Page 14 of Shared By Her Brother's Best Friends

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When Emma can finally take no more and we’re all well and truly satiated, we lie there on the bed, a mass of tangled, sweaty limbs as we enjoy the high that only incredible sex can bring. Emma kisses us each gently on the lips before collapsing back on the bed.

“That was…”

“Incredible,” I finish for her with a grin that she returns.

“A mistake,” Mason says, getting up and running his hand through his hair.

Out of all of us, he’s the one who is going to feel the most guilty for betraying J-Bird like this. For starters, he’s the next most likely candidate for VP and eventually president when the time comes, but he’s also the closest with J-Bird. Mason also hates letting go of control, and what we just did was the definition of losing control.

I can see the hurt in Emma’s eyes, which she quickly tries to hide. “If it was such a mistake then why do it?” she snaps. “Don’t try to pretend you didn’t want it as much as I did. A mistake is accidentally locking your keys in your car. This was not a mistake,” she insists, sitting up and glaring at him.

“Emma,” Mason says with a sigh.

“Save it, Mason. I’m sick of guys trying to excuse away their behavior by saying it was a mistake after the fact. You’re a grown man, if it was such as mistake you shouldn’t have done it.”

“You’re right. We shouldn’t have, I’m sorry,” he replies, pulling on his clothes, his jaw clenching in the way it does when he’s trying to regain control of a situation.

“Fuck your apology,” she hisses back at him, jumping up from the bed and covering herself with a sheet, throwing his tank at him.

Mason stalks out of the room and Ty awkwardly starts to gather his clothes too. No doubt torn between his loyalty to Mason and not wanting to hurt or embarrass Emma further.

“For what it counts, I don’t regret a damn thing,” I chip in, trying to lighten the mood.

Emma lets out a deep sigh. “Nor do I. But he’s right, we shouldn’t have done this. Sex only complicates things and this whole situation sure as shit is already complicated enough without us adding to it.”

“Whatever you want, Emma,” Ty says softly.

She studies him for a moment trying to read him and determine what he truly wants. Not that she’ll have any luck, Ty’s a closed book. I’ve known the man for fifteen years and even I have trouble reading him.

“I don’t know what I want,” she says with a sigh, “But I do know that my focus should be on my son right now.”

Ty nods and takes that as an invitation to leave, glancing back at her one last time before exiting the room. Emma looks so agonized and weighted down with responsibility compared to the carefree vixen that she was just moments ago that I want to reach out and kiss her to make it all go away, if only for a second.

But then she gasps, “Shit! What time is it?” she says rushing to find her phone as though it has just now dawned on her how long we were distracted. “Shit, shit, shit!”

“What is it?” I ask, springing to my feet.

“Max. I’ve got to pick him up from school.”

“Calm down, you’ve got plenty of time,” I say soothingly.

“I know, but I shouldn’t have gotten distracted. What kind of mother does that?” she says panicking.

I know she’s having trouble dealing with what just happened between us and I’m not sure if anything I say will help. So all I can offer as she rushes out the door is, “You’re an amazing mom and don’t you forget it.”

Chapter 8

Emma

Iwas spiraling by the time I was on the highway, now the post-sex euphoria has worn off, I feel foolish that I could have believed it meant anything to them. Mason’s harsh dismissal of me straight after tells me all I need to know. I literally threw myself at them. It wouldn’t have happened otherwise. They’ve made it perfectly clear they regretted it instantly. Sure, Jax has been sweet and said he doesn’t regret it, but I think he’s just doing that to allow me to maintain a scrap of dignity.

What must they think of me? And to top it all I got so caught up in what we’d been doing this afternoon that I lost track of time. Okay, no harm no foul, but what if I hadn’t realized it was time to leave?

Almost as if I’ve summoned up some karmic debt, the car engine makes a strange noise. “No, no, no!” I exclaim. There’s a grating sound and then I start to see smoke coming from the hood. Quickly pulling over to the shoulder I kill the engine and sit and stare at the dashboard as if it holds all the answers in the world. I experimentally try starting my car again—though what good that would do if it’s about to go up in flames, I don’t know—but there’s silence.

I pull my cell phone out of my purse and glance at the time, Max’s school is thirty minutes away and there’s no way I’ll get there in time to pick him up. I quickly call the school receptionist, but the line’s engaged.

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