Wait. Holy shit. I didn’t even know that his grandfather died within days of his dad. What the fuck? Did I know and forget? Or did I just not know at all? A deep frown furrowed my brow, and guilt panged in my stomach as Britt went blithely on.
“Poor thing. His life, his whole family – it was such a horrible mess,” she said, wearing an exaggerated pout. But in a snap, she perked right back up. “But hey, look at him now! Sexy, successful and sleeping with a new girl every week.” She tossed a wink at me. “Wonder what adventures next week will bring. Right?”
Evie bristled. “Something tells me he might’ve just found a girl to stick with for awhile,” she said defensively as I kicked her under the table.
“Oh, bless your heart. You don’t know about his ten-day rule then, do you?” Britt smirked. “Don’t worry. Just ask him – he’s pretty open about it.”
“Totally. Will do,” Evie said with irritation, engaged in some fake-smile stare-off with Britt as my brain tried to catch up with everything she said.
I had a feeling I’d normally be rattled by whatever ten-day rule Britt was talking about, but I was too busy stunned by what she said about Emmett’s dad and grandfather. I’d always assumed George Hoult Sr. had died of old age, but apparently, he’d died within days of his son. Then there was Britt’s claim that Emmett’s life had been a “horrible mess” for years after.
Damn.
My heart twisted at the thought of easy breezy Emmett going through suffering of that magnitude. His only worries back then were his three favorite things: football, friends and girls. I could hardly imagine what he was like in the face of hardship. But whether or not I could imagine it, it didn’t change the fact that it happened, and that Emmett had been through a world of pain since I was gone. He just didn’t show it.
And I was an asshole for assuming his life was never anything but easy.
“Oh, look!” Britt chirped. “Speak of the devil.”
I heard the chime of the door swinging open and before even turning around, I watched Evie’s eyes and mouth pop open.
“Holy fuck – hot, hot, hot!” she mouthed furiously before I turned around and felt my breath hitch in my throat.
Because not only did Emmett look sinfully good in a plain white tee and blue jeans, just looking at him reminded me of everything we’d done last night. Maybe it was because he was wearing the shirt I’d slept in. But it was probably more to do with the fact that his blue eyes locked on me with such intensity I could feel a hot prickle dance over my skin.
“Hey,” he grinned at me, the sound of his voice flooding me with a sense of ease.
“Hey.” I’d set out a plan to be calm and cool when I saw him, but I couldn’t help the giant smile that spread my lips. “How… are you this morning?” I asked awkwardly, not knowing what else to say. We both somewhat snorted at my question before he gave an answer.
“Great. Better than ever,” he said before Britt cut in.
“Ibuprofen works wonders,” she said for reasons I didn’t completely understand. “Now that you’re feeling ‘better than ever,’ Emmett, are you ready to start our meeting?” she asked, innocently clasping her hands in a way that required her to push her cleavage together. Emmett looked at her then nodded at her table.
“I’m early. I’ll meet you there soon,” he said, prompting her humph sound as she marched off. When he turned back around, he smiled at Evie. “Sorry for being rude. I’m Emmett.”
“Yes, Emmett Hoult. I’m Evie. I’ve heard all about you,” she said, putting true emphasis on the word “all” and earning another kick under the table.
Emmett laughed. “Well, I hope it’s all good things.”
“Mm, it’s been a mixed bag.”
“Okay, Evie,” I interrupted before turning back to Emmett with a shy smile. “Hey,” I murmured. “What’s up?”
“Wanna order sushi and watch the Empires game tonight?” he asked.
“Oh.” My eyes fluttered. I hadn’t expected him to reply with a full-on plan, but I guess it didn’t sound half bad. “Yeah. Okay,” I said brightly to hide the fact that I wasn’t
particularly jazzed about these plans. “That sounds like… a nice, relaxing night.”
He smiled. “Sure. Well, I’ll let you work then,” he said, giving Evie a goodbye nod before turning back to me. “See you back home.”
“See you,” I said slowly, trying but failing to think of something better to end our conversation on. I mean the conversation we had was technically fine, but I couldn’t help the sudden knots in my stomach.
“What?” Evie frowned, easily reading my expression.
I shook my head to wave it off but eventually caved. “Was that weird just now?”
“Was what weird?”