by A. J. Macey
“What’s wrong?” Reid picked up on my mood shift as he looked over me.
“What about King and Jesse?” I murmured, my body flooding with worry, but Reid shook his head and came to kneel in front of me.
“Emma, this was about what you wanted. They will understand, I promise,” he reassured me. “We actually talked about this a while ago, just to see where we were with each other in the relationship, and we all agreed it was up to you.” I couldn’t drum up any anger at them talking about something like that when all I felt was a flood of relief. “You alright, Cali girl?”
“Yeah,” I whispered, my body warming under his gaze as it dipped down to my still naked body. “Thank you for reassuring me.” Leaning forward, I pecked him on the cheek.
“Cuddle time now, right?” he asked as he pulled back, tossing on his boxers and crawling into bed, forgoing a shirt as he held up the blankets for me. Chuckling, I pulled on my panties and shirt before crawling into his open arms, nestling against his chest.
Happy New Year’s indeed.
14
January 5th
Mom using the middle name? Oh, boy, am I in trouble! But then again, I’m not so happy with her either, so maybe I’ll start using her middle name.
#GroundingHereICome #SoFun #Sarcasm #NOTSundayFunday
“I’ll talk to you guys later,” I hollered, hopping out of the Jeep and shouldering the bag Reid had gotten out to grab from the back. “Thanks, babe, I’ll text you.”
“Not if I text you first,” he prodded with a cocksure grin. Chuckling, I rolled my eyes and headed inside. My stress levels had finally subsided after spending a week with my boys. Just watching television, movies, and eating home-cooked meals had done wonders for my mood, so I found myself practically skipping inside.
At least until I found my mom in the kitchen, standing with her arms crossed, a scowl curling her lip.
So much for that jolly attitude.
“Emma Brooke Clark,” she snapped, “care to explain why you’ve been subpoenaed to testify in a criminal court case against Jesse?” My blood turned to ice as she held up the official paperwork calling me to testify on Jesse’s behalf.
“Mom,” I started, but she cut her hand through the air and shook her head.
“I don’t want to hear any excuses. I want to know why you thought it would be alright to not include me in on the fact one of your three boyfriends is being charged with assault. Yes, Emma, I know about the four of you. Stella explained it to me when I had questions about this criminal case. Why you would think it’s okay to have three boyfriends?”
“Why does it matter if I have one or three as long as we’re not hurting anyone?” I countered in exasperation. “As for testifying for Jesse, he beat up a kid who was trying to force himself on me at a party. So, I think it’s pretty safe to say, I have no issues with what Jesse did.”
“So, why didn’t you tell me about it, then? Parties, sleeping around, dealing with the law,” she rattled off, shaking her head. I expected each word to hurt, to cut into my already aching heart, but all it served to do was piss me off. “Now, I’m going to have to be more of a babysitter than a mother because you can’t be trusted.”
“Are you freaking kidding me right now?” I shouted, finally having enough. Everything that had been building over the last four months since our move raced out of my mouth at the insinuation she had to babysit me. “When the heck would I have a chance to tell you anything? In the few brief moments, I actually get to see you?”
“You know I’ve been working hard to support both of us,” she tried to argue, but I laughed, appalled she would even try to go there.
Is she really that oblivious to the fact I’ve had to pay bills and buy food for us?
“You’ve been working, but you haven’t been supporting us! I’ve had to buy food and groceries several times. Our electricity and utilities were turned off while you were away in the middle of freaking nowhere, followed quickly by our phones! Those three guys you seem to have such a problem with me seeing are the only reason we have heat and working phones, seeing how you’re too caught up in whatever is so damned important at work. You can’t babysit me when you’ve barely had time to be my mom!” By the time I was done, my cheeks were wet with tears I didn’t even know were falling. Taking a shuddering breath, I turned on my heels and ran downstairs. I slammed the door behind me, quickly unpacking my backpack and duffel from my trips before shoving clean clothes and school items into my backpack.
“Where do you think you’re going?” my mom demanded as I shouldered my bags. Her brow arched in silent challenge, the one that always had me biting my tongue and keeping whatever it was I was about to say or do to myself.
