by L. A. Fiore
They flew apart like they were on fire, Emma at one end of the sofa, and Branch at the other. He grabbed a throw pillow to cover up his erection. He looked over at Emma, her face was flushed, her eyes were heated, her hair a mess. They weren’t going to fool anyone.
As if she knew that too, she jumped up from the sofa and fled to the bathroom. Branch dropped his head back, looked up at the ceiling and called back. “Bring extra ice.”
That night Branch had a hard time falling asleep and it had nothing to do with the old uncomfortable couch he was sleeping on. No. It had to do with the ache between his legs thinking about Emma. He even thought about taking the dog for a walk, hiding in a bush to get off, but… they didn’t own a dog. Emma’s aunt was a hardcore money saver so a long shower was out of the question. He’d just have to stay in pain until he got home.
The next morning, Branch woke to the smell of bacon. He sat up and immediately felt the ease in the air, Aunt Laura had left for work. Branch went to the bathroom, did his thing, brushed his teeth and went to the kitchen. As soon as he moved into it, his feet stopped because Emma was at the stove, a nightshirt barely brushing the tops of her thighs, the sight of her ass in pink panties, peeking out the bottom. Branch thought about walking the neighbor’s dog.
“Happy birthday,” Branch grumbled, dangling a gold bracelet from his fingers.
Turning to him, she dropped the spatula, and with a soft squeal hurried across the room to him. “Branch, it’s beautiful.” Her bright eyes lifted from the bracelet to him. “I love it.”
He smiled at Emma’s excitement and when he got her brown eyes he whispered. “You’re beautiful.”
Her expression went soft, her voice too when she asked, “Can you help me put it on?”
Branch did as she asked, and when he was done, she held her arm out wiggling the gold charm bracelet around. Branch had not only worked his ass off to pay for his trip but to buy Emma a sweet sixteen bracelet he’d had his eye on for almost a year.
Emma touched the bracelet, holding it to her heart. “I really love it. Thank you.” She nervously worked her lip before asking, “Did you like your gift?”
“A truck magazine every month?” He asked the question but answered it. “Of fucking course.” he chuckled.
Her face lit up. “Oh good. I know how much you want a truck.”
Branch looked to the floor before he lifted his eyes to hers, and told her. “And when I do. I’m gonna pick you up, Emma Blake, take you for a long drive. One so long when we get back we’ll be old enough to stop at Tate’s and have a beer.”
“I’ll be waiting, Branch McKenna.” She leaned into him and added, “I’m going to hold you to that.”
Branch smiled at Emma, she smiled back.
She turned then, gestured behind her. “I made you breakfast.” She didn’t wait and plated him some eggs and bacon. She poured him a cup of coffee and dropped it on the island. Drawing her lower lip between her teeth, she rested up against the island. “You’re leaving tomorrow.”
Branch didn’t answer her, instead, he took the initiative to ease their suffering and moved toward Emma with a grin on his face. No way was he going to waste the alone time they had with small talk. Emma’s eyes went wide, right before she smiled. When Branch reached her, he grabbed her around the waist and crushed his lips to hers.
She laced her fingers into his hair, dragged her mouth from his and huskily said, “You always could read my mind.” Before she kissed him back, getting up on her tiptoes, and pressing against him.
Breakfast was forgotten, as they took up where they left off last night. Hands roamed, as lips, tongues, and teeth explored. Branch moved her back against the counter, his hand sliding down her body to her bare thigh. His fingers trailing over the skin before moving up and around to her ass. Emma moaned and shifted into his touch.
He moved his mouth from hers to kiss her neck, where he groaned. “Em, I don’t think I’m gonna be able to stop.”
“I don’t want you to stop,” she breathed out, her hands moved down his back to his ass.
Branch stepped back from Emma, grabbed her hand and walked her to her bedroom, only stopping to snatch his wallet from his jeans. Reaching her room, his steps faltered seeing the box of condoms on her nightstand. His head snapped to her.
Color rose on her cheeks, but she held his gaze and confessed, “I took them from Aunt Laura’s room.”
Branch grinned, caught Emma by the waist, chuckling and brought them onto the mattress. Their laughing turned to something else when Branch hovered over her, their eyes locked.
“I’ve missed you,” she whispered, her fingers running a trail up his arm, over his shoulder, before she moved them slowly down his chest. Her eyes warming as she explored him.
“I missed you more,” he whispered back, feeling the hot trail of Emma’s hands on him. Branch moved a hand by her head off the mattress and started at Emma’s thigh, slowly feeling her bare skin as he went. Under her shirt, over her panties, he kept going, skimming her side with his fingers. “Have you,” Branch paused, somewhat nervous and finished. “Had sex yet?” He knew most things about Emma. Also knew she had gone on a few dates because that had Branch beating back a wave of anger he didn’t know why he was feeling. But he wasn’t sure if she had kept things from him.
Her eyes were dark, her breathing labored when she whispered, ”No.” Vulnerability moved across her expression when she asked, “Have you?”
Branch’s mind wandered to a few months back when he was making out with Diana, how she was rubbing on him, and how he stopped her knowing he was going to be seeing Emma and hoping for exactly what they were getting ready to do. “No.” He said just as he reached her bare breast. His hand cupped the bottom as his thumb brushed her hard nipple.
Her breath caught and her hips jerked beneath him. “That feels so good.”
Branch pushed his erection into Emma’s center, feeling the heat of her through her panties, over his shorts, hitting him harder than he thought. “You feel good, Emma.” He kept his gaze on her. “Are you sure?”
She nodded, before she said, “Yes.”
