by London Casey
I smiled. “Right. Do you know where-”
“Emily!” Carla’s voice yelled into my left ear.
I turned just in time for her to hug me.
I started to laugh.
Faye was close behind.
“I expect you three on stage in ten minutes,” Ernie said. “Oh, by the way, Emily… I want you to do a solo show. Just you and the guitar up there. Okay? I can pay you for that one. See what kind of crowd we can get.”
“What?” I asked. “I would never do that without Carla and Faye.”
“I told him to offer it to you,” Carla said.
“You did?”
“You three can talk this out,” Ernie said. “Ten minutes.”
I looked at Carla. “What…”
“You’re the best,” she said. “You need to do this. Like, seriously. You’re going through a lot of shit in life. Music will save you.”
“She’s right,” Faye said. “You really are the best, Emily. Sorry about everything going on.”
“You’re sorry?” I asked. “I’m sorry. I’ve bailed on you two so much lately.”
“Nobody bailed,” Faye said. “We’re friends. We’re always there for each other.”
“I can’t believe this,” I said. “I feel like I’m going to cry…”
“Come on,” Carla said. “Follow us.”
We walked to the stage but went to the side part of it.
There was no real backstage area, just a hidden side part.
There I took my guitar out of my case.
A piece of paper fell to the floor and Carla swiped it up.
“What’s this?” she asked. “A poem about Liam’s dick?”
“Not funny,” I said.
“Whoa. This is a song.”
“I wrote it last night.”
“You write songs too?” Faye asked. “You’re amazing.”
“I don’t feel it.”
Carla put the paper back in my guitar case and shut it. “Okay. We’ve got to sing in a few. But here’s my speech… what the fuck are you going to do? Wait around and do nothing? Let this guy slip away? Even if he’s wrong… even if you don’t see yourself with him for the rest of your life… you have to face him. Face it all. Just like you face this stage.”
“And with a broken heart, write more songs,” Faye said. “I mean, if your heart is broken.”
“Even confused,” Carla said.
“I think I get the point,” I said. “Right now, I just want to be Emily, the singer. Nothing more. Nothing less.”
“Good,” Carla said. “I’m so happy you’re here. That you showed up.”
“Me too,” I said. “You two mean a lot to me.”
“I thought we were going to have to call Robin,” Faye said. “She’s grumpy as hell right now. She’s got morning sickness all day.”
“Ouch,” I said.
“I hate throwing up,” Carla said.
“Then stop sleeping with Ernie,” Faye teased.
“Be quiet,” Carla said. “I think Ernie is sexy.”
“Sure,” Faye said.
“Oh, I’m sorry. Dozer can bench press a car. Big deal. He has no brains.”
“I don’t care about the size of his brains,” Faye said.
“Just make sure he stays away from the steroids,” Carla said. “I heard they can make things smaller.”
“Dozer has a few inches to spare before I lose interest,” Faye said.
I took a deep breath and shook my head.
These were my best friends.
Life was crazy like that.
Ernie’s voice announced us and we walked to the stage.
I felt like everyone was clapping and looking at me.
I looked around at everyone.
I smiled.
I felt tears fill my eyes.
I fought them off.
Tonight, I didn’t need Liam to find my voice.
Chapter Forty-Three
Liam
I shook hands with the interns and told them they were all recommended for a full-time job within the company.
Then I kicked them out of my office with more work to do.
As for me, I was out of there.
I shut my office door and ran from the building like it was on fire.
A car was waiting for me outside and it took me right home.
Home.
What was going to be my former home in a week or so.
Miranda was incapable of having a conversation face to face - or even over the phone - so we spoke through texts. Like we were high school kids.
I found out this morning she was back in Boston.
Which was where she belonged.
Through our texts, we cleared the air.
It felt wrong to do it that way, but Miranda made it impossible to do it any other way.
It also felt wrong to not have Emily by my side.
Calling her, texting her… that wasn’t going to work.
Face it, Emily had been put into a very uncomfortable situation.
Now it was my turn to do the same.
I got changed and poured myself a glass of whiskey.
A little liquid courage to get the pending night going.
I was offering my heart in a way I had never done before.
And I was going to make an ass of myself just to get Emily’s attention.
I pulled the black baseball cap down over my face and stayed hidden.
The person on the stage finished her last song.
Everyone clapped for her.
I snuck down to the side of the stage and waited.
“Up next… we have a unique vocalist… he goes by the name of… Emily’s Desire…”
I walked up on the stage and took the baseball cap off.
The place was packed.
People standing shoulder to shoulder, all looking at me.
I knew Emily was here.
She, Carla, and Faye were singing a little later.
And the only way to get Emily’s attention…
I sighed into the mic. “I’m going to make it clear up here. I’m not going to stop singing until I get my Em back. I apologize. Please don’t throw anything too heavy at me.”
