Page 49 of Blitzing Emily

“So, let’s talk about it.”

“How about an apple?” Emily said. “There’s several in here. There are oranges in a bowl on the table, too.” She straightened, and he pushed the door closed with his palm.

“If we’re going to get to know each other, maybe this is something we need to talk about,” he said.

Emily took a deep breath. He leaned against the refrigerator, arms folded, waiting for her to speak. She turned to the sink to rinse off the apple. He was still waiting when she tried to leave the kitchen. She couldn’t get around him.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Emily said in a low voice. After this afternoon’s festivities, another confrontation was not in her plans for the evening. At all.

“If even thinking about it makes you look like you’re going to cry, maybe we should.”

“This is not open for discussion,” she said.

He stepped aside so she could pass. He followed her into the living room, tossed himself down on the couch next to her, and took the remote from her hand.

“I need that.” Emily’s voice shook.

“What are you afraid of?” he asked softly.

“Maybe you should go home now.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t. I’ve obviously struck a nerve, sugar. Why are you hiding from me?” He pinned her shoulder to the couch with his big body. She gave him a shove as she tried to push away from him. “Hey, hey, hey. What’s going on here?”

“I don’t want to talk about this.”

“I guess not.” He shoved the remote as far down behind the couch cushion as he could. “We’ll sit here, then.”

“Fine.”

All Emily heard was the soft tick-tock of the clock on the mantel and their breathing. She crossed her arms over her chest, crossed and recrossed her legs, drummed on her thigh, swung her foot back and forth. She wouldn’t look at him, even though she knew he was looking at her. The silence and the tension surrounding it grew. She felt like she could reach out and touch it. One big hand came down to cover her kneecap. She still didn’t look up.

“I’ve got all night,” he drawled, and Emily rounded on him—well, as much as she could while he pinned her shoulder to the couch cushion.

“You don’t want to hear this. Why would you even care?” she cried out. “This is just make-believe. We don’t have a relationship, and stop pretending like we do. My parents’ divorce was painful. It still hurts me. Why should I talk about it with someone who won’t even be here in a month? I can’t believe you think that I should tell you everything ...”

She fought for control of her emotions. Normally, she didn’t cry. She’d cried more in the last three days than she had in a year, though, and she wasn’t going to cry again right now. She blinked her tears into submission. She pulled the ring off her finger.

“This is not going to work. I’m giving this back to you. You can get a refund or a store credit, and I’ll deal with it,” she said.

Brandon took her hand in both of his. “I don’t want it back.”

“I’m not wearing it.”

He pushed the ring back down onto her finger. “Are you done yet?” He grew calmer as Emily grew more upset, and this was not acceptable. “You’re just pissed off. Better let me know how mad you are.”

“No, I’m not going there with you. This is all your fault. If you’d left me alone, this would never have happened, and I—” She was so frustrated that she didn’t know what to say, so she blurted out the first thing that might hurt: “Ihateyou.”

“Pretty powerful, sugar,” he soothed. “You’re bringing out the big guns, aren’t you? Keep it up. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Maybe I want you to.”

“What if you do? You don’t. You want someone to yell at, really. You could yell at me some more.” He tipped her chin up, and looked into her eyes. “I can take it.”

Silence fell. They sat for a few minutes. Nobody moved. She studied her lap. Emily heard his voice in her ear one more time. “How did you find out that your dad was cheating on your mom?”

“How did you know that?” She shook all over. The heat of her anger (and embarrassment at her behavior) was fading into a cold she’d never known before. Losing it in front of anyone else wasn’t something she indulged in. She prided herself on keeping a tight rein on her emotions. She’d have to work harder on it.

Brandon’s response was to slide his arm around her shoulder.

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