Fighting for Us - Bella Emy Page 0,26

I failed.

Now all I can see are her big brown eyes, perfect smile, and, of course, luscious lips.

Fuck, I’m in so much trouble. Now that I’ve seen her at the supermarket, I wonder if I’ll be running into her a lot more. If I do, I’m screwed.

But the truth is… I want to see her.

I hate to admit it. The way I’ve been feeling lately is making me feel like a horrible husband to my wife.

But she’s gone. Sylvia is gone and has been for five years now. When is it okay to start over? When is it okay to love again—or perhaps not even love, but date?

I flip to the other side, now lying toward my nightstand. I hate the fact I’m even thinking this way. It feels so wrong.

But Carissa makes me feel things I haven’t felt in so damn long.

I open my eyes, and the first thing I see is a picture of Sylvia from so long ago. I frown. “I’m so sorry, Sylvs.”

Chapter Eleven

Carissa

“Seriously, seventy-five dollars… for a damn oil change? Something’s not right. That seems stupid high. I don’t know; I wouldn’t do it. No. No, go to my mechanic. I’ll text you his info. His prices are very competitive, and he’s a hell of a mechanic. Yup. Yes, that’s him. Uh huh, that’s right. The owner. Very good with his hands, and he’s hot as hell. No, I wish! I think he’s married or something. Because the last time I was there, I noticed some pictures he has on the wall. But yeah, go visit him. He’ll give you a nice deal. Okay, I’ll see you tonight. Okay, bye.” Emy hangs up the phone before swinging her legs over the side of the couch to get comfortable.

“What was that about?”

She shrugs. “My cousin’s car needed an oil change. She took it to the mechanic herself since her boyfriend’s out of town, and he wanted to charge her an arm and a leg.”

I nod. “Yeah, I heard.”

Emy picks up her cell phone and scrolls through it. “I told her to go visit my mechanic. Uff… he’s fine.”

I chuckle. “I picked up on that too.”

She smiles up at me. “The next time I go, I’m taking you with me so you can see for yourself.”

I furrow my brows. “What’s the point?”

She scoffs. “Of course you would say that.”

“I’m just saying. Even if I were looking”—I make a stern face—“which I’m not, so let me make that perfectly clear… you said so yourself he was taken.”

She throws a dismissive hand in my direction. “Blah, blah. So what?”

I shake my head.

“Oh, that’s right. You’ve still got Mr. Guns on your mind.” She chuckles.

I hate myself right now for even mentioning the little encounter we had a few days ago at the supermarket, but I had to tell someone. The way he looked at me and the way he was making me feel? I just couldn’t keep it to myself.

Of course, when I told her, Shannon had been there too. Now my sister is at work, while Emy and I are sitting in her apartment, wrapping presents for Christmas in a few weeks. Emy has quite a few nieces and nephews. Her mother had six kids in total: three daughters and three sons. Emy is the youngest, and of all of Mrs. Lexington’s children, Emy is the only one who hasn’t had any kids.

“Think Jayla is going to like this one?” Emy holds up a doll dressed in a pink-and-white ensemble. Jayla is one of her younger nieces and is probably the most spoiled of them all by Emy, since she lives close by. A lot of her family lives across the country.

I’m so thankful for the change in topic. I really don’t want to talk about me and my supermarket adventure with Guns.

I nod. “She’s princess pink. She’s going to love that.”

Emy smiles. “I can’t wait to see the huge smile spread across her face when she opens it Christmas morning.”

“Are you all going to be at your parents’ house this year, or at one of your siblings’?”

Emy places a piece of tape on one of the sides of wrapping paper. “My folks’. They’re so excited; they can’t wait to have the whole family together. We only get to see everyone all together during the holidays, so they really look forward to it. I’m just excited to see Skye and Lily. It’s been so long since I got to spoil those two babies of mine.”

Skye and Lily are