KADE
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I absentmindedly ran my fingers up and down Emara's spine as she slept, her arm wrapped around me while I scrolled through the latest feed. Everything that came up was gossip about Tristan's supposed affair and whether or not Emara would split up with him or not.
Nothing was worse than seeing her completely break down. We were sitting in silence, watching a TV show, and about halfway through something triggered her to start bawling. Though she was reluctant at first, she allowed me to keep her on my lap while she cried, and I rubbed her back until she had slowly fallen asleep.
Just as my eyes were skimming over the paragraph already written about the propaganda, Emara's phone buzzed an unknown number. I sighed, grabbing it and answering it so the sound wouldn't wake her up. I put the phone to my ear and didn't even get a chance to speak before the person on the other side answered.
"Emara, listen to me," Tristan's voice rushes out, causing my hand to tighten around the phone. "What happened in that picture was nothing, I swear! It's not going to happen again, baby, I promise—"
I hung up, slamming the phone down on the nightstand beside me. My hand was beginning to shake against Emara's back and I clenched it into a fist, inhaling slowly.
That bastard had the fucking nerve to call her as if to reassure her that he won't cheat on her again. I was going to beat his fucking ass.
"Kade," Emara grumbled, causing my hairs to stand on my arms with excitement at the sound of her voice. "What time is it?"
"Not very late," I mumbled back, "About quarter to twelve. Go back to sleep."
She shook her head, sitting up. I couldn't help but admire how adorable she looked in that Hello Kitty shirt, but the longer my stare the faster my thoughts would immediately become impure the longer I stared at her body.
"Are you listening, Kade?" Emara asked me, her red puffy eyes playfully narrowing at me. "Stop eye-fucking me."
"I'm not," I horribly lied, biting my lip when she turned so her back was facing me. My eyes looked down at her curvy body, stopping at her round ass and licking my lips.
"How are you feeling?" I asked, sitting up straighter so I was behind her. Emara's movements paused when I rested my hands on her waist before she grabbed some sweatpants and slipped them over her shorts.
"I want to cry for a few hours, trash Tristan's apartment like a crazy bitch and then go out for some lunch," she responded as I gathered her ink-black hair on top of her head.
I extended my hand and she handed me a thick elastic. I tied her hair up and once it was tight enough, I moved back and laid on the bed, facing the ceiling. Emara's smaller body followed suit, one of her arms resting on my chest.
"You're hesitant," she mumbled, her head on my shoulder. "Why?"
I sighed. "Do you regret anything that happened last night?"
She looked up at me, her lips pursed. "I wouldn't have had sex with you again this morning if I regretted it, Kade."
I looked away, my cheeks getting hotter. Fuck, why am I blushing?
"You're blushing," she laughed, touching my cheek with the back of her hand. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "Who called my phone? I would have answered it but you're quite comfortable to sleep on."
I grinned at her commented before it quickly vanished from my face. "It was Tristan."
She stopped moving and her hand began to lightly shake against my chest almost immediately, causing me to hold it and entwine our fingers together. I kissed each knuckle on her hand, feeling her squeeze my hand lightly before she finally relaxed.
"I feel like a hypocrite to be calling him such names after just sleeping with you," Emara admitted.
"The only difference is that you have reason behind it," I told her. "He cheated just for the hell of it whereas you came to me with reason; he's been ignoring you, going on trips for weird lengths at a time, and has paid no attention to you — the asshole pretty much abandoned you. If he can't give you the attention you need in a relationship then someone else who knows how to might as well replace his job."
Emara sighed. "Am I still allowed to feel a little bad about it?"
"I'm not going to tell you how to feel in this situation because it's all up to you," I mumbled. "But you shouldn't feel guilty, in my opinion."
She hummed, a shiver crawling up her spine when I began to caress it with my fingertips again.
"I don't feel guilty," she explained to me softly. "I just feel like I should have put more closure to our relationship from the last phone call I got from him instead of simply saying that I'm moving out."
I could feel her tracing small circles into my chest.
"What did he say when he called? Did you say anything?"
I inhaled slowly and could feel my heart beating faster against my chest.
"I didn't say anything," I mumbled, feeling her legs raise up against my body and wrapping around me. I moved my second hand to her thigh and began to trace circles into it with my thumb. "He admitted to having the affair."
She tensed.
"He said how it was nothing and promise that it wouldn't happen again," I hesitantly continued.
"That fucking word," she choked out. "The amount of times I've heard him say that he promised and every single time he broke it."
I kissed her forehead gently, feeling her chest heaving as she tried to hold back her sobs.
"I don't want to cry," she managed to say, "because I don't want to cry for him — I don't want to cry because of him."
I simply pulled her closer. "You're allowed to cry, Em."