Branch and Emma turned from best friends to lovers that day. Neither of them knowing the severity of their actions and the impact on their relationship, but in time they would.
2004
Branch hadn’t heard from Emma in three days. He leaned back against the beat up old truck, his eyes leaving the party happening in the woods in front of him to gaze at his phone. He opened up My Space and went right to her page. He always did, even though she kept him in the loop, he wanted to see her life play out because one day he was going to be a permanent fixture in it. She had a new post. The first that hit him was the genuine smile that spread across her pretty face, and that had him grinning. Soon it faded, and his heart fell into his beer-soaked stomach as he took more of the picture in and the heading. “I got in! Feeling on top of the world!” The smile that had been once directed at him was pointed to the guy dressed in a football uniform. He was looking down at her with pure and utter affection. Branch knew this because it was the same way he looked at her. Branch studied their connection, arms wrapped around one another. She got accepted into college and she never told him. Anger coursed through his body when he tapped the cell in his hand and brought up her number. He waited… the ringing sounding in his ears was almost deafening.
“Hello.” Her solemn tone in contrast to the smiling face he’d just seen on her post.
“Em,” Branch’s voice was full of excitement hearing his Emma, but when she didn’t say anything else, his tone fell flat. “Why haven’t you called?” Again, she didn’t respond, but he heard the sound of her breath and knew she was still there, he begged. “Em, please, say something?” He started to panic. “Did I do something wrong?”
Her exhale sounded painful. “Branch.” There was no emotion, no animation l
ike he was used to with her. “I’ve been busy.” She started, before he heard her shifting, a few seconds passed before she said, “I’m sorry I haven’t called.”
“Busy, Em,” He struck back. “Busy with your new fucking football boyfriend, huh?” Branch pushed off his truck and began to pace. He knew it. Knew deep down in his bones that one day he’d lose her. She was a million miles away, how could he keep her. But… he just never knew it was going to hurt this bad. “You know what, Emma,” He accentuated her name, one he rarely used. “I love you. From the moment we shared when we were sixteen years old, I’ve loved you. I know I haven’t been able to get back out to see you, but I’m trying to make a career, for me, for us.” Silence came from the other end. Yeah, Branch had lost his Emma. “You know what, you go be busy but just remember, I’m more busy.” With that, he flipped his phone shut, looked at the large oak tree in front of him and slammed his phone into it. Only he heard the sound of cracking, but he wasn’t sure if that was the phone or his heart.
Emma held her phone to her ear, tears rolling down her face. The pain of leaving Branch that day from so long ago was nothing like the pain of losing him. She gripped the phone so tightly, her knuckles turned white. She wanted to throw it across the room, wanted to scream, wanted to get in the car and drive. To him.
“It’s for the best, Emma. You’ll see.” Her aunt discovered that she and Branch had had sex, several times that one perfect day. Emma had never seen her aunt react the way she had. She hadn’t just been angry; she had seemed scared. She’d grounded her, taken away her phone privileges. By the time she’d been allowed to call Branch, it had been weeks. He’d been hurt, and angry. Emma didn’t blame him. Over the years, her aunt kept a watchful eye, manipulated was a better word. Kept the two of them apart when all Emma wanted was Branch.
“You need to leave the past in the past. It’s for your own good. Sex changes things, and you aren’t ready for those changes.” Her aunt said. “You think it’s love, but he’s a link, a reminder of what you lost. You’re clinging to him for all the wrong reasons. And he’s doing the same. You need to start fresh, start over. Leave all of Danville Creek in the past.” Her aunt softened her voice for the final blow. “I don’t want you to become your mom.”
Her words were harsh, like a slap, and still, it brought the fear because that was what Emma feared too. And still she fought because her love for Branch outweighed her fear, “He’s my best friend.” And she loved him, God, she loved him more than anything. Her eyes burned and the ache in her chest hearing his voice, and the pain behind his words. He thought she had a boyfriend. She couldn’t breathe, her lungs froze and her body shook losing the only person in her life she never, ever wanted to lose.
Her aunt hurried to her, sat with her for the half an hour it took for her panic to subside. “This is why you need to move on. You need to look to the future, not the past, find your happy.” Her aunt said as she ran her hand down Emma’s hair in comfort. “You’ll get over this, Emma, you’ll see.”
She wouldn’t. Her heart broke the day she learned about her parents, but it shattered into a million pieces losing Branch. Pieces she would never completely pick up and put back.
March 2019
The full moon’s pale light illuminated the house that sat unassumingly on its perfect patch of land. Vacant for decades, the sound of footsteps on the old wood caused it to creak, blending with the scratching of nails along the walls and the soft humming. The house, just like the memories that had once been made there, had been forgotten. Tracing the smiling faces in the picture hanging from the wall, making lines in the dust that coated the glass, a discordant and disturbing laugh broke the silence. Or not so forgotten. It was time to play.
To continue this story, purchase here: RING AROUND THE ROSEY
About the Authors
The Beautifully series...
Beautifully Damaged
Beautifully Forgotten
Beautifully Decadent
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Waiting for the One
Just Me
Lost Boys series...
Devil You Know
Demon You Love
Shipwreck series...
Elusive
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Our Unscripted Story
Savage: The Awakening of Lizzie Danton
His Light in the Dark
A Glimpse of the Dream
Always and Forever
Collecting the Pieces
Letting Go
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Ten Things I Love About You, A Love in the 90s Anthology
Co-written with Anthony Dwayne
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The Edge series…
Dark Edges
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Finding His Dark Edges
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Day 31
Co-written with L.A. Fiore
Ogg’s Point series…
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Ring around the Rosey
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