Page 48 of Awakened
“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”
Emily leapt off Brandon’s lap, and his face went right past red to purple. They both started stammering out excuses at the same time.
“Nope. Don’t want to hear it. You two should be ashamed of yourselves. Sneaking around on my couch!”
Emily looked up and muttered, “Sarah’s couch.”
She held my gaze for a beat, and then we both burst out laughing.
“Oh man, this is too hilarious. Emily robbing the cradle. Brandon breaking a murder pact. Oh shit! Does Aiden know?” I couldn’t control the volume of my voice due to the excitement pumping through my veins.
Brandon shook his head and looked down at the floor. “We were going to tell him once we figured out what we’re doing and where this is going.”
Emily nodded and grabbed his hand, making my heart melt. The way my brother looked at her was utter perfection. I had never seen either of them so smitten.
Brandon’s smile fell. “Why are you crying? Are you really thatupset?” He frowned, his features hardening as he shielded Emily with his body. “I’m sorry, but I can’t help how I feel about her. You’ll have to learn to be okay with it.”
I touched my cheeks, and sure enough, they were damp. My vision blurred more as I tackled Brandon in a hug. “No, you big doofus. I’m not mad. I’m happy. After the night and morning I had, I needed this. Thank you.” I buried my face further into his warm chest, glad at least one of us was happy.
“What happened, Les?” Emily said gently, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I let Brandon go and turned to her. “Oh, you know, Seth told me he was in love with me. I told him I’m not over Aiden and then proved it by ruining the greatest kiss of my life. Seth literally ran away from me all the way back to Kirksville. I got a call from Aiden telling me Seth got there and immediately left without telling him where he was going. So, Aiden accused me of being with Seth and then was smug that I wasn’t. We fought about me being with other people in general, and I told him to fuck off.”
As I went through the recap, my voice became louder and more unhinged. Both Brandon and Emily looked concerned and slightly afraid.
Taking me in her arms, Emily murmured into my hair, “Shh. It’s going to be okay. You’re going to be okay.”
A sob shook my body, and Emily rubbed my back. She sat us on the couch and held me until my sobs turned into sniffles and hiccups. Brandon stood awkwardly behind Emily, his hands out and at the ready to do, well, I’m not sure.
I gave him a small smile. “Sorry to lose my shit, guys. It’s been a long few weeks.” I wiped my cheeks with my palms and blew out a rough breath. “Let’s call Sarah and get to brunch. You guys have to get out of here in a few hours.”
“Les, we don’t have to do anything. We can eat the Pop-Tarts in the pantry and hang out here until we have to go,” Brandon offered, sitting on the couch beside me.
“You think I want to share my Pop-Tarts with you? Are youon drugs?” Brandon let out a relieved chuckle. “Let’s call Sarah and tell them to meet us at Rooster in thirty minutes.”
Brunch was brunch. I ate too much, said too little, and watched Emily and Brandon try to be comfortable together in front of Sarah as she gushed about how cute they were. Brandon kept glancing at the exit. I could practically see him planning an escape. The real question was whether he would save Emily.
I must not have played it very cool because Sarah kept shooting me concerned looks and small smiles. Brandon and Michael welcomed Zach into their bromance, so while they talked quite loudly about comic books, I quietly filled Sarah in on the previous night and morning.
“Well, shit.” And that friends was all Sarah could come up with.
Emily laughed at Sarah as she struggled to come up with some words of encouragement.
“It’s okay, Sarah. This might be the clean slate I need. I’ll miss Seth, and I’ll be here when he’s ready to come back, but I think maybe someone—” I jerked my chin toward Zach. “With no ties to my past is best for now. No complicated history, mixed-up feelings, or guilt.”
Both friends nodded, and we were brought back into the guys’ conversation after Brandon shouted, “What’s the point? Another relaunch? It’s ridiculous.”
I shoved Emily’s shoulder and teased, “You sure you want to claim this big ole nerd?”
“You’re one to talk,” she quickly responded, lifting an eyebrow. Okay, she had a point. Brandon learned everything he knew about comics from Aiden. Seth had been a nationally ranked video game player, and I was learning that on top of Austen, Zach had a love for the DC universe.
“Touché.”
We crowded around Emily’s car outside the restaurant.
“Can you give these to your dad?” Sarah handed Emily a folder containing her paperwork for going rogue.
“You too?” Emily’s eyes glossed over, and I knew we needed to wrap up our goodbyes before we were all too emotional.
