Beautiful Broken Rules (Broken, Series #1)(45)

I slumped a little bit against the counter. Jace, Cole, and Quinn all walked over to me in the kitchen.

“Em, go stop him. Apologize!” Quinn begged me.

“Apologize for what? For being completely honest? It’s better that I upset him now than destroy him later, if it even made it that far. I can’t be with anyone. It doesn’t work. Even Jace warned me not to hurt him.” I turned to the liquor bottles on the counter and started searching through them. When I didn’t find what I wanted, I turned to look in the cabinet above the fridge. Even standing on my tiptoes, I was still inches away from reaching into the cabinet.

“What are you looking for, Em? I’ll get it,” Jace said from beside me.

“No, I need to find it.” I went to the counter to get on top of it, but Jace lifted me up by the waist so I could reach. I dug past all the other bottles, the glass clinking together loudly, until I found the tequila I wanted. Jace set me back down on my feet.

“No way! Put that stuff back,” Quinn said, pointing to the expensive tequila, like it might jump out and bite her. It was an old bottle that used to belong to my dad; I’m pretty sure it was a gift because he rarely ever drank any of it.

Ignoring her, I grabbed a clean shot glass from the cabinet below. I knew better than to shoot expensive tequila, but I needed this in me the quickest route I could get. I wanted to forget about where Jaxon may have taken Rachel and forget about what they could be doing right now, possibly next door. Hadn’t I been the one telling him we would still be sleeping with other people? I should be happy he was holding up his end. I needed to wash away Emerson and be Em again. I lifted the old bottle and poured the golden liquid into the shot glass with “Cancun, Mexico” imprinted on the side. I remember getting this glass on a trip I took with my dad, Ellie, and Quinn when I was fourteen years old, the summer before he died. I guess it was fitting I was pouring his drink into this glass.

“Anyone joining me?” I looked around at the three sullen faces staring back at me. I couldn’t tell if they felt bad for me that Jaxon left with Rachel, or if they were disappointed in me for being the reason he left in the first place. No one stepped up to join. “Suit yourselves.”

“I’ll join you, Emmy!” Micah boomed as he came toward the entrance of the kitchen. Instantly, Jace and Cole held out their arms to bar him from coming in. “Fine, *s. You know I’m getting really tired of you and your cock-blocking brother,” he said, pointing to Jace while he turned to go out onto the patio.

I shrugged my shoulders, not having the energy to get upset with yet another person for making decisions for me again.

“Here’s to losing Emerson, and finding Em again!” I raised the shot glass in the air.

I carried it back down to my lips and poured the liquid into my mouth. To compensate for shooting expensive tequila, I held it on my tongue for a couple seconds to savor the taste. The smooth burn down my throat made me slam the glass on the granite countertop.

“I was enjoying Emerson,” Quinn stated with a sad look on her face.

“Okay, are you done now?” Cole asked me with a worried expression.

“Cole, I know all you want to do right now is take Quinn back to your place. I don’t need a babysitter. You guys can go,” I snapped, while pouring another round.

He stepped up and grabbed the bottle from my hand while moving the shot back with the other. “Right now, all I care about is making sure that one of my best friends isn’t going to drink herself into the hospital tonight. You’re upset and that’s okay, just please don’t be stupid.”