Loud: The Complete Series (A Bad Boy Alpha Male Romance) (15 page)

Emerson stood and walked over to the counter. I
watched him from behind, and it definitely seemed as if the wind had been taken
out of his sails somewhat. A pang guilt rushed over me. Things had started to
move too quickly, too suddenly, for me to keep them in check. I wasn't ready
for it. Someone had to put the brakes on somehow. If that person had to be me,
then it just had to. Anything, to avoid having my soul crushed again.
Anything.

I watched as
Emerson strode back to the table. He carried himself
with such confidence, but the expression on his face didn’t match. I could only
speculate why.

“Alright, it's all taken care of. Ready to head out?”

“Yeah. Thanks again for the lovely dinner, Emerson.”

“My pleasure. Maybe we can do it again sometime.”

“
Maybe,” I
replied cooly. Then it hit me, I had to ride back to the apartment pressed
against his back with my arms wrapped tightly around him. Cool was about to go
out the window.

CHAPTER
SIXTEEN

Emerson

Having Brooke hold onto me from the back of the bike
was nice, but nothing like the ride to the restaurant. Her arms were around me,
but it felt as if she wasn't really there. The fire that had burned when I had
been spinning that story for Ben and the glow in her eyes when we connected had
been undeniable. The way she looked at me when she realized what I’d done for
her had ignited more than just a fire in me. It stirred something I couldn’t
put a label on. I'd felt great, and it had looked like she felt it, too. The
way she had opened up to me, out of nowhere, about the situation with her ex
said something. Surely, it meant she felt
something
for me.

But then, she simply shut down again. The walls shot
back up in record time just when it seemed I was about to make a breakthrough.

It was frustrating. Although, after hearing what that
Andrew jerk had done to her, I kind of understood. She’d never said how long it
had been since it happened. I could only wonder how fresh the wounds were.
Having your heart broken in such a horrific way would certainly cut deep and
leave scars that could take a while to heal. I could see why she might be
hesitant to trust a guy like me. I hadn't made the best impression early on,
with the partying, the drinking, and having Melissa hanging around.

It stung a little to think that she might not trust
me, that she might question the kind of person I was, especially considering it
was my own fault. So, yeah, it stung, but it was understandable. It also made
me realize I needed to make some real changes in my life. I'd already committed
to the promise I'd made to myself to work hard at school all year, but Brooke
made me see it was time to make other changes — major changes. Changes I’d
known all along I needed to make, but hadn’t had the right motivation to follow
through on. There was no doubt I could do it, I’d just needed a bit of
incentive, and Brooke had just given it to me.

It was up to me to correct those early impressions
Brooke had of me, to prove to her that I wasn't the guy she likely suspected I
might be.

We pulled up to our apartment building, and I
maneuvered the bike into its parking spot. I killed the engine, hopped off, and
then helped Brooke off the back. I had to admit, just taking her hand to help
her off the back sent a thrill racing through my veins.

“Thanks again for dinner and for the ride and for…”
She paused before looking up at me. “And thank you for having my back with
Ben,” she voiced, still holding the helmet in her hands.

Apparently, our stares held a fraction too long and
she quickly averted her eyes and began trying to strap the helmet to the bike.
I stepped in to help.

“Dinner really was lovely,” she repeated.

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself. Thank you for going
with me. I had fun.”

We stood for a few moments, both feeling awkward and
not quite knowing what else to say.

“Well, uh,” she suddenly stammered, “I, uh, I gotta
get busy with that studying. So, I guess I'll see you around.”

“Sure,” I replied, disappointed the evening was
already over. “See ya later.”

She hurried off into the apartment building while
proceeded to lock up my bike. I really wished we could have spent more of the
evening together. It was the perfect kind of night for breaking down walls. The
sky was clear; the first stars were just starting to sparkle against the dark
background. The air was warm with a slight breeze rustling through the trees.
It was a beautiful evening. But it was an evening I’d be spending alone, and I
simply had to accept that.