With that, I started to sing.
In two seconds, everyone there knew I couldn’t sing.
And anyone who saw the first show I put on (which felt like a lifetime ago) also knew I couldn’t sing.
I wasn’t going to stop.
The booing sound rained down on me and I put my arms out and waved it on.
I sang a long note that was sour enough to bust eardrums.
Then I stopped.
“Finally!” someone yelled.
“Where’s my Em?” I asked.
I looked around.
No sight of her.
“Okay, time to sing again,” I said.
There was a large NO but I ignored it.
I started to sing again.
It was bad.
Very bad.
I heard the screeching sound of a voice and looked to my left.
I saw Carla jumping up and down, waving her hands.
Next to her, Emily.
I kept singing.
Faye appeared and put her hands together, begging me to stop.
“I love you, Em!” I cried out in the worst singing voice known to man.
People started to cover their ears.
Then my mic went dead.
They cut me off.
I tried to sing but there was no sound through the speakers.
I stepped away from the mic and everyone started to clap.
“You suck!”
“Thank you!” I yelled back.
I walked to the edge of the stage and jumped off.
Standing in front of Emily.
People around me were clapping that I was done singing and telling me how bad of a singer I was.
“Do you feel better now?” Emily asked.
“Seeing you… yes.”
“Oh, he’
s so gorgeous,” Carla said.
“Come on, Carla, we’re going for a walk,” Faye said.
I stared at Emily.
“Well?” she asked.
“I just wanted to see you. Tell you I love you. You were put into an unfair position in all of this. Thrown around. You were taken advantage of. Your heart is amazing, Em. And whoever gets it needs to be careful. I should have been more careful. But I know I can take care of it. If you don’t believe me, that’s fine. I’ll just keep singing every night until you do.”
“You are never getting on that stage again, Liam,” Emily said.
“We’ll see about that,” I said.
I moved closer to her and kissed her cheek.
“I fucking love you with all my heart, babe. What a fucking mess. I was greedy because I lost so much time with you.”
I moved by her and she grabbed my arm.
“That’s it?” Emily asked.
“What?”
“You sing like shit and say a few sweet words and walk away?”
“If I stay, Em, I’m going to kiss you. I’m going to grab you, kiss you, love you, and I’m going to ruin your fucking night. You have a show to put on.”
“You could still kiss me.”
When I saw that first little smile on her face, my heart skipped more than a few beats.
I pulled her against me and touched her face.
“Liam, I’m sorry too. I was just as much a part of this as you. I wanted it. I went for it. I knew things could get messy. Then when they did, I walked away. I hid. But this place saved me from myself. The music. Finding myself. And that was all thanks to you.”
“We can talk later, Em,” I said. “Right now I need to kiss you. Then cheer you on when you sing.”
“Sounds like a good plan,” she said.
I gently pressed my lips to hers.
Everyone around us cheered.
I finally did something right with my mouth.
My tongue flicked the nub of her clit and her hips lifted off the bed.
I was plenty good with my mouth - just not singing.
My hands moved to her ass and I held her, not stopping until I tasted all of her dripping honey.
Emily pulled a pillow over her face and let out a long cry of relief.
She began to swell, her hips shaking, seconds away from coming.
I moved my hands around to her stomach and slid my right hand up her body to cup her breast.
When my fingertips grazed her hard nipple, she started to come.
Her ass slammed against the bed and she tried to sit up.
Her legs started to shut but she wasn’t chasing me away that easily.
As she cried out, her right hand grabbed my hair and pulled.
“Liam!” she yelled.
I growled and my tongue lapped up and down, tasting all of her fresh warmth.
I knew how far to take her before stopping.
There was a fine line with Emily’s pussy where it went from pleasure, to coming, to ticklish. I could dance that line like a high wire tightrope walker.
The tip of my tongue danced once more along her sweet folds and around her pearly clit. Then I kissed up her body, easing her back down to the bed as she gasped for breath.
Of course, we were just getting started.
My cock raged with fullness, waiting for its turn between Emily’s legs.
I kissed up to her left breast and stopped. “You were amazing tonight, Em.”
“I know,” she said. She took another deep breath.
“I get to fuck the star of the show,” I whispered.
I looked up at her and she looked down at me. “You’re my groupie.”
“Yes, I am.”
“That means I control you, Liam.”
“We’ll see about that, babe,” I said.
I nestled my cock between her legs, rubbing the full tip of my cock against her throbbing slit.
She sucked in a breath and groaned. “Not fair…”
“Completely fair,” I said.
I pressed my cock against her clit and moved left to right.
Emily grabbed at the sheets and arched her back. “Oh, fuck… Liam…”
“Yes, babe, you’re still there,” I said. I kissed her nipple and moved up her chest to her neck. “You’re going to come again for me. You’re going to soak my cock with your honey…”
“Now,” she said.
