Exposed: An Anthology

by Brooke Cumberland

  “I’m fine. I didn’t mean to scare anyone.”

  “Jax is going to freak when he sees your lips.”

  “Just don’t tell him about it, I’m sure the swelling will go down soon,” I responded.

  I walked into my room and closed the door behind me. Sitting down on the edge of my bed with a towel wrapped around me, I thought about everything that had been going on lately. I felt like a mess. I was usually so in control, now I felt like I didn’t have an ounce of it. I wasn’t surprised when my door flung open and Jaxon walked in. I fell backward onto my bed, looking up at the ceiling.

  “Jaxon, I can’t do this right now,” I said, frustrated.

  He climbed up onto my bed, and looked down at me. He ran the pad of his thumb over my swollen lip. “Emerson, what happened?”

  “I fell. I’m fine, but I’m going to be late for work if I don’t hurry up.” Although my argument was a little weak considering, I wasn’t attempting to move from my position on the bed. Having his gorgeous body leaning over me again had me frozen with desire.

  “Please stop running from me,” he whispered.

  “Please stop trying to catch me,” I said getting up to leave.

  He grabbed my hand and squeezed. “I didn’t sleep with her. All I did was take her home. She was pissed, but that’s all that happened.”

  “There’s no reason to tell me this—“

  “Damn it, Emerson, just stop!” he yelled, “Stop pretending you don’t care. Why won’t you let me in? Why won’t you let me care about you? Because for some maddening reason, I do!”

  “I warned you from the beginning. Don’t make me out to be the bad person, here.”

  “Emerson, I know we would be great together. You’re scared, and I get that. I swear I won’t get all crazy-serious. Just give us a shot.”

  He was starting to break me down the longer I stood here. I needed to leave. “We’re just having fun, Jaxon, that’s it.”

  He lowered his head to his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. I heard him inhale and exhale slowly while silently warring with himself. When he lifted his head to look me in the eyes for a couple of seconds, I didn’t say anything, so he turned around and left my room. I heard Quinn and Cole talking to him before the front door opened and slammed shut. How come every time I wanted to avoid hurting him, all I did was hurt him more?

  When I was finished getting dressed, I came back out to the living room to grab my purse and keys. Cole and Quinn were lying on the couch together and Jaxon was gone.

  “Don’t look at me like that you two. I’m super happy you finally opened your eyes and now you have each other, but that doesn’t mean it’s the same for everyone else.”

  Quinn gave me a sympathetic glance and Cole looked like he was dying to say something. “Spit it out, Coley.”

  “You could at least explain to him why you are the way you are. He’s crazy about you and I know you are about him.” When I rolled my eyes, he retaliated, “Don’t give me that look, because you’re lying to yourself if you think that’s not true. We’re all here waiting for YOU to open your eyes now, love.” Usually his term of endearment was like a lovable big brother, now it just sounded patronizing.

  “I was honest from the very beginning. I DON’T DO RELATIONSHIPS! It’s not something that’s just going to change because some gorgeous boy walks into my life.”

  When I turned the doorknob to leave, Quinn sat up and said, “I love you, Emmy.”

  *.*.*.*.*

  It was a rough night at work for me. I wasn’t as flirty and nice to the customers as I typically would be. Even Ed came out and asked me what was wrong and when I told him I was fine, he shrugged his shoulders and went back to his office.

  One of the regulars, Joe, came up to the bar to talk to me. “Hey, Em, did your boyfriend knock you around or something; what’s up with the fat lip?”

  “No, this was my own stupid fault, I fell,” I said, motioning to my lip.

  “Alright, well if you ever need me to kick some jerk’s ass, you just let me know,” he said while holding his fist up like he was in a boxing ring.

  Joe was about seventy-five years old and skinnier than my twelve-year-old cousin. But he always kept me company on slow nights at the bar. One time, he told me how his wife had died of cancer about ten years ago. They had been together forty-five years. I’m not sure how he could be so happy when his other half just left him here all alone.

