by Stella Rhys
Ah. Shit, I cursed to myself but grinned when I caught Aly’s slightly stunned smile. It was half slip of tongue, half me trying to get rid of Julian, but before I knew what was happening, Sara was excitedly introducing herself to Aly as Julian pulled me sharply aside.
“Are you serious, Emmett? This is everything I told you not to do.” he said, looking less amused with me than usual. I shoved my hands in my pockets and shrugged.
“I don’t know man,” I laughed. “Let me live.”
“How did this happen?”
“It just did, can’t explain it. Hey, how are you and Sara, by the way? Anything new?”
Julian paused to eye me. He had a perfect record when it came to staying on topic while I actively tried to change the subject. But today, for the first time ever, he caved. His chest expanded as he inhaled deep and clenched his jaw.
“Did she say something to you?” he asked.
“No. What would she say if she said something?”
Julian stared at me for two hard seconds. He dragged his hand across his face to hide the giant grin he broke into for half a second before containing himself.
“Fuck,” he hissed under his breath before glancing over his shoulder at Sara then back at me. He bounced exactly once on his heels before lowering his voice. “I think she’s pregnant. But she hasn’t said anything yet, and I don’t want to get my hopes up.”
I suppressed a massive smile. My stomach was somersaulting with excitement but I did my best to hold it in. I could easily take my own secrets to the grave, but I had a history of spilling the beans when it came to Julian and Sara, so I refused to let myself fuck this up.
“I don’t know, man. If she is, she is. If she’s not, she’s not. But it would definitely be cool for Ozzy to have a cousin.”
Julian snorted. “Right. I guess I should temper my kid’s expectations of ever having a human cousin. Sara has no siblings and you… are who you are.”
“I’m not entirely sure what you mean by that but I do think I’m offended.”
Julian laughed. “You realize you can’t let Mom find out about anything going on between you and Aly, right? She’s going to get so ahead of herself she’ll probably have to be hospitalized for heartbreak if and when you two break up.”
“Jesus fuck, take it easy. And Aly isn’t going anywhere, alright? I promise you that.”
Julian studied me. I expected him to launch into a speech about how I’d lost credibility after introducing a hundred different girls to my family, none of which ever lasted more than a week-and-a-half. But he surprised me by going in a different direction.
“I know how much she’s always meant to you,” he said, giving me a nod of acknowledgment. It was the first time my brother had given me credit for anything regarding a girl, and it actually felt kind of nice. “I mean you definitely had a shitty way of showing it then, but here’s to hoping that you can make up for it now.”
I raised my eyebrows. “That was actually really nice for your standards,” I said as he grinned.
“Yeah, well. Like you said, I’m getting soft.”
“Definitely. On that topic, remind me that I owe Sara a million beers for making you that much more tolerable since you’ve been together.”
“Yeah, I’ll remind you in nine months, hopefully.”
I chewed both lips back, making probably the stupidest face in the world as I tried not to let anything slip. I’d kept Sara’s secret for all of eight minutes but it felt like a tornado pummeling inside me.
The second they were gone, I had to let it out.
“Julian’s going to be a dad,” I blurted, my hands thrust in my hair. I broke into a huge grin as Aly gasped.
“Oh my God. Your mom’s going to freak out!”
I laughed because she was completely right about that.
“Holy shit,” I murmured to myself as I floated over to a chair. Aly tried to sit in the one next to me but I caught her by the hips and pulled her onto my lap, sitting her sideways so I could see her face. I didn’t even care that she was laughing at me. I needed to hold her while I processed this. It was honestly bigger news to me than when Julian bought the Empires. Way bigger. “Man. He needed this,” I finally said, grinning progressively wider as I nodded to myself. “He really did. He’s been waiting to be a dad for a long time.”
“Seriously?” Aly giggled. “I mean I remember him always being good with kids, but I also remember him saying that he was ‘a hundred percent never having children.’”
