Is there even an excuse at this point to bail? Because if there is, I can’t think of it.
The thought of being with him in his house though is starting to give me heart palpations.
It was one thing to be with him in public… but in his private house, where he has complete control?
A shiver of excitement slithers down my spine and I shut that shit down quick. I have no idea where it came from, and I really, really don’t want to examine it closely.
“Bree?”
I glance at the house again and bite my lip. This feels like another one of those fuck-my-life-up bad decisions. I can feel it in my bones that nothing good is going to come from this.
Nothing good will come from getting closer to him.
I could say no. I could say take me home right now or I’m calling an Uber. Especially since he tricked me into this situation in the first place.
But seeing Casey pacing eagerly in front of the front door…
How bad could things possibly get if he’s here? It’s not like Emmett can pounce on me in front of the kid.
“Yeah, I’m coming,” I grumble and shoot Emmett a dirty look.
He knows what he did, but the cocky bastard doesn’t have an ounce of shame or remorse. No, his grin grows even more smug and pleased as he walks beside me up the front steps. There’s even a little bounce to his normal swagger…
Or maybe that’s just my irritation over the situation.
Dammit. If I could get away with it, I’d totally stick my foot out and trip him so that smug smile ends up plastered on the front porch.
Stopping beside Casey, I try hard not to glare daggers into Emmett’s back as he unlocks the front door. Try and fail. Thankfully, Case
y doesn’t seem to notice.
No, he’s so excited, he grabs my hand and tugs me into the house. Emmett barely has time to step to the side before Casey is half-dragging me, half-leading me through the door.
“Emmett bought a new TV today to watch movies, Bree,” he says excitedly. “You have to see it, it’s huge!”
Chapter Twelve
Bree
I never knew kids could talk so much. I swear Casey hardly stops to breathe.
Still pulling me by the hand, Casey leads me through the house, giving me a tour while he talks my ear off. The first thing he shows me is the new TV Emmett bought. It is indeed huge, a gleaming seventy-two-inch, top of the line.
After the TV, though, Casey shows me to his room. The room lacks a personal touch, and I find out he moved in with Emmett only last night.
We don’t stay in the bedroom for very long. Casey seems determined to show me every bedroom and bathroom in the house, and while he does it a hundred different questions pop into my mind.
Why did Emmett buy that TV? Why did Casey move in with him? Who are they to each other?
I never got a chance to ask Chase or Avery…
Thankfully, in his excited, nonstop chatter, Casey fills me in on everything. I get his entire life story. He tells me about his grandparents, and how his grandmother brought him to the gym so she could drop him off to stay with Emmett while his grandfather recovers from an illness.
He also tells me about his mom, a deadbeat drug addict who can’t get her act together. He hasn’t seen her since he was a baby and can’t even remember what she looks like.
The most shocking revelation by far though is when he tells me about his dad, Tommy. Tommy passed away a few months ago. His car was hit by a semi-truck that crossed the median on the highway.
By the time Casey finishes, dropping my hand so he can dig into the pizza Emmett ordered, I’m close to tears.