Page 1 of Smut Lovers

Chapter One

Emmy

I pulled my coat closer around me as I stepped out into the bitter night air.

Holy Jamoly, you would think after living in London for the last ten years I would be used to the wet and the cold but no.

Hopefully the storm clouds I saw off in the distance would hold on until after I figured out what was wrong with the car.

There shouldn’t be anything wrong with it.

I drove it off the dealership lot just three days ago.

A quick glance at the front tire had my stomach sinking.

I knew I should have tried to avoid that pothole but I hadn’t noticed it until too late.

My brain was too caught up with lesson plans even this early in the semester.

The tire was flatter than flat with the rim resting on the asphalt.

I groaned. The salesman at the dealership had told me where the spare tire was but even if I could get it out, I had no idea how to fix it.

My father never taught me those things, filling my days with endless music lessons instead.

Silver glinted from the back seat where my violin case laid carefully strapped in.

I was going to have to call for a tow. A shudder wracked my body and it wasn’t just from the cold wind.

Calling a towing company in a strange city by myself late at night sounded awful.

I watched enough documentaries to know what happened next. But I didn’t have anyone to call.

Yes you do, a little voice whispered in my head.

I bit my lip. Technically I did know two people in the city outside my new colleagues at Devonbury Fine Arts Institute.

But I hadn’t seen or spoken to them in over fifteen years; ever since my father dragged me to London and cut off all access to my previous life.

That man was the definition of a tortured crazy artist. Music is what you eat, breathe, and sleep, he had said. “There is no time for anything else.”

But he was gone now and I was finally charting my own course in life.

My cold, aching fingers pressed against the screen of my phone.

Even though I hadn’t talked to them in years, I looked them up as soon as I moved into town.

Jayden Miller and Danny Garcia. They had come from the “wrong side of the tracks” according to my father but that didn’t stop our friendship from blossoming when we first met in English class my sophomore year.

We were best friends and I was half in love with them when my father yanked me from my life and moved us to England.

He hadn’t even let me say goodbye and I had no way of contacting them to let them know where I had gone or what had happened.

I had always wondered if they even tried to find me.

That’s not true. Five years ago I was flipping through a magazine at a hair appointment and their handsome faces stared up at me.

“Tech Magnets 30 Under 30” the title had read.

They had always been brilliant just not in the way most people measured it.

They loved tinkering with computers and had apparently developed some new software program that the military was interested in.

They were recruited straight out of college to build it and now they had expanded into the renewable energy space.

I could have reached out five years ago, their company website was included in the article but what would I have said?

Hey I’m the girl you were friends with at fifteen that left without a word, do you want to catch up?

No, they had their life and I had mine. At least that’s what I told myself up until I was considering teaching positions and Devonbury had made me an offer.

It’s a large city, surely I wasn’t going to run into them despite what my traitorous heart wanted.

But now here I was less than two weeks into living here and stuck on the side of the road with no one else to call. If they didn’t answer, I would call a tow truck and take my chances. I tapped on the phone number to their main office.

“Hello, MG Enterprises, this is Violet speaking, how may I direct your call?”

“Umm, hi Violet, this is Emmy Anderson calling. I was hoping to speak with Jayden Miller or Danny Garcia.”

“And what’s the nature of your call?”

I hesitated. “I’m an old friend who just moved back to town and I’ve run into a bit of a jam and I was hoping I could talk to one of them.”

The line was quiet. “I’m afraid Mr. Garcia is off site right now and Mr. Miller is in a meeting. I can leave a message if you would like?”

I exhaled. Well, there went that plan. At least she wasn’t hanging up on me or blowing me off completely.

“Um, yes that would be great.” I rattled off my name and phone number to her.

“Umm, I guess just tell them to call whenever.” I finished quickly, facepalming as I did so. God, Emmy, you’re such a ditz.

“Of course. Goodbye.”

I looked up and down the street. It was fairly well lit. I really didn’t want to call a tow truck though. Maybe I could fix it myself? How hard could it be? I had the internet after all.

