* * *
Had she misread the whole situation? Were Dex’s feelings for Gracepurely platonic? She shook her head. No, she remembered the state Dex was in atthe wedding. She was clearly in love with Grace. A huge rock had formed inEmma’s stomach. Carrying a torch from a schoolgirl crush was one thing, butknowing Dex had actually had sex with Grace was a whole different story. Shehad to know if Dex felt the same for Emma as she felt for Dex, or she had tobreak this off now. If she didn’t, this would only end badly for Emma. Thethought of losing Dex had already created a massive explosion in her heart.
She pulled up in front of the house where Dex was hanging lightsand honked. She hadn’t known the exact address, so she’d started at thebeginning of South Grove and driven until she’d found her.
Dex ran to the car. “Hey, this is a nice surprise,” Dex said asshe leaned through the window opening and kissed her.
Emma plucked a cup out of the holder in the console and handed itto her. “I thought you might need some coffee.”
“Awesome.” She took it from her and glanced over her shoulder. “Ifyou have a few minutes, I can probably take a break.”
“Sure.” She reached into the back and set a jug of coffee on theconsole. “I brought some for your team too.”
“Oh, man, you’re spoiling us.” Dex ran around the car and hoppedinto the passenger seat.
“It’s pretty cold out there.” She tapped the temperature readingon her dashboard, which showed twenty-six degrees.
“Are you okay?” Dex seemed to notice Emma’s mood.
“I’m not sure.” She stared at the steering wheel, out thewindshield, at the coffee on the console between them. Everywhere but at Dex.The internal battle of what she should do and what she wanted to do was raginginside her.
“Talk to me.” Dex reached over and took her hand.
She blew out a breath and summoned her courage. “I went to talk toGrace this morning.”
“Why?” Confusion seemed to set in with Dex.
“It seems like she’s always in the middle of everything we do.Even when she’s not physically between us, she’s calling.”
Dex’s phone chimed right on cue. She ignored it.
“I can’t continue”—she glanced at the ceiling and slowly shook herhead—“whatever this is I have with you, if you’re still in love with Grace.”
The pink hue starting to return to Dex’s cheeks disappeared. “Whatdid she tell you?”
Not the reaction Emma wanted. Just one word of protest to let herknow it wasn’t true would’ve given her hope, but there was none. The rock inher stomach doubled in size. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I can’t competewith her.”
“I’m not asking you to compete with her, Em.”
“Oh, but you are. Every time you bring her into the conversation,tell her where we’re going, or talk to her about me.”
“I don’t talk to her about you.”
“Because she doesn’t want to hear it, right?”
Dex nodded.
“Well, there’s one good thing.”
“What are you so scared of, Em?”
She gripped the steering wheel. “I’m scared that you’ll never loveme as much as you love her.” She stared up at the ceiling, took in a deepbreath, and let it out. “When I saw you at the wedding, I was off-the-chartssmitten.” She closed her eyes as the vision filled her head. “I thought, howcan she still be single? Then I saw your face after Grace and Brent said theirvows. And then you caught the bouquet and got so fucking drunk. I knew you werein love with her.”
“I can’t deny that.” She shook her head. “But you’ve become veryimportant in my life.”
“But you’re not completely over her.”
“I’m trying.”
“Sometimes I feel like this thing that I think wehave”—she motioned with her hand between them—“is one-sided. I need you to beall in with me.” She let her hands fall from the steering wheel. “I’m righthere. I’ve stripped away all my walls. I’ve let you in. I need that from youtoo.”
“Then please stop making this about Grace.”
“I can’t. She’s right here in the middle of us all the time.”
“You’re making it more complicated than it is.”
“Then help me uncomplicate it. Just tell me what you want, Dex,even if it’s Grace. If that’s the case, I’ll just go away, and you won’t haveto deal with me anymore.” Dex’s silence was more than an answer. Emma closedher eyes and tamped down the pain inside. “I thought maybe you’d gotten overher, but it’s pretty apparent that you haven’t.”
“I have. I am, but it’s not that simple, Em. We have a lot of historytogether. She’s been my family since I was twelve. We’ve been through thingstogether that I just can’t forget.”
“I’m not asking you to forget your history with Grace, Dex. Hell,I’m not even asking you to cut her out of your life. Most women would insist onthat. But I can’t share your heart with her or compete for your attention. Iwon’t.” She shook her head. “So I’ll leave you to whatever you need to do untilyou decide what you want.”
Dex reached over and swiped a tear from Emma’s cheek with her thumb.“But—”
“Don’t do that.” Emma reached up and removed Dex’s hand. “Please.”She squeezed her eyes shut. “The thing is…there’s this girl that I love, thatI’m not sure I can live without.” She paused a moment to keep from sobbing.“But I can’t live with her if she’s in love with someone else.” Emma picked upthe jug of coffee and handed to her. “I want to be the one, Dex. I really do.But I need all of your heart, half of it won’t work, and I just don’t know if Ican hang around and wait for you to get over her. Take some time. Figure itout. I can’t be second choice, and I’m afraid you’ll end up hating me for hating her.”
Dex got out of the car and just stood there
