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He walks us a few feet away from the others. “Is everything okay? Is there something else I need to know?”?
“I’m good. Just needed something for my mom at home since she’s doing it all on her own,” I answer, which is the partial truth. I can’t stomach admitting to him that I want to burn the table in our kitchen to the fucking ground, so I need to buy a new one first.?
“Why didn’t you come to me?”?
“All your classes have teachers, your front desk is covered, and Emerson is cleaning. What other jobs could there be at Lights Out? Plus, I know you’ve been covering my part of the extra Jiu-jitsu coaching.” I hang my head. “You already do a lot for me… I didn’t want to ask for anything else.”?
“Well, you dumbass… if you had just asked me, I could have told you I do need a left-handed coach for a few of our members.” Gunnar shakes his head at me in disappointment before throwing his thumb over his shoulder, pointing toward Emerson. “Especially this one right here. She’s unreal already, but she would be unstoppable if she had another leftie to work with on some of her techniques.”?
The thought of coaching her one-on-one excites me a whole hell of a lot more than it should.?
Gunnar turns to look at my friends. “Emmy, can you train with Nox on Wednesdays and Fridays after school?” he asks, knowing those are the two days I’m not training with a professional coach right now.?
She looks between Gunnar and me, her thoughts hard to read.?
“Yeah, sounds good. Thank you.”?
“Okay, let’s get out of here,” Frankie interrupts.?
“And Dad, before you give me shit, I’m going to a party at Remi’s with the boys. Lucian is driving. I promise we are good.”?
Gunnar looks to his daughter’s best friend to verify what she is saying is the truth. I swear he trusts Lucian more than Frankie sometimes.?
“We are going to drop Em off first, and then head over there,” Lucian confirms.?
The next words fall from my mouth without hesitation.?
“I’m exhausted. You can catch a ride with me.”?
She nods as Ben sneaks his way in beside her. “Emmy, come on. I don’t want to go without you.”?
Emerson just laughs him off.?
“Sounds like ayouproblem,” I say, grabbing the keys out of my bag.?
“Let’s go, Em.” I turn my attention to my brother. “Be careful. Call me if you need anything.” I’m still pissed at him for ditching Emerson at the party in Highland, and he knows it. At least now I know where his feelings for her truly stand, which only has me more confused than ever about my own infatuation with the girl.?
A few minutes later, we are leaving the old Walmart parking lot, and Emerson bursts out laughing.?
“What?”?My voice comes out huskier than I mean for it to, but the sound of her laugh is like a siren calling me to the sea.
She lets out another giggle. “You just won a fight against a guy they call Bent Dick, in a rundown Walmart… What kind of backwoods blasphemy is that shit?”?
I laugh, unable to recall the last time I did so freely.?
“Yeah, not my finest moment. But I needed the quick cash.”?
“You would have never lived it down if you had lost to that Douche McGouche.”?
“You and I both know I wasn’t losing that fight.” I smirk, and she shakes her head at me. The smile on her face tells me I’m right.?
“So why didn’t you want to go to the party?”?
“Why did you need the money?” she asks, looking out the window.?
“You first?” I counter.?
“Honestly, I just was on people overload and wanted a break from it all.”?