  “Hey, Joe, can I ask you a personal question?”

  “No question is a personal question for me. Shoot,” he answered back, while I poured him a Sprite, his drink of choice.

  “How are you so happy after your wife, your best friend, died? I just don’t think I could come back from something like that. I know I couldn’t be as happy as you are.”

  “Didn’t you tell me once that you lost your mom and dad a couple of years ago, kiddo?” he asked.

  “Yes, sir, I did,” I replied solemnly.

  “And yet, here you are functioning perfectly fine. I’ve seen you with those three boys and that beautiful girl Quinn in here, you’re always so happy when they’re around. Just because someone you loved dies, doesn’t mean that your world ends as well.” When he noticed his reply didn’t seem to help, he took a long sigh and continued, “The first year after Violet died, I felt paralyzed, as if she had frozen time around me when she left. Then I realized I’m still here and I can keep going, or stay in the same spot forever and be unhappy. I decided to keep going and live my life fully, because I would want Violet to do the same thing if the roles had been reversed.”

  “It sounds so easy when you say it like that,” I sighed.

  “Once you think about it, it is that easy.” He smiled at me.

  He patted my hand and walked back to his pool table with his drink in hand. I felt like such a chicken. Here I was afraid just to date someone because the idea of losing him in the future was so painful. I wasn’t completely delusional. I knew that if I allowed it, Jaxon and I could have something great. I’d been shown glimpses of that already. I also knew how easily I could screw it up and he’d be gone, leaving me shattered. Yet, Joe can still be happy after actually losing his wife of forty plus years. Times like these, I craved advice from my mom. Ellie has always made it known that I could come to her for anything, and over the years she has become my mom, in a way. I took out my phone and texted her.

  Me: Can I come home for a couple days?

  Ellie: Come home tonight, I’ll have chocolate ready.

  No one has a better step-mom than I do. Ellie has never tried to force me to talk about any of my issues. She was always just there whenever you needed her, anytime of the day or night. Before I left, I asked Ed if it would be all right if I took off the remainder of the week. He took one look at my fat lip and nodded. I almost told him my lip had nothing to do with it, but I decided not to push my luck.

  I didn’t even go back to the apartment. I still had a ton of clothes at home that I could change into when I got there.

  Me: Quinny, I’m going home for a couple days, probably all week. Enjoy the apartment alone with Cole. xoxo

  Quinn: Come get me, I’ll come too.

  Me: No, I know you have a test this week, you already told me about it.

  Quinn: If you need to go home, I need to be with you.

  Me: Ellie will take care of me. It’s nothing serious I just need a refresh.

  Quinn: I love you.

  Me: xoxo.

  I got home late that night. Ellie and Charles lived about an hour away from campus. She told me that Charles was away on a business meeting, so she was excited that I decided to come back home and keep her company. Ellie didn’t have to work anymore because Charles made more than enough to support us all. She did have to attend a bunch of fundraisers and special dinners with her husband, so that was almost a full-time job in itself.

  It was dark when I walked into the house. I tiptoed up the stairs and peeked into the master bedroom. She was ly
ing in bed and when she saw me peek in, she lifted the covers gesturing for me to climb in. I instantly scooted in next to her while simultaneously kicking off my shoes. I loved coming back here because it was home to me. Ellie had always made me feel completely comfortable.

  “It’s good to see you little girl,” she said in a tired voice.

  “It’s nice to be back.” I yawned. She tucked me in and I passed out quickly after.

  *.*.*.*.*

  The first couple of days I was there, we lay out by the pool, went shopping, and ate delicious meals downtown. She loved to spoil Quinn and me when we came home. At one point, Jace had started texting me to ask if I was okay. I always smiled at his concerned messages. Quinn would call me every day to ask when I was coming back and even Cole would get on the phone to ask if he could come get me yet. I never heard from Jaxon, but who could blame him. I wouldn’t want to talk to me either after how I’d acted toward him.