Not this time.
First, my boyfriend cheats on me.
My parents get divorced and forget I exist.
Then, I deal with the party from hell and all of Brad’s shit.
Now, I am done being forgotten, mistreated, or talked down to.
“I’m going to Kingston’s,” I explained, walking around her and to the garage. “When I’ve calmed down, maybe I’ll be home.
“You can’t go without my permission, Emma Brooke, I am your mother,” she snapped. I kept walking, throwing my bag into the back of my car as she followed me out.
“You stopped being able to tell me what to do when you left me to be the adult of the two of us,” I deadpanned, staring right at her. “I think you forget I’m my own person and can make my own choices, choices you don’t get to dictate.” I got into my car and pulled away, leaving my mom gaping, standing in the garage.
Twenty minutes later, I pulled into Kingston’s drive, my anger finally settling and leaving sickening nausea in the pit of my stomach. Getting out, I found Kingston standing on the porch, looking at me with a soft smile. I grimaced and walked up to him, realizing I had come over without much of a warning.
“Hey, Babydoll, you okay?” Kingston asked quietly, pulling me into a hug.
“How’d you know?” I mumbled against his shoulder, inhaling his orange and cinnamon scent.
“Your mom called my mom, something about wanting you to come home. I only got the basic gist of what happened,” he explained.
“Does your mom want me to go home?” I asked, worried I had upset Stella and Kaleb by overstepping on my welcome.
“You can stay as long as you need, Emma darling. I remember what it was like to go through issues with my mom,” Stella’s voice filtered around Kingston’s lean torso, making me breathe easier. “Come inside for goodness sakes, you two. You’re going to have frostbite on your nose before you can say, ‘Go Big Red.’”
Chuckling, I followed her inside, the heat of their house flowing over me as the scent of cookies permeated the air. Did Stella ever not have some kind of baked goods in the oven or on the counter?
Not that I’m complaining.
“Hello, Emma,” Kaleb called out.
“Hi, Mr. Bell,” I hollered back, following Kingston up the stairs.
“Two more times!” Kaleb shouted, my lips curling up at the fact he was keeping track.
“Keep the door cracked, you two!”
“Okay, Mom!” Kingston responded, his melodic voice making me curl my toes as the smooth notes filled my ears. “Come on, Babydoll, we can watch TV up here. I have to get my bag ready for tomorrow, anyway.”
I placed my bag on the floor near the door, kicking off my shoes and flopping onto the futon. Kingston busied himself, digging through his notebooks, making sure he had everything for our first day back to school, before glancing over at me.
“You want to talk about it?” he asked softly.
“Not really,” I grumbled, the residual anger simmering in the back of my mind as I sat there. “My mom knows about all of us, and that I have to testify at Jesse’s trial.”
“How’d she find that out? I thought the police weren’t contacting your parents because you’re over the legal age?”
“Subpoena came
in the mail, so she called your mom and found out that way. Tried to say she has to babysit me now because I ‘can’t be trusted,’” I ground out, anger resurfacing.
“I’m sorry, Babydoll. At least we had fun over the break,” he stated with a knowing smile.
My heart leapt into my throat as I realized what he was talking about, worrying he and Jesse may be upset I slept with Reid.
“Emma, it’s okay, breathe,” he reassured me, coming to crouch in front of me.
“So, you know?” I barely got the question out, the words sounding squeaky to my own ears.
“Reid told us, but Babydoll, we had already talked about it. After you agreed to date us, we didn’t want something like that to cause any issues with all of us, so we chatted. Came to the agreement that whoever went first wouldn’t affect the others. To be honest, I was worried you’d pick me to be first,” he murmured.
I couldn’t find myself to be mad at them, despite it being a major discussion to have without me, but right now, all I could find was relief they had handled it.
Lord knows, I have way too much to worry about already.
“Why’s that?” I asked, my brows drawing down at his last statement.
“I haven’t done that before, and I didn’t want your first time to be awkward fumbling as we both tried to figure it out,” he explained with a chuckle. “I wanted it to be special for you.”
