Ember comes out from their dorm room wearing a faded denim jacket with a pair of tight black shorts and a KISS t-shirt on. It’s simple, but in my eyes, she looks as beautiful as Cara right now, if not more.
“Hey,” she speaks lowly, looking down at the ground for a second before her eyes meet mine.
“Hey, you look . . .” Fuck, here she is rendering me speechless.
Instead of awkward silence, Ember smirks and her eyes sparkle, almost like her eyes are smilin’ back at me. “You too.”
Funny how I lost my words, but she understands what I was trying to say.
“C’mon, let’s get going. I wanna get the good seats,” Josh speaks firmly as he wraps a hand around Cara’s waist, leading her down the hallway toward the stairs.
Ember gets a bit closer to us and we walk down the hall side by side, both inching closer as we walk. Once we’re down the stairwell and out at the parking lot, Josh leads us up to his vehicle and we all get in. Cara takes the passenger seat, and I sit beside Ember.
We drive for about ten minutes and go deep in the woods, so deep I think Josh might’ve taken us out here to murder us all. We’re not even driving on a road, just some sort of cleared-out trail. “Are you sure you know where you’re going?” Cara questions Josh, who immediately scoffs.
“Of course I do, just give me a few minutes. Dang. What do you guys think I am, a noob or something?”
I don’t say a damn thing, instead, I look out through the window and I watch as we come to somewhat of a clearing. Don’t get me wrong, there are still trees around us, but they’re massively tall, and in the middle of the clearing is some sort of old farmhouse. But as we grow closer, it doesn’t look like a farmhouse at all. It’s big as well, looking like it’s a couple houses bunched up together, and in the back, there’s a red wooden barn. Josh drives up to the barn and we all exit his vehicle.
But, just as I’m holding a hand out to Ember to help her out, my phone begins to ring. After she’s gotten out of the car and I’ve shut her door, I answer it. “Hello?”
“Hey, kid, you doin’ alright?” my dad asks.
I called him earlier, but he didn’t answer. I figured he would call back, but now isn’t the best of times. “Yeah, just wanted to tell you I’m goin’ down to D.C. in a week or so. I have an Art History assignment, so I have to go to a museum and write an essay on it. I wanted to know if you knew of any place I could crash with my friends?”
My dad snickers on the other end of the line. “Any of these friends women?”
“Maybe,” I comment, not wanting him to know too much.
“I’ll get you sorted, kid, don’t worry.”
“Cool, thank you. How’s Mom and the kids?”
“Your ma misses you tons, but she’s doin’ as alright as she can. I think she wanted this surprise baby, with you flyin’ the coop and all. She won’t admit to it, but I’m damn sure this wasn’t an accident, not that I mind or nothin’. I didn’t want Rory to be the last of the Walters kids, you know?”
I crack a smile, knowin’ them both too well. She loves my dad, and fuck if she doesn’t love my siblings and me too. Hell, he loves her, worships the ground she walks on. That’s the kinda love I want someday if I’ll even be lucky enough to have it. “Did you find out if it’s a boy or girl yet?”
“Nope, we’ll find out right before Thanksgiving, I think.”
“Cool. She can tell me in person then.”
“Perfect. I’m sure she’ll love that.” I can practically see my old man smiling on the other end of the phone. Neither of us will say it, but I know we both miss the fuck out of each other. It’s crazy to spend your entire life with someone and then be thousands of miles away from them.
“She will. I’m out with some friends right now, but can I call you in the morning?”
My dad clears his throat. “Sure. Speak to you tomorrow, and be safe, Dex, alright?”
“Always. Love you, Dad.”
“Love you.” The call ends with a click and Ember looks right at me, grinning widely. “What’s that look for?”
“I don’t often hear grown men telling their dads they love them. It was sweet.”
“Yeah, well, don’t get used to it. I’m a real dick most days.”
Craning her neck to the side a tad, she speaks with the most sincerity since I’ve known her. “Somehow, I truly doubt it.”
Josh turns back with his arm around Cara’s waist and raises both his brows. “You two ready yet? I’m trying to get good seats, my man.”
Ember and I funnel in behind him and Cara, standing beside each other but never touching. At least not yet. I want to see how things go with her, see if things progress, if she gives me some signals that she wants me to. I mean, I see the stares she throws my way and the smirks, but I need more than that. Especially if I’m gonna get where I want to with her.
We head to the entrance of the barn and a slot for someone to look through is opened on the alternate side. “Passcode.”
“Mercury.”
“Welcome, brother,” a man’s voice says from the other side, and Josh motions for us to follow him. He and Cara go in first and then Ember and I do, but she grows closer to me, maybe a bit intimidated by the darkness we’re walking into. I snake my arm around her waist and hold her close to me, hoping it’ll help her feel a bit more at ease but also waiting to gauge her reaction.
Josh walks us through the joint like he’s been here plenty of times before. There are bleachers surrounding some sort of square ring, but it’s not like you’d see on the wrestling shows that play on television. Instead of ropes, a chain link fence goes from the bottom of the ring up to the ceiling. And let me say, this is a fuckin’ barn, so the ceiling has to be at least forty feet high.
Josh leads us to part of the bleachers and he takes a seat, as does Cara, Ember, and me. The two girls sit beside each other between us men, and while the area begins to flood with other people, I realize this is quite the operation.
Out of nowhere, the lights completely shut off and Ember jumps in her seat, startled by this. Josh’s smug laughter tells me this is usually how things go, so I lean into Ember and press my lips against her ear. “I’ve got you. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” I pull her closer to me and rub my hand along her thigh, just as the lights begin slowly dimming over the ring.
Our eyes are locked on one another’s and there’s no mistaking the way she’s looking at me. She’s turned on, and fuck if I’m not too. I’m gonna be with this woman sooner or later and I damn well know it.
10
Ember
Ever since the night of the fight, my mind’s been plagued with thoughts of Dex. The way he held me and assured me I was okay, hell, it caused butterflies to soar through my stomach. Every time I’ve laid eyes on him, those same butterflies come back and man, it’s hard not to blush when I’m around him. The way he grins whenever he looks at me confirms he’s into me as much as I’m into him.
Now it’s the day we’re all going to D.C. to see the art exhibit Annie Leibovitz has at the Smithsonian. While I’m interested to see the artwork after researching it online and reading rave reviews, I still don’t know what to expect. Not about the trip anyway. Dex, Josh, Cara, and I made arrangements for an overnight trip which only adds more fuel to the fire here. The thought of being alone with him tonight . . . gosh, it’s both invigorating and terrifying at the same time.