Page 169 of Baby Girl
With a confidence fueled by anger and irritation, I turn my back on them and head toward the hallway.
“Emery, don’t leave, please. We need to talk about this,” Derek calls, his footfalls loud against the wooden floor as he follows me.
I ignore him, making it halfway down the hall before he captures my elbow and pulls me to a stop.
I whip around to glare at him. “Are you going to chain me to your bed again? Keep me here against my will long enough to convince me that you are the right choice? My only choice?”
His brows furrow at my words, and he shakes his head, hand falling away from my elbow. “No, we would never do that.”
I roll my eyes at him. “Right.”
He tips his head up to the ceiling, like he is praying for patience or some shit, before striding past me to the door and unlocking it for me. “I’m not going to force you to stay here, Emery. If you would like to leave, you are more than welcome to.”
My heart does a flip in my chest, but it feels weird. Kind of like it was expecting to roll forward but rolled backward instead. “I want to leave.”
Derek pulls the door open and gestures to his front yard. “By all means.”
The floor doesn’t feel so sturdy under my feet as I walk toward him and my exit. Like, somehow I’m the one who has made a mistake here. I don’t take my eyes off him as I approach, careful not to brush up against him as I step out into the cool air.
The weak morning sun kisses my cheeks as I walk down the pathway and make it all the way to the end of his driveway before I look back and see him standing in the entry, watching me, arms folded over his naked chest.
His gaze breaks from mine, and I follow it to the car that’s pulling up next to me. Opening the back door, I start to get in, but Derek calls out to me.
“If you change your mind about wanting to talk, all four of us will be at the apartment tonight.” He’s taken a step out from the door, and his hands are hanging by his sides.
I shake my head, heart in my throat. “I can’t. I have a date with Will tonight.”
Derek’s posture deflates and his lips part. Unable to watch his reaction to that piece of information for a second longer, I turn my back on him and finish climbing into the car and close the door behind me.
“Hi, Newton campus?” the driver asks me.
I nod and try to smile. “Yes, please.”
If there is a tear in my eye, I convince myself that it’s from the discomfort of the bite mark pressing into the seat. It has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they will be waiting for me and I won’t be showing up.
Chapter 87
Emery
“Wow,” Oakley mutters as we take our seats.
Will left two tickets under my name at the box office, and we picked them up on our way in. We’re directly behind some glass that surrounds two boxes with bench seats, right in the center of everything. There is noise everywhere, and it seems even louder than it should be for such a large space.
“Right?” I reply as I put my backpack on the floor by our feet and then proceed to stare at all the people wearing aqua, black, and gold. “Did we know that the ice hockey team has this many fans?”
Oakley shakes her head. “Nope, hockey is so not my thing.”
“Not even for Vinnie?” I ask, shooting her a grin.
She gives me a flat look. “Definitely not for him.”
“So, you guys didn’t hook up at the party after I left?”
“No,” she says with a head shake. “I actually don’t even remember seeing him at the party. I ended up hanging out with a few of the girls from my poli-sci class.”
I raise an eyebrow at her. “Interesting. I would have bet good money you had him hiding in your room the morning after.”
“Urgh, don’t even remind me about the next day. I’m never drinking that much again.” Her face has gone slightly pale at the memory. “Those pink bubbly drinks didn’t even taste like alcohol.”