“You’re seriously one of the sweetest guys I’ve ever met, King,” I murmured, leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. “Thank you for telling me.” Smiling, his eyes brightened.
“Of course, Babydoll—” His phone ringing cut off the rest of his statement, his brows furrowing as he answered it. “Hey, Reid...” he trailed off at whatever Reid was telling him, his eyes darting to me briefly. “Alright, I’ll be down shortly.” Kingston hung up quickly, jumping up from his crouched position and starting toward the door before turning back to me. “I need you to stay here,” he murmured, “just for a bit.”
“What’s going on?” I asked, getting up.
“You’ll find out in just a bit, okay? Trust me, please,” he nearly pleaded. Grinding my teeth, I nodded, watching him sigh with relief before nearly sprinting down the stairs.
I waited, walking back and forth as I heard Stella and Kaleb greet Reid, asking if Jesse was with him. My stomach tightened as I heard a few pained groans. My worried pacing stopped as I saw Kingston open the door, Reid and Jesse behind him, gasping when I saw Jesse.
Beaten and bloodied, he hung onto Reid as he limped into the room. As soon as Jesse and Reid’s eyes fell on me, the tension climbed to new heights, all of us standing in a silent staredown.
“What the heck happened?” I whispered, finally coming out of my stupor. “Jeez, Jesse, you need to be taken to the hospital.”
“No, no hospital,” Jesse bit out, limping the rest of the way to the futon with Reid’s help. I stared at him, my mouth open. He did not just say that.
“Why the heck not? You’re bleeding again, and you’re clearly injured.” I sighed, my face falling into my palms in a muffled scream. “Okay, fine. We’re going to get you cleaned up, then I want answers.”
“Here, I’ll help grab the supplies,” Reid offered, glancing at Kingston to make sure he was good with that. When Kingston sank next to Jesse, helping get his shirt up over his head, Reid got up and directed me into the bathroom. He didn’t talk as he pulled the first aid supplies from the back of the linen closet, but after a few moments of me staring at the side of his face with crossed arms, he finally looked at me.
“I’m sorry, Cali girl. Jesse didn’t want us to tell you,” he whispered, his hazel eyes wide with worry. “Are you upset with us?”
“Reid,” I huffed quietly, waving my hand toward the door. “Jesse is hurt, for the goodness knows what number time since I’ve moved here. I don’t really care right now you didn’t tell me, but why the hell didn’t you tell Kingston’s parents, or your parents, or even a teacher?”
“Because it’s not that simple,” he started, but I shook my head.
“Don’t, Reid, please. It kills me to see any of you hurt, so all I want to do right now is get Jesse cleaned up and figure out whatever the hell is going on,” I grumbled, taking some of the supplies. Reid smiled slightly, looking at me with a little mischievous glint in his eyes. “What?”
“You only cuss when you’re pissed off or... It’s adorable,” he explained, holding the bedroom door open. I gave him a half-hearted glare, knowing he was purposely trying to distract me, but I didn’t have it in me to counter him.
“Holy shit,” I breathed, my already puffy eyes stinging from the buildup of tears, when I saw a cluster of long welts and cuts on his chest, back, and arm. I sank to my knees, working as quickly as I could, ignoring Jesse’s eyes on my face. He hissed when I placed the antiseptic pad against his cuts but didn’t pull away thanks to Kingston and Reid holding him in place. “Sorry,” I muttered, feeling terrible I was making the pain worse.
Ten minutes later, his chest was cleaned and bandaged. His face was bruised, but surprisingly, nothing had bled except his lip. Reid hopped up, taking the bin of first aid materials back to the bathroom and tossing the trash into a grocery sack on his way. Sitting back on my heels, my hands shook as the adrenaline from today’s events faded. As soon as Reid was back in the room, I looked to Jesse with a raised brow and waited. Jesse, of course, was looking anywhere but my face, his jaw clenched as he ignored my attempt to get him to talk.
“Jesse, please.” I reached out, taking his uninjured hand and interlacing our fingers. Rubbing his thumb across the back of my hand, he sighed, deflating.
