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I peek over at Emery who is fidgeting on the couch, a lollipop stick hanging out of his mouth. He looks fucking fantastic. Maybe a little more tired, but nothing drastic. He’s a fucking image.
“No, I can take care of whatever it is. You go have fun with your friends.”
My mom pulls me into a hug before walking over to Emery and leaning down, wrapping her arms around him. Emery stiffens at the gesture, but pats her arm gently.
“We’ll both be home tomorrow evening. Call us if you need anything,” my mom tells me.
I’m reluctant to leave Emery alone, just in case he makes a run for it before we have a chance to talk. But I still help my mom carry her stuff to her car. When she finally drives away, I turn to Emery who’s standing now, pacing back and forth in the small living room.
He’s popping the candy in and out of his mouth, his lips cherry red. My heart gallops at the familiarity of the sight. A strand of hair falls against his cheek, and I fight the urge to step toward him and tuck it behind his ear. Honestly, I just want to touch him, breathe him in. It’s hitting me hard, how I missed him so fucking much.
“Um, so what do you need to talk about?” I ask, my tongue suddenly feeling too thick. My words almost slur together. It’s amazing he can even make out what I just said.
Emery peeks over at me and says, “I saw you a few days ago.”
“Did you?” I ask, trying to sound calm.
He rolls his eyes. “Yes, August. We saw each other. And youran away.”
My cheeks flame. Busted. “No. I walked in the opposite direction. There’s a difference.”
“You left your drink on the counter. It was completely full. Lex drank it. He said, ‘Emery, this cannot go to waste. There are starving children in Appalachia.’ Then he just guzzled it down.The drink. That you left.When you ran away.”
I shrug, feeling my pulse in my ears. Oh, shit. So that was Lex. The guy he fucked on occasion. Is he fucking him now? The thought makes my stomach churn.
“It doesn’t matter what happened.”
“Jesus,” he mutters, pressing the heels of his palms into his eyes and inhaling deeply. “Why the fuck did you run away, huh?”
I swallow and shove a hand through my hair. “Because, Em, you told me to stay the fuck away. Remember?”
Emery blinks at me and then he’s striding toward me, a frown on his face. His hands are suddenly in my hair and he’s messing it up with a drawn-out growl, like he’s pissed at my hair and not me.
And when he steps back, he pops the lollipop in and out of his mouth again, breathing heavily.
“What the hell?” I gasp. “Why’d you do that?”
“To make myself feel better. You look fucking human now.”
I run a hand through it again and Emery eyes it and shakes his head. “Fucking droid.”
“What did you call me?” I ask.
“A droid. A bot. Some kind of cyborg. That’s what you are, you unfeeling asshole.”
I stare at him and then he’s crunching down on his candy loudly.
“Why…what are you even talking about?” I cannot even follow his train of thought. He’s communicating in a different dimension.
“You. You seduced me and then left me. And you don’t even have the fucking human decency to look upset about it. You could have at least gotten a little less pretty in the time we’ve been apart. You didn’t even have the decorum to drunk-dial me at 3am and leave me an incoherent voicemail professing your undying affection. What the fuck, August?”
“You told me to stay away!”
“And then you ran away when you saw me. You didn’t even say hi!”
“Again, you said to stay away!” I’m not shouting but damn, I want to. What the hell is he talking about? Why is he so confusing?
“I didn’t mean it!” He’s panting now and the stick of his candy is wielded like a weapon in front of him. “I sort of meant it, but not really!”