Fifteen minutes later, fat wet droplets hit my face.

I barely had time to look up at the sky before it opened up.

I kicked the spare tire at my feet, just my luck.

I finally got it and the jack out but I had no idea how to get the flat tire off the car and now it was pouring rain.

It took me a few seconds to register the buzzing in my pocket.

An unknown number flashed across the screen as I tried to get my cold, shaking fingers to cooperate.

“Hello?” It was hard to hear over the roar of the rain.

“Emmy?” Even fifteen years later, I recognized his voice.

“Jayden,” I choked out, holding back the emotion that threatened to spill out at the memories his voice brought up.

“God, I’m a mess, I’m sorry. I know it’s been a long time but I didn’t know who else to call.

” I rambled on, trying to explain why a ghost from his past had called him out of the blue.

“Emmy?–are you?” His voice was garbled. My luck strikes again, the connection must not be good.

“Jayden? Can you hear me? I think I’m on Dulcet Street?” I opened the car door and dove into my seat. It was louder inside the car with the rain hitting the roof but hopefully he could hear me.

“ – say again?”

Before I could answer him, the phone beeped again indicating the call had ended.

“Fuck!” I slammed my hands on the steering wheel a few times as I half-laughed, half-sobbed.

This must be karma for whatever I did in a past life.

Or maybe my father was still interfering from the beyond.

He hated me cussing and he would have hated that I was in this city teaching of all things.

Maybe he really was messing with me. I leaned back in my seat, letting my head fall into the headrest as I shivered.

It took three tries to get my shaking hands to turn the keys in the ignition.

The cold was seeping into my bones and I shivered even as I cranked the heat up.

I closed my eyes. I would just rest my eyes for a few moments and then I would figure it out by myself like I’ve had to for the last year.

Independence was both welcome and terrifying.

I was so used to my father making every decision for me even if I didn’t want him to.

But now I was truly alone. I would have to pull on my big girl panties as they say but first, I just needed a moment to shut my eyes.

Sharp knocks on the window startled me awake. How long was I asleep? A dark shape crouched next to my window and it took a few seconds for my eyes to focus on the face staring back at me.

“Jayden,” I breathed, pushing random buttons on the door until the doors unlocked.

I threw myself into his arms. The rain pelted us both as I tried not to fall apart in the arms of a man I had only seen in my dreams since I had left.

I blamed the rain and the absolute shitty day I had been having on my impulsive actions, but when he wrapped his arms around me, my name a whisper on his lips I sank into him.

“Fuck, Emmy,” His gravelly voice whispered in my ear. “What are you doing here? How are you here?”

I pulled back, wiping both tears and rain from my eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know who else to call.”

“Don’t apologize, I’m glad you did, little bird.

” I bit my lip hard as a new wave of emotion washed over me at the familiar nickname.

His sharp green eyes took in the spare tire laying on the ground.

“You haven’t been trying to fix it yourself, have you?

In the rain at night?” His words were sharp and I winced.

“I didn’t know if you would call me back,” I admitted. I was still in shock that he was here. I wouldn’t blame them if they hated me for taking off the way I did.

His eyes softened and he kissed my forehead.

“I’ll always come for you. Danny too.” I swallowed thickly as I stared up at him, searching his eyes for the hidden meaning behind his words.

What did he mean by that? Unconsciously, a shiver wracked my body and he cursed.

“Come on, let’s go sit in my car. I’ll call a tow truck to get yours. We have to get you warm.”

He guided me to his car and opened the door to the passenger side. It was a fancy car although I couldn’t tell you the make and model if my life depended on it. The seats had to be real leather though and I balked. “I can’t sit there. I’ll ruin your seats.”

“I don’t care about the seats,” he growled out. “Get in.”

My body reacted automatically at his sharp words, sliding into the seat without another question. He plucked my keys out of my shaking fingers and reached past me to crank the heat to full blast. “Stay here,” he ordered, shutting the door and jogging back to my car.