  By Saturday, I knew I would have to go back to the apartment and school soon. I had skipped classes all week, and if I didn’t want to be dropped by my professors, I needed to make all of my classes for the rest of the semester. I also had a lot of studying to do to make up for this past week. Cole was upset that I had missed their game yesterday, but he called last night to give me the play-by-play. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I didn’t want to hear about Jaxon scoring the winning touchdown again.

  “Okay, little girl, it’s time to fess up. It’s not that I don’t love the alone time with you, but I know you had classes this past week. Spill the beans,” Ellie said to me out by the pool.

  “I’m just a really messed-up person. I don’t know how to handle life like every other normal college student out there,” I sighed.

  “I highly doubt that, Emerson.” Ellie had never really gotten on the Em train either.

  “Yeah, I am. I made all these rules for myself to keep people at bay. I just wanted to have fun with guys. I didn’t want any of them to actually stick around and become anything serious. I can’t be left behind again like I was with mom and dad. Not only did they both go and die at the same time, but even worse, they were cheating as well.” I’d never, ever, come out and said the word “cheating” when talking about my parents to Ellie.

  She sighed, “I wish I would have known all of this, Emerson. I’m supposed to be able to help you go on with your life. Maybe by not forcing you to talk to me more, I enabled you to hold back like this. First of all, we can’t do anything about the fact that they died. Second of all, of course I have always wondered why they were in that car together, but we can’t just assume they were having an affair.”

  I started to insert my opinion and tell her there could be no other reason. She interrupted me. “So what if they were. Life can hurt sometimes, but you know what? I wouldn’t have traded a single second I had with your dad. I was happy and he gave me a bigger family than I had before I met him. Don’t hold back your life because of the choices someone else made. Now, quit stalling and tell me about the boy.” She said, while smiling.

  “Cole had his friends from Texas move into his apartment with him. They’re twin brothers. Ellie, and they are so hot!” She giggled at my excitement.

  “Well, which one caught your eye, and please don’t say both… I can’t handle that,” she asked.

  “Of course they both caught my eye! Did I mention that they’re identical twin brothers?”

  She shook her head and smiled at me. “Which one has you running back home though?”

  “Okay, okay. So Jaxon is the one that seems to be turning my world upside down. I’ve never cared if I hurt someone. With him, I feel like I’m doing everything to avoid hurting him, but then that’s all I end up doing.”

  “Well, that’s easy. Just stop hurting him,” she laughed.

  I lay back down with my palms on my eyes and groaned, “I’ve already done too much damage now. He hasn’t said anything to me all week, and even his brother Jace has texted me daily to check up. I wouldn’t want to talk to me either after how I treated him though.”

  “Honey, have you ever thought that his brother, is checking up on you for Jaxon’s benefit?”

  I thought about that for a second. “It’s possible, but Jace is also just a really nice guy.”

  “You just need to go back there and let him know you’re truly sorry, and you want to give him a shot.”

  “I can’t do a relationship though. I don’t know how to act or what to do. I know I’ll end up ruining it somehow.”

  “If this guy knows you, then I’m sure he’ll be willing to grade you on a curve,” she said while winking at me.

  “A relationship scares me to death.”

  “I know, but it’ll be worth it. I promise,” she replied, sliding her sunglasses back down over her eyes and laying back on the lounger.

  I pulled out my phone to text Quinn.

  Me: I’m coming back tonight. I need to make things right with Jaxon.

  Quinn: Err… Call me before you do anything Jaxon-related.

  Me: Ok? I’ll just talk to you when I get home.

  Quinn: Drive safe. Xoxo

  Chapter Nine

  Who’s She?

  I pulled up to the apartments and parked the car. As I was hauling my bag out of the trunk, I saw Jace jogging down the steps toward me.

  “Hey, stranger, I missed you.” He smiled and pulled me into a bear hug.

  “I think I kind of missed you too,” I confessed. He grabbed my bag and slung it over his shoulder. “Is Jaxon here?”

  “Uh... yeah, but I think he’s busy right now,” he replied awkwardly and walked up the stairs with me to my apartment.