I smirked at her completely accurate memory. “Yeah, well. I think he changed his mind after our dad died.”
Aly’s face fell.
“Oh.” She took my hand in both of hers, quiet for a second. “I guess that makes sense.”
“Yeah,” I said, frowning as I remembered what Julian was like after my dad died. What my whole family was like. I was so lost in the memory that I didn’t register Aly tipping my face to hers till I was looking in her big eyes. “What?” I murmured.
“I feel bad,” she said straightaway.
“For what?”
“For not being there when your dad died. For not knowing your grandpa died right after.”
I winced when she mentioned Grandpa. He had cancer so we were all prepared for his death. The one we weren’t expecting was Dad. From what we knew, he was perfectly healthy. If anything, he was just stressed about his siblings fighting over Grandpa’s will. It was during this time – all these nights that our family spent in hospice with Grandpa – that Dad would pull me aside and talk about Aly’s father.
“This is why I’m grateful for Charlie Stanton,” he’d say. “He’s visited Grandpa more than your aunts and uncles have. He sends flowers. He’s been here for me the way my real brothers and sisters haven’t been, and that’s why you, me – all the Hoults will treat him like blood. Always. No matter what.”
It was conflicting to hear. In my heart, I knew something was off about Aly’s dad, but at the same time, it was hard to defy my father. He was the smartest man I knew, in terms of business, love and family. The love he had for my mother was the goal I’d set for my own life.
Unless I found someone I wanted to love the way Dad loved Mom, then I hadn’t found anyone yet.
“Honestly, I think I learned what family was from yours more than mine,” Aly murmured, gazing down at our entwined fingers. “In some ways, I can’t blame my dad for idolizing your family so much. You guys were perfect.”
“Until we weren’t.”
Aly paused and looked up at me just in time to catch the grimace on my face.
“I know something happened after your dad passed… but I don’t know what it was, and I feel horrible asking.”
I shook my head. “Don’t. We weren’t exactly open about it. It was a fucked up time. It wasn’t the way Mom wanted people to see us.”
“What do you mean?”
“Dad died after a fight with Julian,” I said, my heart beating fast as the words came out. I forced myself to peer up at the look of pure shock on Aly’s face. “Nobody knows about this. Most people think Julian went away because he was depressed. They definitely didn’t think it was because Mom blamed him for Dad’s death.”
“I remember my mom mentioning that Julian took a job overseas at one point,” Aly said, her gaze drifting off as she dug through her own memories. “I remember her saying how smart he was. For getting a change of scenery to help get over things. She said she’d always wanted to go to Sweden. That’s where he went, right?”
“Yeah. Everyone spins everything we do into something cool or glamorous,” I laughed, though it was more annoying than funny. “But the truth was that for a good five years after Dad died, we were barely a family anymore. None of us were talking for awhile. Not to Julian at least.”
Aly’s eyes flew wide open. “Not even you? But you guys were always so close.”
“Well, he was far away. And while he was gone, he made some decisions that made us feel like he was going to s
tay away for good. And Mom wasn’t doing well. Gram wasn’t either. They’d both lost their husbands in one week, so they were my priority. Not Julian,” I shrugged, putting on a casual face despite the pain twisting under my ribs. I’d gotten good at that.
“So it was all on you?” Aly’s eyes were a little wet as she looked up at me. “You were eighteen years old and everyone’s rock?”
I nodded. The story wasn’t even as simple as this, but I couldn’t get into it any further, so I gave another shrug and smiled.
“That’s why I’m excited to start building on the family again. We all needed this,” I said, relieved to see the happy little curl touch Aly’s lips.
“You’re going to be an uncle,” she said, breaking into such a big grin I had to follow suit. “Fun Uncle Emmett. That’s got a nice ring to it.”
“Definitely,” I laughed just as the crack of a bat sounded, drawing both our eyes to a home run on the field.
And for the rest of the evening, we watched the game, Aly leaning her head against mine as she popped kettle corn in her mouth. I leaned back in my chair, swigging my beer, both of us fully relaxed as the Empires coasted into their fifth win in a row.