Emara was silent, holding me. The door suddenly buzzed and I sighed, getting off of the bed. Emara quickly stopped me with a whine, pulling me back to her.
"I need to answer whoever's at the door, baby," I grunted, feeling a small grin tug at my lips when she groaned.
"Nap with me," she muttered, eventually letting go of the waistband of my shorts. "Please? I promise, I'm a good cuddler. I've watched videos."
"What?" I questioned, laughing. "You watched cuddling videos?"
Emara nodded confidently and my chuckles continued. Once it slowly ceased, Emara patted the spot next to her and waited with her lip between her teeth, that look of pure fucking innocence written over her face. Her cheeks were slightly flushed from crying, her eyes pink, and yet she still managed to look absolutely beautiful.
"I'll be back, okay?" I reassured her, watching her lips turn down. "I'm not going anywhere, Emara. I'm not like my dumb-ass brother."
I hated the fact that she couldn't trust me yet. I understood why because of her past and because of Tristan and the constant times he let her down, but I wanted to be the first man in her life — the first person in her life — to not let her down the way others have. I cared about her and didn't want her to get hurt.
"Pinky swear," Emara murmured. "I can't trust the word 'promise'."
I smiled, extending my pinky and locking it with hers. Emara slowly returned the smile and I gave her knuckles a kiss before letting go and walking out of the bedroom. Once I closed the door, I headed towards the front door.
I opened it, feeling my eyebrows push together.
"Oh, that bitch really did it," the familiar voice said, his eyes wide. "Holy shit."
"Are you going to keep gawking like a fish out of water or come in?" I asked Jake with a teasing smirk.
He slowly walked in, his jaw still dropped.
"Don't tell me that she slept with you for some revenge shit to get at Tristan," he said, turning around to face me once I closed the door.
"Nope," I confirmed, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing here, man?"
"Emara called me this morning to come and get her," Jake responded, looking around the house. "I packed all of her things from Tristan's house so it's in my trunk. Is she staying here instead?"
"No." I shook my head. "Right now, what's best for Emara is getting away from all of my family's drama. Her staying with you would be for the better."
Jake nodded, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "I've always liked you more than Tristan. You know how to take care of her. I'm thankful for that."
I nodded, trying to hide how flattered I was. Especially hearing that from Jake, who practically grew up as Emara's very over-protective brother, it felt good knowing that he liked me more.
"She might be awake," I told Jake. "She's been sleeping in and out since this morning so there's a fifty-fifty chance that she hasn't fallen asleep yet."
"Nah, it's fine," Jake said, shaking me off. "I'll come back tomorrow afternoon after you two have had lunch. Take care of her until then, eh? I don't want her being alone while she's dealing with this break-up."
"I don't plan on leaving her side," I said, receiving a chuckle from him. "I'll see you tomorrow, man."
He nodded, sending me a grin. "'Til tomorrow."
I waved just as he opened and closed the door. The second he left, I turned around and went back to the bedroom Emara was staying in last night.
Giving her space to recollect herself was a good option. She needed to be her own person and had to learn how to grow independently — I would be stopping that from happening if I let her stay, as much as I wanted her to.
I entered the room and saw Emara on her phone, removing every photo she had of Tristan alone or with her. She had earbuds in her ears, her feet swaying to the music she was listening to. When I looked at her screen, I sighed and shook my head at the number of photos she had.
That bastard I had to call my brother didn't deserve her.
Right as I was about to get onto the bed, she turned around and faced me.
"Who was there?" She asked, taking them from her ears and turning around so she was on her back.
"It was Jake," I replied, kneeling in front of her, spreading her legs apart and gently kissing her inner thigh. "He's going to be picking you up tomorrow afternoon, if that's alright with you."
She nodded, sitting up and running her hand through my messy hair. I kissed her thigh again and smirked when she gasped.
"You want to get something to eat?" I mumbled, not breaking eye contact with her as I sucked on her thigh to leave a mark, hearing her soft whimper. "Or you want to work out with me?"
"Work out?" She repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"Mm," I said, nipping at her flesh before moving further down her thigh. "We can work on some cardio, maybe some leg exercises. Sound like a plan?"
With pursed lips, Emara nodded and straightened herself. "I-I guess. Do you want to go down now or..."
"You're so clueless," I chuckled, slowly slipping her sweats down, followed by her shorts.
Emara's eyes grew and she opened and closed her mouth helplessly. However, she didn't stop me when I took both pairs of pants off and threw them in the room, keeping eye contact with her.
"Let's start with seeing how much stamina you have," I mumbled, hearing her sharp intake of breath before she let it out in a cry, her hands flying to my hair and holding it tightly when my mouth pressed to her heat with a small smirk.
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