Aly’s eyes flew wide open. “Not even you? But you guys were always so close.”

“Well, he was far away. And while he was gone, he made some decisions that made us feel like he was going to s

tay away for good. And Mom wasn’t doing well. Gram wasn’t either. They’d both lost their husbands in one week, so they were my priority. Not Julian,” I shrugged, putting on a casual face despite the pain twisting under my ribs. I’d gotten good at that.

“So it was all on you?” Aly’s eyes were a little wet as she looked up at me. “You were eighteen years old and everyone’s rock?”

I nodded. The story wasn’t even as simple as this, but I couldn’t get into it any further, so I gave another shrug and smiled.

“That’s why I’m excited to start building on the family again. We all needed this,” I said, relieved to see the happy little curl touch Aly’s lips.

“You’re going to be an uncle,” she said, breaking into such a big grin I had to follow suit. “Fun Uncle Emmett. That’s got a nice ring to it.”

“Definitely,” I laughed just as the crack of a bat sounded, drawing both our eyes to a home run on the field.

And for the rest of the evening, we watched the game, Aly leaning her head against mine as she popped kettle corn in her mouth. I leaned back in my chair, swigging my beer, both of us fully relaxed as the Empires coasted into their fifth win in a row.

At the final out, Aly looked up at me, saying thank you before grabbing my shoulders and hoisting herself up to kiss my forehead then my lips.

It felt so fucking good.

Strange, but good.

Because while we were sitting in the stadium we grew up in, we were somehow in a completely different place.

23

ALY

I couldn’t say no to seeing Emmett’s apartment after the game. I had work in seven hours, and we still had a commute back to the Hamptons, but I couldn’t resist.

I was suddenly in a place where I wanted to know everything I could about Emmett.

It was definitely a hell of a one-eighty since a few weeks ago. Instead of bitter now, I was more so amazed by Emmett, and appreciative of him in a way I’d never been in my life. I could feel that it made me happier, too. Even lighter – as if this whole time, I’d been dragged down by the weight of the grudge I constantly held in my heart. I had always been certain that I never let it affect me day-to-day, but now I wasn’t so sure – especially since now, there was an actual skip in my step as I waltzed out of the elevator and into Emmett’s beautiful loft.

“Holy shit,” I said, my gaze instantly drawn to the floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking downtown Manhattan. I felt the breath hitch in my throat as I drifted over to the glittering view, exhaling when I felt Emmett come up behind me and wrap his strong arms around my waist.

“We can stay here tonight if you want. Julian’s already back in the Hamptons, so I’ll have him take Ozzy for the night. And then I’ll get up early with you so we can head back to the Hamptons together.”

When I turned around with my brow arched in question, he laughed.

“In the helicopter. Yes.”

I bit my sheepish grin. God, it all sounded so amazing but I still couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger.

“I don’t know. I obviously want to but I have to get to work early tomorrow to take care of this stupid thing.”

“What stupid thing?”

“My liquor license. It’s about to expire and the new application got delayed, so I need to take care of that before we have to shut down our booze program. The brunch people would pretty much lose their minds if they couldn’t order their Bloody Mary’s,” I said, getting stressed out just thinking about it.

“Hey. Easy.” He wasn’t even facing me, but Emmett could feel my tension. He buried his lips in my hair as he held my tighter. “I know people at the liquor authority. I can just make a call and push it through,” he said, grinning when I turned to give him a stunned look.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. Sound good?” he asked, cocking his head as I chewed my lip. “Why even hesitate about this if it makes your life easier?”

“I don’t know. Because I’m not used to getting things so easy. It makes me feel guilty. Like I didn’t earn it.”

Tags: Stella Rhys Irresistible Romance
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