Tethered (35 page)

Emmet reached behind him to a table and grabbed a few napkins. He wiped my face and then kissed my forehead. He pulled me into his arms and despite how much I was hurting, I felt safe and protected and strength I really didn’t have.

“I want to tell her about us,” I said weakly.

“Whatever you want, baby,” Emmet said soothingly and kissed my head.

I wanted Sad Pathetic Donya to take a hike. I wanted to stop crying and find my own inner strength. I knew it was there somewhere, but SPD kept hiding it from me. She liked me weak and blubbering. She was a drama whore.

“Are you done for the day?” Emmet asked me.

I nodded. “Can we go back to the hotel now? Have you been there yet?”

“Felix had someone take my bags over, but I haven’t been there yet.”

“Are you staying with me?” I asked, feeling hopeful. I picked up the sunglasses and bag I had come for. Emmet took the bag from me and threw it over his shoulder even though it was pink.

“That’s up to your mom,” Emmet said, taking my hand and leading me out of the trailer. “But if she isn’t comfortable with it, Felix has an extra room in his suite.”

“You two are getting downright cozy,” I teased, still shuddering from my crying.

Emmet rolled his eyes. “I suffer him for you.”

“Thank you,” I said, squeezing his hand.

“You owe me so big.” He looked down at me with lust in his eyes.

“Oh, I will pay you more than what you are owed, sir,” I promised.

*~*~*

Felix insisted that we utilize room service anytime while we were staying in California. My mom and I both argued with him about it, but he was insistent. He even had the hotel staff call us around four thirty to ask if we would be dining in and to please take a look at the menus and order when we were ready. I gave up on saying no. Room service was a treat and if he wanted to foot the bill, I didn’t have the energy to argue anymore.

So, we ordered dinner and dessert when we got back to the suite. While we waited for our meals to arrive, I left Emmet with my mom at the dining table and went into my room for a shower. Emmet and I had decided that we would tell my mom about us over dinner. He had asked me why not tell everyone, but then I told him about Emmy’s reaction to the tabloid photos and how his mom had started to comment on it also.

“Eventually, they will all have to deal with it,” he had muttered, but didn’t push the subject further.

By the time I got out of the shower, dinner had arrived. I sat across from Emmet at the table, with my mom between us at the head of the table.

“I’m starving,” I sighed, lifting the lid off of my plate.

“Don’t they feed you there?” Mom asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “And it was delicious, but that was hours ago.”

“It always amazed me how much you can eat and not gain any weight,” she said, shaking her head.

“One day my ass will pay for it, I’m sure,” I said distractedly as I sprinkled pepper on my mashed potatoes.

“When did you start cursing like that?” she asked giving me a look that promised soap in my mouth.

“When she was seven,” Emmet mused. “But she was wise enough not to do it in front of adults, or often.”

I looked across the table at him. “Thanks a lot.”

“No problem,” he winked.

My mom looked at him and back to me before lightly clearing her throat. She looked back down at her pasta dish and pushed it around on the plate. I knew she probably didn’t eat earlier in the day. I had a feeling she wasn’t eating much at all.

“So, Emmet,” she said. “Where are you staying?”

“I was hoping Emmet could stay here,” I said optimistically.

Her eyes rolled onto me in a way in which only a mother can roll her eyes onto her child. It would have been heartwarming if it wasn’t kind of scary.

“But I can stay with Felix or even get my own room if you’re not comfortable with it,” Emmet said quickly.

Now her eyes rolled onto Emmet, but it wasn’t like a mom looking at her son. It was like a mom looking at the man that was dating her daughter. I knew in that moment that she knew. Some of my breath escaped my mouth with a light sound as it hung open while I gawked at her and Emmet.

She put her fork down, pushed her plate away and folded her arms on the table. She looked back and forth between us. For something better to do with my gaping mouth, I sipped on my glass of water.

“Please, lord, please…” she muttered under her breath as she looked up at the lord, I assumed. “Please tell me that you two didn’t sit me down at this table to tell me that you’re pregnant.”

Water sprayed across the table, all over mom’s food, Emmet’s steak and on his shirt and in his face. As if that wasn’t enough, I started choking again for the second time in two days. I fumbled for my glass of water again and swallowed big gulps, nearly choking it up.