I slid my cock down and thrust forward.
She was tight, pulsing, and she exploded once again.
I helped myself to the hilt and Emily threw her arms around me and I did the same to her. I held her as she came, her hips bucking with enough force and speed that I felt like I was going to come too.
She bit at my shoulder and groaned with each pulse of her body.
My right hand slid down to the small of her back and then around to the back of her left leg. I pressed forward and guided her back down to the bed again and began to take her.
Now she was mine.
This was for me.
My hands then flattened on the bed, allowing me to gaze upon her body, up and down… over and over…
Her hips. Her belly button. Her breasts as they danced with the rhythm of my cock loving her. Her neck. The freckles on her neck that I loved to flick my tongue against. Her lips… nose… eyes…
Everything about her.
She was mine.
All fucking mine.
No more games. No more hiding. No more catches and favors.
Just us.
Emily hooked her ankles around my back and pulled.
I bent my elbows and nuzzled my nose to her left nipple, then her right.
I opened my mouth and tasted her breast.
Then I made a straight line with my tongue to her neck and stopped at her right ear.
I moved faster and harder.
Our bodies colliding, the sound echoing around the bedroom.
She clawed at my back again as she began to climax one more time.
I smiled, knowing I was just seconds away myself.
I couldn’t hold back. And why would I? We would just take a break, flirt, kiss, tease, and then fuck again.
“I love you, Em,” I growled into her ear.
“I love you, Liam,” she cried out.
Hearing that was all I could I take.
I thrust one last time… and held there… our love and desire coming together as one.
Chapter Forty-Four
Emily
I read the sign twenty times as I walked it across the bakery.
I ignored the empty walls. The chairs on the tables in the middle of the day. A week ago, there would have been people at the tables. Sitting in the chairs. There would have been people in line. I would have been behind the register. Casually looking at the front of the bakery, wishing more than anything that Liam would walk in to come see me.
Now…
“It was fun,” I whispered.
I put the sign on the front door and swiped my thumb across the piece of tape at the top of the paper.
The note was written formally, but informally, the message was simple.
The bakery was closed.
Out of business.
Out of time.
Out of everything.
After the Jeff situation, I made it very clear to both Elise and Dan that if they ever did that to me again, I would never talk to them again. I would be in Henley’s life and nobody else’s. They were the last of the family I had, but I wasn’t going to be pushed around.
Elise cried. She apologized.
Dan got pissed.
A day later, Dan showed up to the bakery to tell me Jeff was moved to another office. Somewhere in Iowa. A take it or leave it kind of offer that Dan spoke about with a smile and a wink. He also had some interesting paperwork for me to look at in regards to the building and my business.
Actual advice that mattered, and all Dan wanted in return was a cupcake or two to take with him.
That’s how a lot of decisions in life were.
In reality, it was a whole different thing.
Again… just like life.
“Cheers,” I said as I lifted the big glass with a small amount of whiskey in it.
Lucy, Ember, and I each had a drink.
We left the glasses on the middle of the counter.
“I will miss it,” Ember said. “I mean, I’m looking forward to my new job, but I’m going to miss this place. You really opened doors for me, Emily.”
“Not here,” I said.
“Yes, here,” Ember said. “A lot of people get cocky out of culinary school. They think they know everything. Including me. But to get thrown into running this place, it taught me a lot. I struggled a lot more than I let on. But I wanted to learn. I wanted to struggle. I wanted to get better.”
“And you did,” Lucy said. “I’m going to miss you so much.”
“Come visit,” Ember said.
“At your new job?” Lucy asked. She laughed. “I couldn’t afford the baked potato there.”
“I’ll get you a discount,” Ember said.
She was fighting back smiling.
I walked to her and touched her shoulder. “Hey. Smile. Laugh. Scream with excitement.”
“Yeah?” Ember asked.
“Yeah.”
Ember took a deep breath and smiled ear to ear.
Liam helped me get her an interview at some really expensive restaurant in the heart of the city. This place was where a lot of lawyers, bankers, and investment people went for lunch and dinner. The kind of place where it was three figures a plate, easily, and Ember was working the kitchen. Her salary was more than I could ever offer her here, and so well deserved. So much so that it was like she was getting back pay for running the bakery.
It made me happy to see her happy.
As far as Lucy went, she officially just retired. She had no idea what that really looked like, but she was ready for it.
“So, Emily,” Lucy said with that tone telling me she was about to dig into my personal life. “What’s next for you?”
“A life of crime,” I said.
“And hot sex,” Ember said.
“Oh, of course,” I said.
“Hopefully with Liam,” Lucy said.
“I don’t kiss and tell.”
“You’re not just kissing him,” Lucy said.
