Summerville: Book 3 of the Saving Summers Series

Chapter 18

The following day, Emma was back at home. She stopped by the deli from the hospital and she could not believe her eyes. The creamy interior with drawings of barn swallows was gone. The walls and floors were blackened by the smoke and fire, parts of the ceiling had caved in, there was shattered glasses everywhere, dried blood and broken furniture. A horrible scene.

"I don't feel comfortable with you skipping school because of me." Emma told Jay who was seated next to her on the couch.

"Pfft. School sucks ass anyways. Everything is getting difficult now and exams are in two months. Sickening." Jay complained.

"Honestly, I would not mind finishing and leaving this town for a while." Emma said. After what happened to the deli, the idea of leaving town with her entire family was not a bad one.

"Let's just run away together. From here to Mykonos, Mykonos to Dublin, Dublin to Tuscany and finally, Tuscany to Cape Verde." Jay said.

"The Jay and Emma world tour!" Emma exclaimed and chuckled.

"Hell yeah!" Jay laughed.
Emma looked at him, sighing as she was about to temporarily ruin his happiness. There was something she needed to tell him.

"Ray is back." She confessed.

Jay's smile turned into a frown accompanied by a pale face.
"What? Ray is back? As in here in Summerville?"

"Yeah, he is. He was the one that pulled Peter and I out of the deli." Emma said. Those words did not even make sense to her.

"He saved you?" Jay asked.

Emma nodded slowly remembering what Ray said about Emmett needing her. She looked at his picture that was on the wall. This was her chance to tell Jay that Emmett was his brother. The words were stuck in her throat.

"I know this is crazy but I have to thank him. I don't know what I would've done if I lost you last night." Jay expressed looking at Emma with teary eyes. He gently touched her scalp wound with his shaky hand.

"I love you, Em." Jay confessed.

Emma felt herself freeze. Something about the way Jay said those words made her realize it was not coming from a place of friendship. It was deeper than that and it scared her.
Jay started to lean in close and then he placed a kiss on her lips.

Emma closed her eyes and she could feel her heart banging in her chest. The kiss deepened but Emma felt nothing inside of her. No excitement, or relief. There was a part of her deep inside of her that waited for this moment to confirm whether or not she had feelings for her best friend. She had her answer.

"Jay, we can't...." She whispered after breaking the kiss.

Jay looked at her with lowered eyebrows.
"Why? You are not with Marcus anymore."

"It's not about Marcus." Emma responded and let out a shaky breath.
"I love being your best friend and I don't want that to change."

"Just my best friend?" Jay asked. "Fuck.. I'm so stupid." He continued and got up.

"No." Emma tried to say.

"I'm sorry, Emma." Jay said. He grabbed his jacket and walked out of the front door.

Emma sighed. This was something she was hoping would never happen. Her friendship with Jay was very important to her and she did not want anything to ruin it.
She was going to let Jay be for a few hours and talk to him later about what happened. She was hoping he would process this properly and it would not change anything between. She did not want to lose.

*

The day went by and Emma tried reaching out to Liam but he was not picking up. She felt he was avoiding her and she did not know why. She was not sure whom to talk to either because Liam was not close to a lot of people on a personal level. But there was someone she could try.