Page 109 of Breaking Emily's Rules
Matt chuckled. “Serves you right.”
“Sarah just saw her at The Drip. Apparently Emily punched her ex and scared Sarah out of the shop. Emily will be all right without me. I’m sure of it.”
“Not my point. Will you be all right without her?”
He had no freaking clue at the moment because the truth was he hadn’t been all right for a long time. Not since Dad died. Not since Sarah called him out on everything he’d done wrong, and not since Emily walked into his life and asked him to follow her ridiculous rules for one night.
God, he was a certified idiot.
If he wanted her, he’d have to go to her. He’d have to eat crow. Grovel like he never had before. He’d have to put his poor pitiful heart in her hands. There was no plan and no way to know if she’d come with him to Germany and leave this little town. Or whether any of her family would survive without her.
Whether he could survive without the air force: his home, his life.
But he had to go to her anyway because right now, the only thing that made any sense to him was getting his woman back. Now.
“Tell Sarah I’m going out for a while.”
But she was standing in the hallway and heard every word. “I’ll alert the media.”
Good to know the smartass thing ran in the family.
* * *
Emily
The swellinginmy hand was just starting to come back down, thanks to the ice pack the barista had given me. My hand might hurt like hell, but my spirits were soaring. “I can’t believe I did that.”
“You and me both. In a million years I didn’t see it coming. Nice right hook, by the way,” Rachel said.
“Stone taught me.” I turned my hand over, inspecting for damage.
Rachel made a face. “Okay, I won’t even ask, but let’s just say I’m curious.”
“Are you sure I don’t need an X-ray?”
“I’m sure. Though, we might want one of your head.”
“My head?”
“Why won’t you admit you love that man? Why be so hardheaded about it? So what if it wasn’t part of the plan. It happened.”
“Fine, I admit it. You happy now?”
“Almost. He’s still here,” Rachel said. “Why not enjoy what little time you two have left?”
“I’m sorry, but I can only say goodbye to him once. And I already did. Face it, I tried to be a wild woman, but I can’t do it. I fell in love.”
Rachel leaned forward. “Em, it’s okay to be who you are. A nice girl. It’s no crime, last time I checked. I only wanted to see you grow a backbone. And I believe your fist just proved you did.”
“It did, didn’t it?” I couldn’t help but smile. My fist had certainly done some talking today. “Sometimes words are just not enough.”
“Nope.”
Rachel was right. It was okay to be a nice girl. And this nice girl loved Stone. Loved how he cared about my little town, even though he was leaving, cared about his father’s wishes and even cared for Winston. Mostly, I loved the way he looked out for me. He wanted to make sure I’d be okay when he was gone. But I had to stay in Fortune, and Stone had to go to Germany. End of sad story.
I glanced up and my gaze slid to the customer who’d just walked in.
Stone.