At the final out, Aly looked up at me, saying thank you before grabbing my shoulders and hoisting herself up to kiss my forehead then my lips.
It felt so fucking good.
Strange, but good.
Because while we were sitting in the stadium we grew up in, we were somehow in a completely different place.
23
ALY
I couldn’t say no to seeing Emmett’s apartment after the game. I had work in seven hours, and we still had a commute back to the Hamptons, but I couldn’t resist.
I was suddenly in a place where I wanted to know everything I could about Emmett.
It was definitely a hell of a one-eighty since a few weeks ago. Instead of bitter now, I was more so amazed by Emmett, and appreciative of him in a way I’d never been in my life. I could feel that it made me happier, too. Even lighter – as if this whole time, I’d been dragged down by the weight of the grudge I constantly held in my heart. I had always been certain that I never let it affect me day-to-day, but now I wasn’t so sure – especially since now, there was an actual skip in my step as I waltzed out of the elevator and into Emmett’s beautiful loft.
“Holy shit,” I said, my gaze instantly drawn to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking downtown Manhattan. I felt the breath hitch in my throat as I drifted over to the glittering view, exhaling when I felt Emmett come up behind me and wrap his strong arms around my waist.
“We can stay here tonight if you want. Julian’s already back in the Hamptons, so I’ll have him take Ozzy for the night. And then I’ll get up early with you so we can head back to the Hamptons together.”
When I turned around with my brow arched in question, he laughed.
“In the helicopter. Yes.”
I bit my sheepish grin. God, it all sounded so amazing but I still couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger.
“I don’t know. I obviously want to but I have to get to work early tomorrow to take care of this stupid thing.”
“What stupid thing?”
“My liquor license. It’s about to expire and the new application got delayed, so I need to take care of that before we have to shut down our booze program. The brunch people would pretty much lose their minds if they couldn’t order their Bloody Mary’s,” I said, getting stressed out just thinking about it.
“Hey. Easy.” He wasn’t even facing me, but Emmett could feel my tension. He buried his lips in my hair as he held my tighter. “I know people at the liquor authority. I can just make a call and push it through,” he said, grinning when I turned to give him a stunned look.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. Sound good?” he asked, cocking his head as I chewed my lip. “Why even hesitate about this if it makes your life easier?”
“I don’t know. Because I’m not used to getting things so easy. It makes me feel guilty. Like I didn’t earn it.”
“You’ve busted your ass for everything in your life so far,” Emmett said with a gentle laugh. “So cash in on my luck for once. You know you deserve it. Especially if it means we get to spend the night here instead of heading back now,” he murmured, brushing my hair back. “It’s just so late already and I want us to be able to relax for a bit before bed.”
A little smile wiggled onto my lips. I wasn’t sure which part of his sentence gave me butterflies. It might’ve been the word “relax” or the word “us” – I wasn’t sure, but whatever it was, it had me suddenly caving.
“Okay,” I nodded, my heart fluttering as he exhaled and grinned. “Let’s do it then. Let’s just stay here tonight.”
There was something distinctly more intimate about being at Emmett’s apartment in the city.
For starters, it was his actual home – the place he spent most of his year – and it showed. It was sleek and sexy, but unlike the Hamptons house, it was thoroughly lived in. As he he opened a bottle of wine, I wandered around, noting the shoes by the door and the little stacks of mail on the kitchen counter.
Surprisingly, there was also an office with piles of folders and papers on the desk, but after a second-long glance inside, Emmett came up behind me and shut the door.
“Don’t look in there. It’s a mess.”
“Really? That’s a mess to you these days?” I laughed as he handed me a glass of white.
He had changed into my favorite outfit on him – sweats. And just sweats. Especially these sweats. They were worn in and hung low on that sculpted V of his hipbones, giving me such a long, full view of his drool-worthy torso that I legitimately forgot what I was saying.
