“And none of that. You’re my boss.”
“Do they know…”
“You’re Beau’s dad? No, but I’m sure they’ll find out eventually.”
His face keeps that light, amused expression with a hint of a smile, and it’s so weird to me. A far cry from the brooding, serious boss I see every day, but I sort of like it. I’ve never really seen this side of Emerson, and it feels like just another part of him I get to myself.
“So, let me meet this birthday girl,” he adds, tapping the countertop. A small sense of worry fills my gut. I trust Emerson, but what if he’s not perfect with her? I have an innate sense of protectiveness over Sophie, but also a fear that if he screws this up, I won’t be able to look at him the same way.
He turns and faces the rink where Sophie and her friends have taken to doing laps around the pi?ata.
“Let me guess,” he says. “The one with the blue hair?”
I chuckle. “Yep.” I wave at her when she spots us watching, her eyes instantly focus on Emerson. She doesn’t give him the same pensive expression she always gave Beau. Instead, she skates over and rolls right up to the low wall with that bright, freckle-faced smile.
“Hey, what’s up?”
“Sophie, this is my…friend, Emerson. Emerson, this is my sister, Sophie.”
I watch his expression as he holds something out toward her. “Happy birthday, Sophie.” It’s a large purple envelope, and I try to imagine him walking down the aisles of a drug store, picking out a birthday card for a fifteen-year-old girl. A smile stretches across my face.
“Thank you!” she beams. “Can I open it?”
“Of course,” he replies.
Sophie tears open the birthday card with purple glittery flowers all over the front and smiles as she reads it. When she opens it, something falls onto the floor. As she’s picking it up, I glare at him with wide eyes, assuming he slipped some cash in there for her.
“You really didn’t have to do th—”
“Oh my god!” Sophie screams.
As she jumps up holding a piece of paper, I ask, “What is it?”
“Two tickets to the Anime Fest!”
“What?” I shriek, grabbing the papers. And they’re not just two regular tickets, they’re two VIP tickets. “Emerson!”
“Thank you so much!” Sophie squeals, bouncing on her skates.
“But…how did you know?” I ask, completely baffled.
“You told me about it when you first started.”
My mouth falls open. I remember that day, when I was rambling on and thought he wasn’t even paying attention. He was actually listening. I have chills running up my arms as I stare at the tickets then look back up at him.
Does he even know how much this means to me? That after having my car fixed, I couldn’t really afford to get the VIP tickets any longer, even with the salary he’s paying me. Does he know that the fact that he listened to me and remembered after all these weeks means more than anything?
Tears spring to my eyes, and I quickly turn, blinking them away.
“What’s this?” my mother asks after hearing Sophie’s reaction. I hand her the tickets and Sophie proudly announces that she’s going to the Anime Fest. And I’m trying to smile and act normal, but I feel his eyes on me, and can’t shake this feeling that while this is all so amazing, and he is so incredibly perfect, on some level, I hate him for it.
I hate him because, at the end of the day, I can’t keep him.
RULE #26: DON’T BE AFRAID OF A LITTLE DIRTY TALK.
Charlotte
“Emerson, are you joining us for movie night?” my mother asks as he helps carry all of Sophie’s gifts out to the car after the party.
My eyes widen. Emerson and I had pretty clear plans for his place after the party, so I shoot him a quick, but wordless, look that I hope translates into ‘just say no.’
To my utter dismay, he quickly replies, “I’d love to,” and my expression morphs into one that says, ‘what the fuck?’
But then he smiles, and I just don’t get to see that smile very often, and it’s such a nice smile.
“I’ll ride with you,” I tell him as Sophie and her two friends climb into the back of my mom’s sedan. And I definitely don’t miss the sly look on my mother’s face as I disappear with him toward the back of the lot where he parked his car. After climbing in, we watch my mom’s car drive away before he grabs me by the back of the neck and drags my face to his.