Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 83756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 419(@200wpm)___ 335(@250wpm)___ 279(@300wpm)
“Hey.”
I hear yelling and god-awful singing as Flynn’s voice comes over the line. “Bro, I don’t know where you went off to, but Emery is fucking shit-faced and got into an altercation with some girl who told her she was simping over you. No clue who the girl was, but she heard y’all, I guess. But anyway, the cops came, and now Emery won’t stop singing ‘Dial Drunk’ by Noah Kahan to them and is crying for you.” I hear a crash that I assume is him dropping his phone, and then he curses.
But I can still hear Emery singing the song. But with my name instead of “you.” “I’d die for him, I’d dieeeeeeeeeeee for Quinn Phillips Adler!”
Jesus Christ.
“Still at Whiskey Row?”
“Yup, in the parking lot.”
“Okay. Try to keep her from getting arrested. I’m on my way.”
My mom stands with me as Flynn adds, “That’s not the problem. The problem is keeping the cops from egging her on. They all know her and think it’s funny she’s being a love-sick fool. So, come get your woman and save us all the damn hassle.”
The line goes dead, and I can’t help but laugh. One second, she has me crying, and the next, she has me cracking up.
My Emery is fucking unpredictable.
But that’s how it’s always been.
Just as she has always been mine.
“Emery?” Mom asks, searching my face, and I nod.
“Yeah. Gotta go save Flynn from her.”
Mom pats my face. “You know I’d help you with whatever you needed.”
Her eyes search mine, and I nod. “I’m fine.”
She blows out a breath, shaking her head. “You know, when Shelli was younger, I knew she had gotten into drugs, even when she told me she hadn’t. When Posey was sleeping with Boon, I knew, but still, she said it wasn’t happening. When the twins—”
“Mom, I get it. But I’m not lying.”
“But you are. You’ve been lying since you brought Ava home,” she says, her tone sharp and to the point. “And I don’t care. I don’t, Quinn. I just want for you to be happy, and if that means getting you out of something, I’d do it, baby. In a heartbeat. And I wouldn’t say a word.”
Tears burn my eyes, and once more, I’m unable to speak. I lean down, kissing the top of her head. She leans into my kiss and squeezes my biceps in her palms. With so much emotion in my voice, I say, “I love you, Mom.”
I move away as she tells me the same, but all I can think is that the lie I just told my mom is nothing compared to the lie I told Emery.
And honestly, I don’t know how to come back from either.
Chapter
Sixteen
Quinn
I see her before I open the door of the Bugatti.
She leans forward on her legs, her eyes on me as tears stream down her face. Her legs are twisted in all kinds of ways that don’t look very comfortable. She looks like a wet cat. Her makeup is all over the place, her eyes dull and full of tears, her clothes barely hanging on.
It strangles my heart to see her like that.
I have no clue why I came. I should have told Flynn to figure it out. He would have gotten her home and into bed. I would have known she was there, and all would have been fine. Problem is, I don’t trust anyone with her. Especially knowing she was crying for me.
I’m a fucking idiot. I know.
If shit blows up in my face, it’s no one’s fault but my own.
I swallow past the emotion lodged in my throat as I close the distance between us. It’s not until I’m close that I see the puke around her legs.
“Why in the fuck is she surrounded by puke?” I snap at Flynn, who comes to stand beside me and looks down at her.
Flynn shrugs. “Better out than in, Mom always said.”
“I highly doubt she said to sit in puke,” I mutter as I crouch down to meet Emery’s glazed gaze. “Hey, Em. How you doing?”
She’s humming “Dial Drunk” and making it really hard not to laugh. Even looking like a drowned cat, she’s fucking stunning. I love the color of her cheeks. Her eyes are all sultry and hooded. Man, I want her. Forcing that thought to the back of my mind, I reach out to take her hand. She looks at it, then me, before threading her fingers through mine. “You came back.”
“Yeah, heard you overindulged.”
Her eyes fall shut as she grins. “I may have druuunk more after you lefttttt, and I lost my phooooone.”
I chuckle lightly at her slurred words. “Can you walk?”
She leans her head on her arm, nodding. “Sure. Give me some time.”
I shake my head, and against my better judgment, I reach under her arms and help her up. I pull her skirt down, then her shirt, before gathering her against my chest. Anger swells in my chest as I realize that people may have been watching her and letting her sit here like that. I have no right, though. Not two hours ago, I told her I didn’t love her. I move my arm beneath her knees and lift her up bridal-style before I look over at Flynn. “You’re a jackass.”