Chapter 16

The next day began under a gray sky that matched the tension still lingering from the night before. Emily woke early, body sore from Jake’s rough handling, the ache in her ass a constant reminder of how far things had gone. She found him already in the kitchen, quiet, nursing coffee. The easy warmth from earlier in the week felt strained. They exchanged soft good mornings, but neither mentioned the intensity of the previous afternoon or the way Laura’s return had forced them apart.

Laura appeared mid-morning, all bright energy and lingering smiles directed mostly at Jake. She complimented the way he filled out his shirt. Touched his shoulder when she passed him a plate of leftover scones. Her voice carried that low, purring quality that made Emily’s skin prickle. Jake laughed at her jokes a little too readily. Emily watched every interaction with growing unease.

They spent the early afternoon running errands in town. Laura insisted Jake drive. She sat in the front passenger seat, angled toward him, asking about his classes, his plans, his fraternity. Emily sat in the back, staring out the window, texting Molly under the cover of her bag.

She’s trying to seduce him. To control him like she controls me. I’ll face her. Show her I’m stronger.

Molly’s reply came quickly. You’re unstoppable, Em. That February night proved it. Your fire’s epic.

Molly’s right. Jake’s mine. And Laura won’t break us.

By late afternoon the house felt smaller. Laura suggested wine on the back porch. She poured Jake’s glass fuller than anyone else’s. Her knee brushed his when she leaned in to point out a hawk circling over the trees. Emily’s stomach tightened each time. When Laura finally announced she was heading upstairs to rest before dinner, the relief was short lived. The air still felt charged.

Dinner was quiet. Forced conversation. Jake’s eyes kept drifting to Laura when he thought Emily wasn’t looking. Afterward Laura excused herself early, claiming a headache. The house settled into an uneasy silence.

Emily and Jake sat by the fire. The earlier rejection still sat heavy between them, but the quiet of the empty downstairs pulled them closer. Emily leaned into him. Jake’s arm slid around her shoulders. One kiss turned into another. Then another. Soft at first. Then deeper.

Fuck, she tastes like the wine from dinner. Soft and warm. I need more of her tonight.

His hand moved from her shoulder down her side, then higher, cupping her breast through her shirt. His thumb brushed over her nipple. Emily tensed and pulled back, catching his wrist.

“Not here,” she whispered.

Jake’s brow furrowed. What the hell? She’s shutting me down again. Dammit. “Em ... come on. She’s upstairs. Asleep. Or at least she says she is. What’s the problem?”

Before Emily could answer, a floorboard creaked overhead. A door opened somewhere on the second floor. Both of them froze.

Emily’s eyes locked on his, voice low and firm. “There. That is exactly why we can’t do anything. I’m not going to pour gas on Laura’s fire.”

Jake stared at her for a long second. Frustration flared hot in his chest. She’s choosing caution over me. Again. Because of her mom. Always because of her fucking mom. Why did I stop with just a kiss last night? I should have just fucked Laura and been done with it. He stood up, jaw tight.

“Fine.”

He walked out of the living room without another word and headed upstairs to the guest room, the door closing harder than necessary behind him.

Jake lay on the guest bed in the dark, staring at the ceiling. The house was quiet. Too quiet. Emily’s rejection still sat in his chest like a bruise. She had shut him down on the couch. Again. One second they were kissing, his hand on her breast, the next she was pulling away and pointing at a creaking floorboard upstairs like it was proof they could never touch each other under this roof.

He rolled onto his side. The sheets felt cold. His cock was still half hard from the make-out session, the frustration sharp and physical. He had wanted her. Needed the release after the long, tense day of Laura’s lingering looks and loaded compliments. Instead he was alone in the guest room while Emily slept twenty feet away, locked in whatever cage her mother still kept her in.

She warned me Laura would test me. Probe. Try to get under my skin.

The warning replayed in his head. Emily’s voice in the car that first day. The careful way she had chosen her words. She had given him the polite version and admitted the full story was uglier. He had promised to stay sharp. Stay close. Right now “staying sharp” just felt like sitting in the dark with a hard-on and a growing resentment.

Laura’s smile from earlier kept surfacing. The way she had brushed his arm by the fire. The purr in her voice when she poured his drink. The knowing look in her eyes that was so much like Emily’s and so completely different at the same time. Older. Bolder. Unapologetic.

She’s Emily’s mom. I shouldn’t even be thinking about her like that.

But he was. The rejection made it easier. Emily had pushed him away. Laura had been pulling him closer all day, despite him telling her no last night. The contrast sat in his gut, ugly and tempting. He told himself he was only restless. Only frustrated. That if Emily had just let him take her on the couch none of these thoughts would be circling.