“No one is pregnant,” Emmet finally said quietly as I caught my breath.

Mom slumped with relief and then picked up a few napkins and started wiping the table. “Thank god. She’s entirely too young. You’re entirely too young, too, Emmet.”

“You were near his age when you had me,” I pointed out. “And Sam was nineteen when she had Freddy.”

“Those were different times,” she said, reminding me of Fred’s words. “And Sam was a married woman before she got pregnant, and so was I.”

I picked up napkins and started to wipe up, too. I looked at Emmet and apologized.

“A little bit of spit and water isn’t going to deter me from my steak,” he shrugged and dug in again.

“Mom,” I started, but now unsure of how to proceed. She had shaken up my whole game plan.

“I have cancer,” she said to me. “I didn’t get a Stupid-Dumb-Blind-Mom disease. You think I didn’t see your face when Emmet came to take you to Felix’s party?” She looked at Emmet. “I saw your face when Felix showed up to bring D those pictures. When Emmet would bring you back to the suite at night when you thought I was sleeping, I couldn’t always hear what you were saying, but I could hear the emotion in the words.” She smiled sadly. “Reminded me a lot of Don and I when we were dating,” she said about my dad.

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” I asked quietly.

“I wasn’t sure how I felt about it,” she shrugged, but her forehead was creased. “I’m still not sure. I always looked at you two as a brother and sister.”

“That’s how everyone else sees us, too,” Emmet said slowly, looking at her. “I don’t think they’ll take it as well as you’re taking it.”

Mom snorted. “Every one of Samantha Grayne’s hairs will fall out of place as she loses her damn mind – more than it’s already lost.”

I laughed though there was more truth to that statement than not. Emmet smiled with amusement and nodded in agreement.

Mom looked at me seriously now. “Fred loves you like a daughter, Donya,” she said gravely. “More than Sam probably loves you like a daughter. He’s not going to approve of this.”

“I’m well aware,” I said softly, resting my hands in my lap.

“And honestly, I’m worried about how your careers are going to affect your relationship. You’ll be in New York and possibly all over the place.” She looked at Emmet. “You have years of hard schooling in front of you. Neither of you can afford the distraction.”

“She’s not a distraction,” Emmet said carefully. “Donya is my whole world.”

I smiled at him, but my smile was cut off by my mom’s next words. “That is a beautiful thing to say,” she said dryly. “And naïve. You’re very young, so I’m sure it really feels that way for both of you, but the paths you will follow separately will slowly take you apart, piece by piece.”

“Oh, great,” I said with mocked exuberance. “The mother I have been in search of for nearly seventeen years has made another appearance.”

“You underestimate our connection and love for each other,” Emmet said bitterly.

“I’m not trying to make you break up,” she said quickly, looking back and forth between us. “I’m trying to prepare you for the obstacles and people that may.”

“We’ll be fine,” Emmet said, pushing his plate away and crossing his arms.

“I hope so,” Mom said, looking at him hard. “I hope you two are stronger than I think. I hope you never have to break her heart – again – and I hope she doesn’t break yours.”

“You know about that?” I asked quietly, looking at the table. It still hurt to think about those long, sad days when Sad Pathetic Donya first made an appearance.

“I had a feeling it was a boy, but I didn’t know it was Emmet at the time. I figured it out later.”

I finally looked up into Emmet’s eyes, but spoke to my mom. “That was just as much my fault as his.”

“And look at us now,” he said shifting his gaze to my mom. “We’re together now.”

She nodded, but she didn’t look agreeable.

“Mom,” I said her name quietly and pleadingly as I looked at her. “Please have some faith in us. Please don’t make this difficult.”

She sucked in a breath and looked down at the dishes on the table as she spoke just above a whisper. “Donya, I’m not going to be here much longer. I’m not trying to make anything more difficult on anyone, but I’ve neglected giving you advice that you’ve needed for so long. I’m sorry if I’m dumping it all onto you all at once, but I might not be here if something terrible happens between you and Emmet.”

I swallowed back tears and blinked rapidly to make sure none slipped by.

