"Ethan, Emma, you do one!" Bryant suggested. Grayson was getting up from his position on the floor and Bryant was fanning out the six polaroids he took of Gray. He leaned over them, studying. So I ambled over to Bryant.
"White wall," he said, pushing Emma towards me. "Pose."
Emma looked up at me, a smirk on her face.
"No peace signs," I told her. She scoffed, and when she did, I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close to my body. Her back against my stomach, I wrapped my other arm around her torso. She gripped my forearm that was across her chest and leaned her head into the crook of my elbow. I leaned my head the other way and smiled at Bryant, and the flash went off. Slightly blinded, my grip loosened on Emma and she turned away, against my side now.
"Grayson," Bryant shooed him towards us, and he tucked an arm around Emma's other side, and we tilt our heads in over her.
"Good," Bryant said, after taking a few.
After, I slowly let Emma go, her hand trailing along my arm until I let her last finger go. She sauntered back over to the kitchen table, sliding into her chair, and crossing her legs. Her wide eyes were transfixed on her laptop, in an editing haze.
"Bro, are you in love with her or something?" Grayson muttered, driving his shoulder into my chest.
"Dude," I said, not really having an answer. I awkwardly followed Emma over and sat across from her.
"Are you doing anything tomorrow?" I asked her.
"I have that Forbes interview at noon, but after then no," Emma said, ungluing her eyes from the computer and resting them on me.
"You wanna get froyo or something?" I said.
"Will you pick me up?" She asked. I nodded. "Okay, I'll text you when the interviews over, then."
"You have anything you want to talk about?" she asked me. I was surprised. My palms were slick with sweat.
"No. Why?" I questioned.
"You just seem like it," Emma informed me. "When are you seeing your family next?"
"Next month, probably," I said. "Why?"
"Seems like your happiness stems from New Jersey. You're always in a better mood when you come home from there." Emma said plainly.
"Everyone's like that with their hometown." I reasoned.
"You belong there, nature boy." she teased.
"That's Grayson!" I insisted. She shrugged.
Whatever." I scoffed, brushing her off. "When's the video going up?"
"Probably tomorrow night," she said, zoning back into her computer.
So I got up, collected Grayson and waved goodbye. It was probably best to leave Olivia, Bryant, and Emma alone since they all had videos and IG TV stuff going up the next day.
"Later, guys," Olivia yelled. I nodded, not sure if I liked her or not. I was trained to be wary of people before I let them in, an unfortunate lesson I learned through social media.
