Noah’s face brightened when he saw Emery. “Em, this is Vanessa. Vanessa is my tutor, because I’m not as smart as I should be.”
Vanessa was petite and pretty, perfect for Noah, with long reddish-brown hair. It was beautiful and it made Emery ache for her real hair, her long hair. She’d finally gotten it cut and recolored a deep brown. It made her feel like Emily but the length had taken a lot of getting used to. She’d also bought a ton of new clothes after Rachel delivered the first ten grand from Phil.
Emery walked up to her and shook her hand. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Vanessa said and looked at Noah with such longing it broke Emery’s heart. He didn’t seem to want to be with any one person, but with whomever could keep his bed warm at night. One seemed as good as any other.
“Noah, I’m going to head back to my room, but I just wanted to make sure everything went okay.”
He nodded and pulled the pitcher of tea out of the fridge. “We’ll talk later.”
“Okay. It was so nice to meet you, Vanessa. I’m assuming you’ll be around a good bit this year with all of Noah’s economics classes.”
“We’ll see,” Vanessa said, her eyes widening in surprise that Emery knew Noah’s schedule. “It was nice to meet you too…Em?”
“Oh, it’s Emily, sorry.” Noah walked their glasses over to the table next to the kitchen and let his backpack drop off his shoulder. Then he looked up to give Emery another bright smile.
Emery went into her room and put her earbuds in, grabbing her book and sinking into the world of a girl who loved hard and enjoyed sex. She’d been reading a good bit of really messed up stories, but she’d stumbled into a couple that ended up with a happy ending. She’d found she sort of dug that; it gave her solace that maybe things would be okay. That she’d be okay.
Lost in the world of hunger, sex, and despair, she felt the bed depress behind her. Her heart flew out of her throat and she couldn’t control her scream as she jumped from the bed.
Noah sprang from the bed and stood there, stunned at her reaction.
Emery’s earbuds fell out during the display of terror. They stood staring at each other, each one’s chest heaving as if they’d run a marathon.
Noah broke the tension first. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I called your name a bunch…”
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you and my earbuds were in and I was lost in…” Emery raised her hand to her chest to try to calm her racing heart. “I don’t know.”
“Are you okay?” Noah asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“I guess. You just scared me.” Emery lowered herself to the bed, but very far from Noah. “Sorry.”
He put his palm over her right hand, which was pressed into the bed. Emery pulled it quickly out from under his and ran into the bathroom. She shut the bathroom door after her and locked it. His touch scared her, even though she was sure Emily wouldn’t have done that. She couldn’t help it. Emery slid down the door and wrapped her arms around her knees.
CHAPTER TEN
Don’t Break Anything
Emery, Rachel, and Noah were sitting at Jack’s, a BBQ restaurant on Music Row in downtown Nashville. It was a Sunday and they’d been relaxing all day since Noah was tired from his game the day before. It was October and Rachel was on her fall break from school; she planned to spend all week with Emery.
“So Noah, you never told me what happened with the scout?” Rachel asked, her mouth full.
“It went fine. They want me to do the combine this year. I just think it’s too early.” Noah leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms.
“They want you to leave school?”
“I mean, it was just one person’s opinion. My dad and I talked and I’m going to stay in college. I’m actually thinking I’ll play the fifth season they allow.”
Emery didn’t realize he’d decided he wanted to stay longer.
“Hmm,” Rachel murmured. “My cousin the NFL star.”
“No, I’m pretty sure it would be your cousin the sideline performer for the NFL.”
“Well that’s still pretty awesome, right?” Rachel looked from Emery to Noah.
Emery shrugged. She thought it was great, but Noah was competitive and didn’t want to be in a league where he wasn’t the best. He didn’t think he’d do well.
Noah excused himself to the bathroom and Rachel glared at her.
“What?” Emery asked.
Rachel had just gotten in with another ten grand from Phil. “What did you do to Noah?”
“What do you mean?” Emery thought Rachel was talking about the NFL conversation. She was baffled.