Her body remembered his scent, his taste . . . the rough feel of his strength. Remembered the way he’d made her soar and shatter. She trembled from those memories, which then caused him to groan with pleasure. Tumbling into some crazy kind of ecstasy, Emma’s body slackened against his. She might’ve let him strip her down to nothing right there if the pounding bass of a new song hadn’t jolted her back to reality.
Suddenly remembering where she was—in a room full of friends’ parents and her neighbors—she pushed away from Wyatt. Dazed, they stared at each other, chests heaving.
A lazy smile spread beneath his heated gaze. “Remind me to thank Trip for that stupid bet.”
Heat throbbed through her limbs. Her skin must’ve looked like a boiled lobster. Never, never, never had she made herself a public spectacle. Damn that Trip Lexington, and damn Wyatt Lawson, too.
She staggered, and Wyatt reached out to catch her. “Emma, are you okay?”
“Yes.” Shrugging out of his grasp, she straightened her spine. “If you’ll excuse me for a minute.”
She turned and marched toward Trip, whose usual smirk had been replaced by openmouthed surprise. “You lose. Pay Wyatt the hundred bucks.” Then, as regally as she could manage, she smiled at Kelsey, Grey, and Avery and proceeded directly to the ladies’ room.
Setting her hands on either side of the sink basin, she took a few seconds to catch her breath and compose herself. To adopt a laissez-faire attitude and strut back into the crowd as if that kiss had been no big deal.
Predictably, Avery and Kelsey burst into the bathroom before Emma had a chance to recover.
“Oh my God, Emma Duffy.” Kelsey literally bounced on her toes, every one of her curves jiggling with excitement. “I’m so proud of you. That was H-O-T!”
Equally predictably, Avery smacked Kelsey’s arm before turning to Emma. “Em, are you drunk?”
“Emma’s never drunk, Ave,” Kelsey said, as if the mere idea of Emma being anything less than sober were a fairy tale. She flashed a saucy smile. “She’s just in lurve.”
“Honestly, Kelsey.” Avery rolled her eyes, then reached for Emma’s shoulder. “What’s going on with you and Wyatt? I mean, you never do things like that. Then again, we are at Kelsey’s engagement party, so I should expect just about anything to happen.”
Kelsey didn’t even take offense. Instead, her smile beamed like sunlight bouncing off the mirrors. “Emma, this fling is exactly what you need right now. Your mom is gone. You’ve got one of the sexiest snowboarders in the whole darn country staying at your inn all by his lonesome. It’s high time for a little fun and romance. Not work, work, work all the time. Volunteering everywhere and being so . . . good.”
Unlike Kelsey, Emma had never thrown caution to the wind and doubted it would work out well if she did. But that dull adjective burrowed under her skin like a Lyme disease‒infected tick.
“Good,” Emma repeated the words flatly, staring at her reflection. “Why is that always the first word everyone says about me?”
“You’re a kind, caring person. A good friend and daughter,” Avery said. “Why does it sound like you don’t like that label?”
“Because it’s so . . . boring.” Emma looked at Avery. “People call you smart, assertive, adventuresome. Kelsey’s sparkly and romantic and savvy. I’m just good.”
Avery rubbed her hand on Emma’s back. “It’s not meant as an insult. You’re our rock. The sane person who keeps us in check. The one we trust for the best advice.”
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t,” Emma said, almost in tears. She knew her friends loved her, but there was an entire side of her heart they didn’t know. A side no one knew. With all her secrets and repressed needs, she was the last person who should be giving anyone advice.
A private piece of her soul wondered what life might’ve been like had her dad not taken off and left her to prop up her broken mother. The devil that wouldn’t leave her shoulder whispered subversive ideas about where she might be living and what she might’ve accomplished if Grammy hadn’t always counted on her to keep the Weenuche legacy going. Emma didn’t dislike her life, but there were times when the parts that didn’t fit so well really chafed. Tonight was one of those times.
Only Wyatt had ever caught a glimpse of another side of Emma, and he didn’t even remember—didn’t know that she was Alexa.
Still, she wouldn’t share these thoughts with her friends. Ever since her father left, she’d locked down any part of herself that might cause conflict or controversy. That might create distance or cause people to judge her unworthy.