Page 50 of Brat Baby (Sugar Life #1, #3)
Emery
“You were absolutely perfect. Such a good girl for me. You did absolutely amazing.”
The whispered words have been an ongoing waterfall of praise since I was scooped up from the desk and carried over to the couch. All my limbs have felt so incredibly heavy, and I’ve wanted to do nothing but fall asleep, but I forced myself to stay awake and listen to Hudson’s voice.
Being cradled in his lap, head against his shoulder, and just existing in the same space as him has helped with the gaping hole that formed while we were apart.
I have no idea where Darcy is. He gave me a sweet kiss on the forehead before whispering that he would be back soon. I’m pretty sure soon has come and gone, but I’m not going to complain about my current situation.
There is a soft knock at the door and a quiet, “It’s Darcy” before the door opens, the cool air of the room flowing over my legs.
I peek my eyes open enough to see but still appear asleep. Darcy closes the door behind him, glancing my way with a soft smile, then raises a brown paper bag by its handles. “Sugar.”
Hudson must nod, his shoulder shifting a little beneath me. “She hasn’t woken up completely yet.”
He shifts his arms a little, and I snuggle deeper into his hold, burying my face into his shirt. The arms around me tighten. “Shh… It’s okay, kitten. You are okay. Everything is absolutely perfect.”
“Does she seem droppy?” There is a rustle, and then I hear the snap of plastic containers opening.
“Adopted that word, have you?” I can hear Hudson’s amusement loud and clear.
There is a pause. “I like it. I like seeing our world through her eyes.”
Another long, drawn-out pause. “Me too.”
A raging stampede of elephant butterflies charges around in my stomach at their words, and it is a fucking struggle to not jump up and scream for them to please keep me at the top of my lungs.
The couch shifts where my feet are resting and then my feet are raised and lowered into a lap. “Xavier was right, wasn’t he?”
Right about what?
“Yeah, I think so.”
Fuck me, would one of you please elaborate?
But before either of them can do so, a phone rings from somewhere else in the room.
My feet are placed back on the couch, and I have to work to stay relaxed.
“It’s Big D,” Darcy says, amused.
“Who the hell is Big D?” Hudson asks, shifting his entire body beneath me.
Darcy chuckles. “It’s what Emmy called Derek the other day when she answered my phone.”
The phone stops ringing, and I guess it went to voicemail because neither of them seems to have answered it.
Hudson’s chest bounces beneath my cheek as he silently laughs. “So that’s why he looked like his head was going to explode?”
“Probably. The man needs a little mess in his life.”
“He’s just worried that all our lives will be ruined. He’s in damage-control mode.”
There is an electronic ding.
“He left a voicemail. Also, there is a message here saying your delivery is about”—Darcy pauses to calculate—“thirty-five minutes away now. What did you buy? Do you need to get going?”
“It’s everything Emery purchased yesterday that wouldn’t fit in my car. It’s being delivered to her dorm. She has a few more minutes.”
“Ah, right.”
Silence falls over the room. It lasts for so long that I wonder if I should pretend to start waking up now, seeing as how I don’t think I’m going to get any more information out of them, and I need to get back to my dorm to accept all the stuff.
Hopefully it’s only a few boxes.
“This situation is so fucked up. She is fucking perfect for the four of us.” The frustration is obvious in Darcy’s tone. “I hate how the last few weeks have gone down. Staying away for the two weeks that I did manage was painful.”
“One and a half weeks,” Hudson corrected. “And we just have to wait until Friday, then we will all be able to move on, in whichever direction that turns out to be.”
Move on? Friday night? The Obsession event is Friday night. What the hell could possibly be happening at a sex club on a Friday night that would impact whether we can be together?
“Do you have to be so fucking accurate? It felt like two weeks, so I’m claiming it.”
“You are such an artist.”
“Talented and fucking amazing?”
“Emotional and dramatic.”
I try to smother my laugh, but I know I’m caught, so I look over at Darcy. “I’m on Hudson’s side.”
Darcy pretends to act offended, hand going to his chest. “Princess, you wound me.”
I stretch out my legs and arms in front of me until my muscles feel like they are going to cramp. “Do you need a first-aid kit?”
This time, Hudson doesn’t hold back his laughter before leaning in to whisper in my ear. “Fucking perfection.”
“Mean, princess. That is just plain mean.” Darcy turns and grabs something from Hudson’s desk. “But you’re lucky I like it.”
He crouches down in front of me and uses a plastic fork to stab at something in the container, bringing up a piece of juicy, very ripe, strawberry. “You need to eat some of this, and then we need to get you out of here. Your things are being delivered soon.”
Obediently, I open my mouth, and as soon as the flavor hits my tongue, I moan. “I think that is the best strawberry I’ve ever eaten.”
Hudson squeezes my waist before adjusting both of us so that it’s less of a recline and more of a sit. “That’s the endorphins talking. They’ll taste like normal strawberries next time you eat them.”
I pout around my mouthful. “If endorphins make food taste this good, can I have them all the time?”
Darcy wipes some juice from my lower lip with his thumb. “If we could, we would give you the world.”
I stare back at him, my heart melting into a giant puddle of goo in my chest. But then my stomach clenches and my resolve firms. I need to win Derek over before Friday night. Especially now that I know that some sort of decision is going to be made about our situation.
No more messing around with teasing him in class. I need to start taking a much more direct approach. I need to get one-on-one time with him. We need to talk like fucking adults.
I open my mouth and accept the piece of watermelon that Darcy offers me, crunching down a little too hard for the mushy fruit.
I need to win my daddy back.