I walked up to the apartment, and as soon as I got to
my floor, I could hear that Chris was jamming on his new sound system – the
bass was thumping all the way down the hall. Suddenly spending the evening
truly alone sounded better and better. Remembering how Brooke had said the
sound went right through into her apartment, I hurried to unlock our door.

“E-dawg!” Chris shouted over the noise as I walked in.
“Welcome back to the man-cave! Grab a beer and let's get this Friday night
started the
right
way!”

“Dude, turn the tunes down a bit,” I insisted as I
stepped in and closed the door behind me.

“What?”

“I SAID, TURN THE MUSIC DOWN, BRO! IT'S TOO LOUD!”

Chris frowned and shook his head, but he turned it
down. “That better, grandpa?” he said with a smirk.

“Come on, man, you know the sound is going all the way
into the neighbors’ apartments. We don't wanna get kicked out of this place.”

“Shit, Emerson, you're sounding like such an old man
these days. Lighten up, brah! What the hell happened to the E-dawg I used to
know?”

“Dude, look, I'm not saying the music isn't awesome.
It is! You're banging on the decks, man, but you just gotta watch that volume.
Remember, the previous neighbors already laid a few complaints about us and we
got that written warning from management. They could kick us out. And
seriously, if someone called the cops and they came here and found all the
booze we've got in this place? You haven't forgotten that we're both under
twenty-one, right? Come on, man, let's not take risks like that, alright? Let's
just keep the volume down to a level where they won't bitch about us.”

Chris rolled his eyes. “Yes, Dad,” he replied.

I shook my head. It seemed like it was getting harder
and harder to get through to Chris.

“You can at least get yourself a beer, man,” he said.
“Stop taking everything so seriously.”

“Alright, alright,” I replied, and I headed into the
kitchen to grab a beer. I needed it after the week I’d had.

I grabbed one from the fridge, popped the top, and
then sucked back a mouthful of the cool, refreshing liquid. I felt better as
soon as I did. I walked out into the living room and flopped down onto the
sofa.

“So, what's the plan for the evening?” I asked Chris
as I sipped on my beer.

“Melissa and her friends are coming over for some
drinks later. I hope you're ready to get your party boots on, bro!”

I groaned. “Aw no, dude. I gotta study tonight, I
can't do that.”

Chris folded his arms across his chest.

“You gotta
study
tonight
? Jesus, Emerson, it's Friday
night, for Christ's sake!
Friday night!
No way dude, no way. I'm
not
letting you sit in your room and read books all night like a nerd. Hell no!”

“Dude, come on. I'm trying to-”

“Trying to what? Nope! No way!”

At that moment, the doorbell rang. He grinned and
hurried over to open it.

“There's no way you're gonna get away with studying
now!” he said. “These bitches will never let you get away with that.”

“Alright, alright,” I sighed. “But seriously, only
like two or three drinks. That's
it.
I mean it.”

 
The door burst
open and Melissa and her bevy of friends came in, giggling. I shook my head. It
really was the last thing I needed. Still, with everyone there and the music
going, it was impossible to study and hard to resist. I sighed, sipped on my
beer, and mentally prepared myself for the night to come.

***

Four hours later, Nicky Minaj's “
Anaconda”
was playing in the club,
and Melissa was doing her best to get all over me, grinding against me on the dance
floor like it was nobody's business. I was pretty drunk, and the lights were
starting to blur around me.

Still, I didn't want anything to do with Melissa, as
hard as she was trying to have something to do with
me.

I simply turned around and stumbled off the dance
floor, leaving her to grind it out on her own. I'd had enough, and I’d had way
more to drink than intended. It was time to get out of there and get back home.
If I drank enough water and ate a big meal before sleeping, there was a chance
that I wouldn't feel too terrible when I woke up and I might be able to
actually get some stuff done.

I had started toward the exit when I felt a hand on my
shoulder.

“Hey! Emerson, what are you doing?”

Melissa.
Jeez,
I just couldn't get away from her.

“I'm going home.”