“My dad has anger issues,” he muttered, barely loud enough for me to hear him. “Normally, I can stay out of the house long enough, that by the time I get back, he’s passed out drunk. It’s usually after my mom is doped up on her opiates or whatever drug she can get her hands on. When the alcohol is flowing, and she’s laid out in a drug-induced haze, that’s when I have to be careful.”
My throat burned, the urge to throw up building, the longer he talked. I knew whatever Jesse was going through was bad, but hearing him explain it as if that was just how life was, and there was nothing he could do about it was heart wrenching.
“So, when I found you back in October...” I trailed off, unsure of how to ask what was on my mind. Jesse nodded as he shifted forward with a pained grunt, his free hand wiping away the tears that leaked out despite trying to keep them contained.
“Yeah, he had started drinking super early that morning and got me before I had a chance to sneak out. Pretty sure he smashed my phone in the process, but it was in the living room, and I wasn’t going to risk grabbing it before hopping out of the window.”
“How many times has it happened since I’ve been here?” I choked out, glancing between the three of them. “How many times, Jesse?” I bit out when they didn’t answer me.
“I don’t know, like nine, ten times?” he muttered, shrugging. “Em, please…”
I sobbed, my shoulders shaking as I buried my face in my free hand. My heart shattered, knowing this had been happening, but I hadn’t pushed, I hadn’t demanded to know. I hadn’t helped.
What kind of girlfriend am I?
“Em,” Jesse’s voice cracked, his hand cupping my jaw, nudging until he could press his lips to my forehead. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I just... it’s just how my life is, and I was afraid if you knew you’d, I don’t know, leave, and I couldn’t risk you being in danger. My dad isn’t a good guy, and the guys know that first hand.”
“Why couldn’t you let me make that choice?” I whispered between my crying. “I wouldn’t have left then, and I’m not leaving now. I want you safe.”
“I’m staying as safe as I can, Em,” Jesse tried, but I shook my head.
“No, you’re not. Tell Kingston’s parents, stay somewhere safe. Permanently,” I challenged. I may not have pushed earlier when I should have, bu
t like hell was I going to let him walk back into that house now that I knew.
“I can’t,” Jesse countered.
“He’s only seventeen, and even if he was old enough to move out without legal repercussions, the legal age of majority in Nebraska is nineteen,” Kingston explained softly.
“Meaning he can’t sign a contract or anything for an apartment,” Reid continued. I glanced between them, my brain whirling with anything I could do to convince Jesse to tell someone.
“Emancipation,” I murmured, “get emancipated. I knew a couple of people at my old school who did it. With your dad’s help,” I looked to Kingston as I talked, “I don’t see why it would be an issue.”
“Where would I live, Em?” Jesse sighed. It was at that moment I saw Reid and Kingston smirk, glancing at each other.
“Here,” Kingston offered, “like we’ve told you before.”
“Not again, guys,” Jesse huffed in exasperation before he finally looked at me again. The skin around his eyes tightened when he saw my face. Nothing like being red and puffy in front of your three boyfriends. Again. As soon as I poked out my bottom lip ever so slightly, Jesse groaned in defeat. “I don’t”—he cleared his throat—“I don’t know if I could tell your parents.”
“Why, dude?” Kingston asked softly. “You know they’ll do anything to keep you from having to deal with that.”
“Because I’ve known them since I was little. How do you think they’ll react to learning this was going on, but I didn’t tell them?”
We sat in silence, contemplating what Jesse said, but finally, after I saw the doubt starting to creep back onto their faces, I shook my head.
“Nope, I don’t care how they react, Jesse. You’re going to tell them, or I will,” I demanded. His eyes locked with mine, curiosity and fear brimming in the near black depths, but I saw something else—the smallest hint of hope. “Please,” I whispered. Jesse deflated, nodding his agreement.
“Come on, either we do this now, or it’ll never happen,” Jesse stated, struggling to get off the couch. Reid jumped up, assisting him to stand. We filed down the stairs, Jesse pausing with a gulp right outside the kitchen where I could hear Stella and Kaleb bustling around. Grabbing his hand, I squeezed, giving one last boost of confidence. It was enough for him to take the last few steps into the room.
