Page 63 of Moonlight Feels Right
"I'm surprised you heard me downstairs. I didn't think I was that loud."
"I was on the second floor, checking out the empty unit for Bree and Olivia."
"Oh. Is that going to work out?"
"If Bree likes it, yes. She's at the park with Olivia. I need to get her approval, but I can't see a reason why she'd say no."
"Olivia would love to stay here, and it would be good for her to be close to you."
"And to you," he said, gazing into her eyes. "She likes you a lot, Em." He paused. "And she's not the only one. When I think about what could have happened here…"
"I'm okay, Hunter. And if I wasn't, it wouldn't be on you. You're not responsible for me. I've been taking care of myself for a long time."
"I know. And clearly, you're very capable of doing that. But I still hate to think of you being hurt." He stepped forward, framing her face with his hands as he stared into her eyes. "I just want you to be safe and happy."
She gave him a soft smile. "I'm both of those things."
He smiled back at her. "Good."
"Although, I could be a little happier," she murmured, her gaze moving to his lips, then back up to his eyes. "I know I said I didn't want to start anything…"
"Em, we've already started," he said as she wrapped her arms around his body, and he pressed his mouth against hers.
Kissing her was exactly what he needed and what she seemed to need, too, as they lost themselves in each other.
And then there were voices outside and pounding on the door. They broke apart as he heard Kaia say, "Em, are you there? What's going on?"
"I better open the door," she said.
He gave her a nod, his mouth still tingling as she let Kaia and Lexie in.
"Ben said someone tried to attack you," Kaia said, her gaze sweeping Emmalyn's face. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"It's a long story," Emmalyn replied. "But I'm fine. Everything is good."
"Was it someone you knew? Did he follow you home?" Lexie asked, worry in her gaze.
"It was someone I knew. He wasn't after me. He wanted to use me to find my mother."
Hunter suddenly realized that Emmalyn's carefully constructed life was about to unravel. "Maybe you should take a break," he interrupted. "Catch your breath."
She gave him a smile of gratitude. "It's okay. I want to tell them. They're my friends. You should probably go find Bree and Olivia."
"All right," he said, seeing the certainty in her eyes. "I'll check in with you later."
He left her apartment, knowing she wanted and needed to tell her friends what was happening, and he thought it was good she was finally ready to share her past.
He just wished the timing had been better.
Or maybe the timing had been exactly right, because they were careening down a road neither of them was sure they should travel.
It was easier than Emmalyn had expected to tell her story to Kaia and Lexie, who quietly listened without commenting.
"I'm so sorry," Lexie said when she'd finished. "I had no idea you had such a hard childhood."
"I didn't, either," Kaia put in. "I can understand why you didn’t want to talk about it. I have to say, I always thought there was something a little off about your past. You made random comments about not listening to music or watching TV or learning how to swim. But you never seemed interested in confiding in us, so I didn't want to ask."
"It was hard not to tell you. I just didn't want anyone to judge me by my past. I've been ashamed of my mother and the way we lived for a long time. It became a habit to lie about her, one I couldn't break. But everything came to a head this past week."
