Page 14 of Sass Me Again

“I knew it!” Ian shouted.

Emily looked at him, confusion plastered to her beautiful face. “You have no idea what is going on. Do you?”

“No. I don’t. I’d appreciate it if you’d enlighten me.” She crossed her arms and tapped her toes, impatiently awaiting his response.

God, he wanted to scoop her up and toss her over his shoulder, finding a quiet spot to sink deep inside of her heat before claiming her. But that had to wait for now. He had to figure out what the hell was going on. Were all of his dreams finally coming true?

“Where is she?” Ian yanked his cell phone out of his pocket and fired off a text to Jenn.

“Who are you texting? Are you going to tell me what is going on?” Emily huffed.

“Don’t you feel different?”

“What do you mean by different?” she asked. “What are you talking about? Ian, please. Talk to me. Why are you acting like this?”

“Like something different is going on inside of you. Have you noticed anything weird?”

Emily thought about it for a minute. She debated whether she should tell him about the voice she’d been hearing in her head all afternoon. The sudden emergence of a voice in her head was weird, but nowhere near as weird as he was acting.

“Are you afraid he’ll throw you in the loony bin?” The voice laughed, almost as if it were mocking her.

“Who are you?”

“What? Who are you talking to?” Ian looked at her as if she’d grown a second head.

“What’s up?” Jenn asked, interrupting their conversation as she jogged over to where they stood.

“Smell her,” Ian demanded.

“What?” Jenn and Emily asked in unison.

“Why would I smell her? Isn’t that your job,” Jenn said incredulously.

“I’m not kidding. Just do it!” he barked at Jenn.

“Fine!” Jenn rolled her eyes. She stepped up to Emily and sniffed. Her eyebrows arched, her eyes widening at Emily’s scent. “What the fuck?” Her head pivoted to Ian.

“So I’m not losing my damn mind?” Ian asked.

Jenn sniffed Emily again. “Holy shit! How is this even possible?”

“I don’t know. I don’t get it.”

“Hello!” Emily waved her hands wildly in the air. “For the last time, can someone please tell me what the fuck is going on instead of acting like I’m not standing right in front of both of you!” Anger pulsed through every inch of her body. She’d been mad plenty of times throughout her life, but nothing like this. This anger was different. It was all-consuming. It was the only thing that she could think about.

“Em, are you okay, love?” Ian asked.

She jumped back as he reached for her arm. “Something feels off,” she stammered. Her heart rate sped, her skin feeling like it was shrinking by the second.

“We need to get her out of here.”

Emily knew Jenn was the one speaking, but her voice sounded off. “Why are you screaming?” She grabbed her ears as the shrillness of her friend’s voice echoed in her mind.

“Calm down, love,” Ian said calmly, trying to defuse the situation.

“Stop yelling at me!” Emily cried out.

“It’s easier if you don’t fight it,” the voice in her head whispered with a laugh.