Page 15 of Make You Want Me

“And sometimes I hate her for it. I try not to show it because I know she doesn’t deserve it, but at some point, I started blaming her almost as much as I blame him.” I hang my head, ashamed of my admission.?

Emerson walks toward me. “You have every right to feel that way. She loves you and Colt so much, so it's hard to imagine why she lets him come and go.” She places her left fist on my chin like the true southpaw she is and lifts my head up to look at her.?

“But other than allowing his deadbeat ass to come around drunk and hit her in front of us, no one could ask for a better mom. She loves and supports us with everything she has… She works her ass off to keep a roof over our heads and food in our mouths, and that’s just another reason why I have zero respect for that man.” Clearing my throat, I run my hand through my hair.?

“Actually, I lost every bit of respect I had for him the first time I saw him throw his fist across her face when I was seven years old.” The memory alone sends a chill through my body. I can still smell the alcohol on his breath and the fresh blood on her face as I held my mom after he left.?

My world came shattering down that day as I realized the horrific reality we were living in.?

“Thank God for Lights Out. Not only did it let me get out my anger, but it also made me stronger and more agile. Just like you heard last month, if he comes home now and decides he is going to put his hands on any one of us, he knows I’ll beat the shit out of him.” Remembering that night sends a shiver over my body for another reason. Holding Emerson in my arms, and having her in my bed beside me was unlike anything I had ever felt.?

“Your reason for fighting is exactly what’s making you a phenomenon in that ring.” Emerson moves another step closer and places her hands on my chest, the heat of her palms instantly soothing me.?

I look into her golden-brown eyes, tucking a piece of purple hair behind her ear. “And your demons are what make you unstoppable against your opponents.”?

I feel more seen than I ever have as we stand just inches away from one another, basically breathing in the same air.?

“What happened tonight, Em? Why did you leave?”?

She moves around me and leans against my hood, looking up at the stars. I’m stunned when she lets out a deep laugh as she glances at the house. “This is some sort of cosmic, fucked-up shit.”?

I stay silent, anticipating her explanation.?

“I left tonight because there were more drugs there than a Colombian drug smuggler's asshole. Before you freak… Colton was having no part in any of that.” Emerson pauses, digging her Van-covered foot into the dirt on the ground. “You know I don’t mind weed, but this was heavier stuff. And I especially don’t fuck with pills.”??

I may be relieved that my brother wasn’t doing hard drugs, but my blood pressure spikes at the thought of him putting his supposed best friend in this situation.?

“It just takes me right back to that dirty trailer, an empty bottle of pills on the floor and a needle in her arm as she lay there cold and stiff.”?

Fucking hell… she found her like that??

“Does my brother know all this about your childhood?” I ask through gritted teeth.?

“He knows she was a shitty mom, but not to that extent, and he doesn’t know I found her.” She gently places her hand on my tightly gripped fist. “Don’t blame him. He was having fun… I should have known better than to come back to this town. Nothing good ever happens here.”?

“That’s exactly why I told y’all not to come here.” I give her a pointed look. “But in the future, if you ever need out of a situation, you call me… Don’t leave and go walking down the road in the middle of the night, Em. I know you can handle yourself in the octagon, but the streets are a different thing.” With a hand on her waist, I pull her into me. “And I never want to see you get hurt. Got it?”?

She stares up at me for a few seconds before a smirk takes over her face and she pushes me off of her. “The last time you got called in regard to my well-being, you almost ended up in juvie for beating the shit out of the deputy’s son.”?

“It would have been worth it, trust me.” I return her smirk, remembering the threats I spewed at her foster brother that night as my fist pummeled his skull.?

“Plus, he left you alone after that, right?”?

She lightly runs her thumb over the scar above my eye and nods. I’m sure a lot of that also had to do with Lucian being a live-in threat to Tommy.?

“I will say, fifteen-year-old me had a bit of a hero-complex crush on you after that… but I would never want you to get in trouble for me. You have too big of a future ahead.”?

A hero-complex crush, huh??

I slide beside her, bumping my hip into hers on the hood of my car. “Tell me more about this crush… Did it ever go away?”?

Rolling her eyes at me, she walks back toward the passenger side of my car. “Maybe…maybe not.” She winks at me... just winks, and my heart stutters as my cock jumps.?

“Let’s go, hero.”?

This girl has been my soft spot for the last five years but, suddenly, she is turning into so much more.

Six

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