“Mom,” I said again. “I understand that, but part of being a mom is making me believe everything will be okay. I know I’m not four, but as much as I need your honest advice, I need you to paint me a fairytale picture of princesses, knights in shining armor, castles in the sky and happy endings.”

She looked at me with tears in her eyes. We looked at each other for a long time and I was only vaguely aware of Emmet sitting across the table from me. Finally, she nodded in agreement.

“I’m sorry to break up this depressing conversation,” Emmet said, standing up and taking his near empty plate. “But I am in need of some dessert. I ordered the most expensive one on the menu since Felix is paying for it.”

Mom and I laughed. She went back to pushing her food around on her plate, taking very few bites. I went back to eating my dinner and Emmet dug into a decadent slice of chocolate fudge cake with large scoops of ice-cream on the side. We let the serious conversations go for the night, and simply enjoyed each other’s company.

*~*~*

My mom wanted me to be happy, so I was allowed to keep Emmet. My mom didn’t want to add to our possible hardships later down the road, so she agreed not to tell anyone about us, but my mom was being a mom and there was no way in hell Emmet was allowed to sleep in our suite. I pointed out that we slept under the same roof most of our lives, but she didn’t care. When she dragged herself off to bed later that night, she reminded Emmet that before it got too late, he was to take his butt across the hall to Felix’s suite.

I sat on the couch curled up at Emmet’s side, listening to the sound of his heart beating. His fingers trailed over my arm and his other hand rubbed my bare leg. I was glad I was wearing shorts again so I could feel his hand on my skin. It felt delicious and so did his skin under the palm of my hand that was under his shirt touching his chest and abs.

Emmet reached around me and tilted my chin up so that my lips met his. He kissed me slowly at first, but when his fingers curled in the hair at the back of my head, the kiss became harder and more passionate. His hand on my leg rubbed harder and higher until his fingers were reaching under my shorts and grazing my upper thigh right near my panty line. My fingernails grazed across his skin right at the hem of his shorts. I moaned softly as his fingers lightly moved across my dampening panties.

With as much effort as I could muster, I pushed his hand away and pulled away from his awesome mouth.

“She’s probably not even tucked into bed yet,” I whispered, breathing heavily.

“Go tell her we’re going for a walk on the beach,” he said, getting to his feet and pulling me with him.

I looked at him dubiously, but he waved me on. “Go on,” he urged.

I watched with surprise and longing as he adjusted his erection in his shorts. Without another word, I moved across the room and tapped on my mother’s door. With as straight a face as I could manage, I told her Emmet and I were going for a walk on the beach, that we wanted to take advantage of what little time we had together in L.A. especially since I never knew what my schedule was going to be like. She told us to be careful and to have fun. When I returned to the living room, Emmet took my hand and walked quickly towards the door.

“Are we really going to the beach?” I whispered as he opened the door.

“Not tonight,” he whispered back as the door closed behind us. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a keycard I didn’t know he had and put it in Felix’s door.

“Definitely cozy,” I smirked.

“Watch your pretty mouth,” Emmet snarled and then kissed me as he pushed me into the suite.

Felix’s suite was three times the size of ours. The room he slept in was on one side by itself. He had given Emmet a room in the far corner, affording each of them some privacy.

“What time will Felix be in?” Emmet asked, as he kissed my neck and walked us towards his room.

“Huh?” I asked, in a lust induced daze.

“Felix, babe. What time will he be in?”

“Oh. He thinks he’ll be done around midnight tonight.”

Emmet looked at his watch. “We have plenty of time for you to pay me back for putting up with that bastard.”

I laughed and pushed him away. I bit my lip and took a few steps away, looking at him with sparkling eyes.

“Maybe I’d rather be at the beach,” I said nonchalantly.

“Don’t make me chase you,” Emmet warned, taking a step toward me.

“You can chase me all you want, but there’s no guarantee you’ll catch me, Yale Boy.”

His eyes darkened.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I said, grinning. “Did I mix that up? It’s what…the extra snooty one you go to, right? Do you walk around with a cardigan tied around your polo shirt and wear loafers without socks?”

Emmet lunged for me, but I shrieked and jumped out of the way.