Page 99 of Snowed In with Four Firemen
I glance over at Emily. She’s standing at the center of the room, looking around with a tired but satisfied smile on her face. She’s covered in a bit of dust from moving everything around, her hair slightly tousled from the hours of work, but she’s never looked more beautiful.
“I think we outdid ourselves this time. This place doesn’t even look like the same room,” Axel says, wiping his hands.
“You guys really did all this,” Emily says. “Couldn’t have done it without you.”
“It’s your work, Em. We just followed orders.”
She looks up at me, her eyes soft but tired, and something in the way she looks at me makes my chest tighten. Something that makes me want to pull her into my arms and never let go.
“Emily,” I say drawing closer. “It’s time.”
She looks up at me, a flicker of confusion crossing her face. “Time for what?”
“You’ve got all of us here, and we care about you. But this…it can’t go on like this forever. Sooner or later, you’re going to have to make a choice.”
“Jace, what are you doing?” Axel asks.
“Setting some things straight,” I say. “Don’t tell me you don’t want to know.”
“But she doesn’t have to make a decision right away,” Ben says. “It’s not right.”
“We’ve been cool with all this because we care about you. But you’ve got to decide where your heart is. There’s four of us, andone of you,” I say, ignoring the warning looks from the other men.
“Stop it, all of you.” Emily rubs her nose. “I’m not about to make today about me after everything that happened.”
I open my mouth and close it. “Hailey will understand.”
“No, she won’t,” she says. “And you’ve got to stop it, Jace. I thought we talked it over.”
“I get what you’re trying to say, but I can’t bear it anymore,” I say.
She looks away, and I swear I see her eyes shining. “I need to get out of here.”
Before I can say anything, she runs out of the room.
“Did you really have to do that?” Tanner asks, scowling.
“I know it’s difficult, but I think it’s pretty clear what we want. All of us. And after what happened last night…I don’t think there’s any going back from here,” I say.
“What about us, though?” Ben says. “Where do we go from here? If she does choose one of us, what happens tous?”
“I’ll respect her decision and whatever comes after,” I say.
“You’re being way too practical,” Tanner says. “We’ll still have to see each other at work.”
“And we’ll still be cordial to each other,” Axel says, “because it’s all worth it, for her…”
He’s right, it really is. But I hate the way she left.
“I’ll be back,” I say as I take off after Emily. I regret not doing that many years ago. Even though it was unintentional, she thinks I chose Chloe over her. But she’s got to see it’s not like that.
I finally catch up to her near the elevator. She’s pressing down on it hard, muttering under her breath. “Stupid elevator.”
“Emily, hey,” I say. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“I’m not upset, just tired,” she says. “The ceremony begins in a few hours.”
I sigh. “I was being stupid. You’re right. It really doesn’t matter.”
