Shattered Ties(33)

“I can handle myself.”

“Not against her. Trust me on this. Just stay away from her, okay?”

“Sure.” It wasn’t like she went to our school. I could avoid her if I needed to.

“I’m serious.”

“I know you are, and I promise not to cross her path any more than I have to.”

“Good. I have to say that it was kind of hot that you were willing to get in a girl fight over me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sure it was.”

“I’m not kidding.”

He stepped closer to me, and I held my breath as he leaned down.

“You’re hot when the claws come out.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but his lips were on mine before I could say a word. I wasn’t complaining though. Kissing Jesse was quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do. He continued to kiss me until I felt breathless.

When he finally pulled away, I clung to him to keep from falling.

“Wow. I need to be mean more often.”

“Nah, but the occasional outbursts are hot.”

I stuck out my tongue. “Gee, thanks. I guess I should probably go home, and I’m sure your mom is waiting for you.”

“Joy,” he grumbled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I smiled as I walked to my car. Despite the showdown with Ally, things were looking up.



“Where have you been?” my mother asked as soon as I walked through the door.

“I went out to grab something to eat. Why?”

“You’ve been gone for hours. You could at least let me know where you are.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m sure you are. Your dad called while you were out. You need to call him back.”

“Okay, I’ll go do that right now,” I replied.

I’d do just about anything to get away from her suspicious stare. I was horrible at lying, and I wasn’t sure how many questions I could answer before I gave myself away.

I walked past her and went up the stairs to my room. I made sure the door was shut before I pulled my phone from my purse and called my dad’s number.

“Hey, Emma.”

“Hi, Daddy. Mom said you called while I was out.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Why didn’t you just call my cell phone? You know I try not to stay here anymore than possible.”

“Well, I needed to talk to your mother before I talked to you.”

That set warning bells off in my head. My mom and dad never talked unless they had to.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I promise. It’s actually something good.”

“Okay...”

“It’s been too long since we were together. I asked your mother if you could come out for a weekend, so we could spend time together.”

“Seriously? That would be amazing!”

He laughed at the enthusiasm in my voice. “I was hoping you would say that. Your mother said that you have a three-day weekend coming up and that she was fine with you flying over to see me. You can even bring a friend if you want.”

Instead of thinking of Lucy like I normally did, my mind went straight to Jesse. I knew my dad would like him and that he would keep him a secret from my mother.

“That sounds great.”

“I have to go now, but I’ll email you with the details. The label has a private plane you can use to get over here. As soon as I have everything finalized, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks. This means a lot to me.” And it did.

My dad had been right. It had been far too long since we last saw each other, and I missed him. If I’d had any say in the matter, I would have gone to live with him instead of staying with my mom—even if that meant that I would have to live on a tour bus with a bunch of rock stars and their groupies. I loved my dad that much.

“I’ll talk to you later, Emma.”

“Bye,” I said before the call ended.

Things were definitely looking up. Now, all I had to do was get Jesse to agree to go with me.





––––––––

After listening to my mother yell at me for the better part of an hour, I walked to my room and closed the door behind me. If I had to hear her tell me how rude and immature I was one more time, I was going to throw something. I loved her, but she knew how to lay on the guilt trip pretty heavy.

I was on my bed, staring at the ceiling, when my phone dinged with an incoming text. I grabbed it off the nightstand and unlocked it to see Emma’s name flashing across my screen. I smiled as I clicked on the text.

Emma: I want to ask you something...

Me: Go for it...

Emma: Okay. I want you to think this through before you tell me no. My dad is touring in England, and he offered to fly a friend and me out for our three-day weekend. I want you to come with me.

Whoa. I wasn’t sure how to reply to something like that. She obviously thought a lot of me since she wanted me to go with her on a trip like this. With an extra day off from school coming up, I’d planned to ask Rick for more hours, but now, I wasn’t sure what to do. I needed the extra hours, but I also wanted to get out of this place for a while.

Emma: Your silence is making me nervous.