Embracing Emma (Companion to Brisé) by Leigh Ann Lunsford Read Free Book Online Page A

throw a ball to them during the game and toss them off when it’s over. He says it’s to remain cohesive . . . my ass.
    I hear his deep inhale before he releases it, growling, “Can you just give it a rest?” His hand fists and bangs against the steering wheel causing me to jump, and my head meets the window.
    He immediately slams on the brakes as he eases over to a parking lot. I’m rubbing my head staring at the alien imitating my boyfriend. His hand reaches up towards me, and I plaster myself against the door. “Damn it,” he mutters.
    My stomach clenches; this behavior is something I’m not used to. I set my face, portraying my annoyance, “What is wrong with you? I made a simple statement, a true one. And you act like a Grade-A dick.”
    “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He can utter that phrase all he wants, but he better follow it up with something else. Something that makes sense. “I’ve always been able to keep a divide between you and them. I can’t now, and it scares me.”
    “I have a solution to that.”
    “Yes, Ems. I know your solution. Throw away my dreams of playing football in college; disrupt the team that has won State three years in a row, all while I was starting quarterback. You don’t understand, and you don’t try to see my point.”
    “I do understand your dream. I support it, but at what expense? Who you are? These assholes are takers. Thugs. You hear the things they say about people? They’re bigots, Will, and you of all people shouldn’t tolerate it.”
    “I don’t agree, but what do you want me to do? Ruin everything? I stand up to them, take a stand like you think I should, and it carries over to the field. Then it spills into every aspect of my life, and what have I accomplished? I know they’re dicks, hell even dangerous, but keeping them close helps me more than it hurts me.”
    “And those around you? It hurts us. Think about what your parents think.”
    “Don’t. Don’t go there, Ems.” His voice raises, and his neck cords. This is a battle he is waging inside of himself. “I can’t be everywhere to protect everyone, so this is the best solution. I don’t like it any more than you do, and if I were a better man, I’d take a stand, but I’m afraid.”
    “Of what?”
    “Losing football. Losing you. Those are the things that make sense, and I don’t know another way to protect them.” His voice is shaky, and I can see it’s all too much. I know he has put all his focus and plans in one basket; football and me. No separation, they sometimes become synonymous. His love is mine, his passion the game. He says things only make sense to him on the field and in my arms.
    “Okay, I’ll play nice. Just don’t make me stay all night. Next year will be better, you’ll be in college and able to make a name for yourself without close-minded haters surrounding you.”
    “Thank you,” he whispers as he reaches for me. I go willingly and hold him just a bit tighter. This year is going to be a bumpy ride, and as long as I hold tight to him, what we are, I should be able to come out unscathed.
    Just as I imagined, as we pull up to the abandoned field known as ‘football territory,’ the girls wear outfits that passed appropriate five blocks back and now just scream WHORE , the guys are well on their way to being drunk, groping, being lewd, and laughing at themselves. They have one thing right . . . laughter, because they are a joke. I take a deep breath and force it down to my core, calming myself at the same time I’m thrust into this viper pit. William squeezes my hand, and his attempt at a smile is pitiful. I reach up and kiss the underside of his jaw—reassuring us both I can be civil. I ask the big man upstairs for some help in patience because nobody has spoken to me yet, and I know I’ll need extra assistance. “Come on, QB.” I wink at him and let him lead me to the bumbling idiots.
    “Looking good.”
    “Hey William, grab a beer.”
    “Oh, Emma graces