“I don’t know how to talk anymore,” I said bluntly, making him laugh.
“You were expressing surprise for the fact that I’m not a teenaged slob anymore,” Emmett smirked as I followed him into the living room.
“Oh yeah! Oh God, you used to shed your shoes and socks while going up the stairs and leave like, a trail of your clothes down the hall. I also remember never being able to see more than a few inches of floor in your room.”
“Well, we’ve established that I’ve changed a pretty good amount since high school,” Emmett snorted. “Plus, living in the same building as Julian means him dropping by unannounced all the time, which means I gotta keep this place looking good.”
“Oh, and you’re going to have to start baby-proofing a couple rooms too,” I couldn’t help but coo, especially as I watched the realization hit Emmett in the form of two blinks then a giant grin. God, his excitement over this baby was way too cute. It was definitely doing something to my ovaries.
“Yeah. Man. We definitely got a lot to do,” he said, his blue eyes gleaming as we nestled into the couch. “I wonder if it’s a boy or a girl,” he murmured, staring out at nothing.
“Do you have a preference?” I asked as I studied his gorgeous profile. Shoot. I didn’t know what it was, but my hormones were in overdrive and forcing me to imagine his blue eyes and perfect cheekbones on a child of mine.
Jesus, Aly. Dial it back, I told myself. But it was hard when he was still glowing about the prospect of his niece or nephew.
“I know Julian wants a girl,” he said. “So I’m gonna root for a girl, too. But either way, it’s going to be awesome to have a baby Hoult around.”
“Mm-hm. Fun uncle’s gonna be a pretty natural role for you,” I giggled.
“Definitely,” he said as he pulled my legs onto his lap, kissing me as I ran my fingers along the ridges of his eight-pack. “Though it kind of sucks that my kids won’t have their own fun uncle,” he said, laughing when I pulled away to flash a quizzical look. “Because Julian’s so serious,” he explained. My eyes fluttered.
“No, yeah, I got that. I think I was just… surprised that you wanted kids,” I realized aloud. And suddenly it was my turn to explain myself. “Because you’re so against relatio
nships?”
Emmett’s eyebrows pulled tight. “I’m not,” he said so easily I got even more confused.
“But you won’t let yourself have one. Not after that one girlfriend in college,” I said quietly, fearful that I was treading onto a sensitive subject. But the quieter it made Emmett, the more curious it made me.
Who was she? What did she do to you?
I was so desperate to ask those questions, but I didn’t want to obliterate the moment, so I just waited for Emmett to speak.
“I didn’t let myself commit to anyone because I didn’t think I could,” he finally said, his words measured. “Even if I wanted to, I had… reasons for why I’d have to up and leave out of nowhere. And that wouldn’t be fair to her.”
What? I felt lost as I stared into my wine glass, trying to figure out the puzzle of his words. But I couldn’t, and as Emmett went on, I only got more confused.
“I made that whole ten-day rule so I wouldn’t be tempted to get attached to anyone. I know it happens when you’ve been with someone long enough, and I didn’t want to risk,” he said before tipping my chin up so I looked him in the eye. “What’s that face, Aly?” he asked softly. I swallowed.
“I don’t know. I guess I don’t like hearing about your no relationships rule.”
“Fair. But like I said before, you’ve always been the exception to any one of my rules,” he murmured, making my heart skip a beat. “I don’t have a choice when it comes to being attached to you,” Emmett laughed softly. “I am and I’ve been. For as long as I can remember. You’re just a way of life for me that I don’t want to give up again.”
I wet my lips.
“What exactly are you saying?” I asked quietly. I had a suspicion but I didn’t want to get it wrong. Since last night, I’d felt like I was in a dream, and I could barely trust my own head, even if it sounded clearly like Emmett was asking me for a relationship.
“I’m saying that I’ve been waiting twelve years for you, and I don’t want anyone else. I want to be with you, and only you,” he said, melting me right into the couch.