“Okay, I'll get my bag and tell-”

“No, I mean,
I'm
going home. By myself.
Alone.
”

She stared at me with an icy gaze for a few moments;
I'd never been so blunt with her before and it was clear she was pretty upset
about it. I didn't really care, though; if that's what it took to get her to
leave me alone, I was okay with it.

“You know, you can be a real fucking jerk sometimes,
Emerson,” she said coldly.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, and shrugged my shoulders. “I’m
gonna go now.”

She turned around and stormed off and, although I felt
a bit bad, I mostly felt relieved. I grabbed two bottles of water from the bar
and headed out of the club to hail a cab.

On the way home, I opened the window and stuck my head
out to take in the fresh air. The sky was still clear and starry, and the
temperature was still warm. As the cab pulled up outside my building, I decided
I’d go sit on the roof for a while before heading off to bed.

 
I paid the fare
and went straight to the back stairwell where I could access the roof of the
building. I jogged up the stairs, still feeling the effects of the alcohol, but
not as much after drinking the bottles of water in the taxi. I was actually
starting to feel a little better.

I headed out onto the roof, staring up at the stars
all the while. It was pretty spectacular, despite the light contamination from
the city. I'd always loved stars and the night sky, ever since I was a little
kid. I walked along the rooftop, heading for the far edge where I could look
out over the city. That's when a familiar voice startled me.

“Emerson? What are you doing up here?”

I spun around to find Brooke seated on a fold-up
chair. I couldn't help but smile. I hoped that I wouldn't make a fool out of
myself, seeing as I was drunk.

“I'm, well, I just like looking at the stars,” I said,
feeling self-conscious about my speech having a slight slur. “I just got home,
and it was, it was too pretty a night to just stay cooped up inside.”

“You guys were partying again tonight, huh?”

“Um, yeah,” I remarked, feeling a bit guilty. “Sorry,
was the noise buggin’ you guys?”

“It was okay. When we turned the TV up, it wasn't too
bad.”

“Oh, look, I'm really, really sorry, Brooke. I told
Chris to keep it down, and, and, I turned it down myself soooo many times, but
he, he'd always, like, turn it right back up, and-”

“Are you drunk?” She locked an almost accusatory stare
into my eyes.

“I, uh, yeah. Yeah, I'm a bit drunk.”

Surprisingly, she chuckled, and there didn't seem to
be anything judgmental in the way she laughed.

“I can tell,” she snickered. “Where did you guys go?”

“Same place we always go,” I replied sheepishly. “Club
74.”

“How do you guys get in? I mean, you're under
twenty-one.”

“Chris' cousin is a bouncer there. He lets us in.”

“And what if the cops were to show up? You guys would
be in a world of trouble. Chris's cousin probably would be, too, for letting
you in.”

“There's a s-secret back entrance the cops don't know
about. He could sneak us outta there if it came to it. Look, I don't really… You
know, I don't actually like going out and drinking much anymore,” I slurred,
painfully aware of how stupid I likely sounded. “It's just, Chris…he's a, he's
a bad influence, ya know? It's so hard to say no to him.”

“Oh, so it's all Chris's fault, huh?” she chided
playfully.

I burst into a drunken chuckling fit. “Okay, okay, so
it's kinda my own f-fault, too.” I turned my attention back to the sky. “Hey,
check it out, there's Orion. See, that's his belt, those three stars, and those
other ones, well, that's his b-bow and arrow.”

“Which ones?” she asked, looking up toward where I was
pointing.

“Those three, right there — they're his belt.”

“I still can't see.”

I walked over and squatted down next to her. She
smelled amazing. I couldn't deny I was feeling pretty damn aroused being so
close to her. I hoped she didn't notice. Or, maybe I hoped she
would
notice. I pointed up. Being right next to her meant she could follow my line
far easier.

“Oh!” she said with a smile. “
Now
I see it.”

“Yeah! Right? Once you've spotted it properly, it
t-totally makes sense.”

“Orion's the hunter, isn't he?”

“Yesss.”

“What's he hunting? I mean, what's his bow aimed at?”

I shrugged. “Must be something up there he wants to
shoot!”