett says, handing me his phone.

I take the phone from him but pause for a moment, confused by the screen that’s so different from my own.

“How?” I ask, looking from the phone to Emmett.

He laughs and takes the phone back.

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