  “Why is everyone being so weird when I mention Jaxon?”

  When we got down the hallway, a tall brunette in cute little pajamas walked out of Cole’s apartment and I heard Jace sigh under his breath.

  “Is she here for you?” I asked him in a whisper.

  “Hell no,” he replied irritably.

  “Oh,” was all I could say.

  That could only mean one thing, because I knew she sure as hell wasn’t here for Cole. My stomach hit the floor along with my heart. It figures though, right when I decide that maybe I can try this relationship thing on for size, the person I wanted is already taken. It serves me right for being such a bitch to Jaxon in the first place. He finally went off and found someone that actually wanted him.

  “You must be the golden girl, Em, all of my boys are talking about,” she said to me icily when we approached her.

  “Audrey, we aren’t your boys, so turn around and walk back inside,” Jace seethed at her.

  Before either of us could say anything else, Quinn whipped our door open and pulled me inside. Jace squeezed in behind me before she could slam him out.

  “Ugh! I was hoping you wouldn’t come across the she-devil,” Quinn said.

  “Who is she?” I asked softly, not sure I wanted to know the answer.

  “Audrey,” Quinn said in her high-pitched sing-songy voice that I knew meant she didn’t like someone.

  “Well I got that much, but what’s going on?” I asked.

  Jace put my bag down on the dining room table and went to join Cole on the couch. Both of them looked at me apologetically; that’s when I knew this wasn’t good.

  “These guys won’t help out. Trust me, I’ve been drilling them all week.”

  “It’s not for us to tell. It’s Jaxon’s business, baby,” Cole claimed looking defeated.

  She ignored them and dragged me down the hallway to my room. I placed my bag on the bed and opened it up to unpack. I decided to bring back a couple of outfits I had previously forgotten from home, and some more that Ellie had bought while we were out shopping. Going home was so relaxing and I’m thankful I was able to get Ellie all to myself. I’d only been back here for two minutes, and I feel like all that relaxation and reassurance was flying out the window faster than I could catch it. Quinn sat down in a blue wing chair that I had at
my desk while I sat on the edge of my bed.

  “She’s the worst, Emmy. I refuse to even step foot into their apartment as long as she’s there.”

  “I’m so confused. I have no idea what is going on. You have to remember when I left, Jaxon was asking me out!” I responded.

  “I don’t know who she is, just that she showed up here earlier this week. Cole said that she went to high school with all of them and she has history with Jaxon. Their stupid bro-code is stopping them saying anything. I can’t hold Jaxon down long enough to ask him. It’s so frustrating. I’ve barely talked to Cole all week.”

  “Okay, first of all Quinn, you were supposed to enjoy this week of having the apartment all alone with Cole!” I hollered at her. “I don’t care what kind of drama Jaxon has; you need to make up with Cole.”

  I jumped off the bed and shouted for Cole down the hallway. I heard Quinn groan from behind me, but knew this was for the better. Cole made his way down and into my room; he looked really overwhelmed. Quinn had not gone easy on him.

  Jace poked his head in, “Mind if I join, or am I interrupting something private?”

  “Get over here, gorgeous.” I patted the spot next to me on the bed and he hopped on right beside me. I appreciated when he slid his shoes off so they weren’t on my white comforter.

  Cole stood leaning against the doorframe. “Ems, I’ve already said this to Quinn a thousand times. It’s not my place to tell you all of Jaxon’s business, and I have no idea why she’s here now.”

  “Let’s get this straight. I may have had a different assumption of what would happen when I came back here and could finally talk to Jaxon. But, right now, I just can’t worry over any of that. You and Quinn are being silly. Quinn, don’t get upset over what’s going on with Jaxon and respect that Cole’s not going to gossip,” I begged her.

  “Fine…” she said quietly.

  Cole beamed like I had just lifted a huge weight from his shoulders. He came over to Quinn and picked her up to place her in his lap in the chair. I fell backward onto my bed and sighed. Jace scooted back, lying down on his side and looking over at me with his hand propping his head up.