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“See you soon,” I told her with a laugh.
“I hope so.”
Ending the call, I stood there for a long moment, trying to make my heart return to a more normal pace. A pissed-off Malcolm was unpredictable. I needed to go into that conversation with a clear head. I wiped my sweaty hands on my shorts, my stomach in knots now. There was little chance I was actually going to be able to eat any of the food Cash was ordering for me. A scream bubbled up in my chest, making it hard to breathe, and I had to fight hard for my next inhale of oxygen.
I didn’t want to think about what would happen tomorrow. Didn’t want to imagine what kind of storm I would go home to and have to face on my own. That was how it always was, though. I was always alone when it came to my mom and her husband. I had no one to stand behind me, not even Riley and Lindsey, because I loved them both too much ever to subject them to Malcolm’s wrath.
“You okay?”
I yelped and turned to find Emmie standing right behind me. My smile still in place, I nodded. “Sure. Just some family drama. Nothing unusual.”
The look on her face didn’t change, and as those big green eyes seemed to bore straight into me, cutting through every layer I’d ever erected around my soul, I knew she could see the scared little girl I was underneath.
Shame made my face heat. Lowering my eyes, I started to move around her, hating that she of all people could see the truth about how fragile I really was. Emmie Armstrong was my hero, the girl who came from nothing but became a fucking goddess in the music world. While I knew I could never aspire to be even a little like her, that hadn’t kept me from dreaming.
A soft hand caught my wrist when I would have passed her, holding me in place. Lifting my head, I met her gaze and saw total understanding in those green depths. “If you ever need anything—anything, Amara—come to my office. I’ll do whatever I can for you.”
My smile started to crumble, my chin quivering without my permission. Quickly locking it back into position, I nodded once. “Thanks. I…I should get back.”
A waitress was setting plates of food in front of Cash when I returned. I gave Riley back her phone and took my seat beside him. My stomach protested when I looked down at my own plate of food, but I picked up a slice of crispy bacon and forced myself to eat half of it.
Cash draped an arm along the back of my chair, his fingers playing with my hair as he inhaled his food and talked to everyone around us. I smiled and nodded whenever it was appropriate and pretended to eat my breakfast, but mostly I kept quiet as I tried to push thoughts of Malcolm out of my mind.
“What’s on the agenda for the day, kid?” Shane asked Riley. “You going back to the festival?”
Riley smirked at the rocker. “What’re my other choices?”
“We were thinking of doing a friendly little paintball war later,” he said with a shrug. “You girls want to join in?” He glanced my way, letting me know I was included in the question.
“This is Riley’s weekend. I’ll follow wherever she leads,” I told him as I took a small bite of my pancakes.
“Depends.” Riley grinned. “Whose team would we be on?”
“Captains!” Drake called, and at least eight hands shot forward as round after round of Rock, Paper, Scissors began.
“How did the quiet chick beat you?” Devlin Cutter asked his brothers-in-law. “Is she really a voodoo princess?”
“I don’t know, but I’m kind of scared of her,” Shane said with a grin in Roanna’s direction. “Peace, rock goddess. Let me be on your team so I don’t have to watch my back.”
“No way!” Aubree shook her head at him. “I say, all of us girls against the guys.”
“I’m in,” Santana told her and laughed at Kale when he pouted at her.
Shane snorted. “That’s not fair to your team, ladies. There are twelve of us and only seven of you because I know Emmie won’t play.”
“Scared?” London challenged.
“Of course not.” But I could see the irritation playing across his face at the challenge. “I just want to make it fair to you girls.”
“I’d be more concerned for your own team if I were you,” Genesis snickered. “We’re totally going to smoke you idiots.”
“Let’s make this interesting,” London offered. “How about a little friendly bet?”
“No bets,” Devlin groaned, but Shane was smiling smugly.
“Okay, kid. What you got in mind?”
“London,” Roanna warned, but the other blonde only shushed her. “Sin, stop this before it gets out of hand.”
