“Blanton Hall you said?” Raymond asked as he pulled in and parked.

I nodded my head and wiped my hands on my pants. I looked at Raymond and then back at Margie and Billy. The two of them had been dating over a year, and I’d never seen two people so in love. I smiled and shook my head.

“Wish me luck.” I jumped out and started walking toward the entrance. I reached in my pocket and pulled out the piece of paper that had Emma’s room number on it. I walked in the building and smiled at the girl sitting behind the desk.

“May I help you?” she said as she looked me up and down.

I gave her my signature smile, which caused her to smile bigger.

“Yes, ma’am, I do believe you can. I’m looking for Emma Birk.” I handed her the piece of paper.

She quickly looked at it and then back at me. “I know who Emma is.”

I smiled bigger. “Well, I’m kind of here to surprise her.”

The girl made a funny face. “Are you her boyfriend?”

I looked down at the ground and then back up at her. “I guess you could say that I am.”

She looked at me with almost pity in her eyes. “Emma’s not here. She left about an hour ago.”

My heart sank, and I pushed my hand through my hair. “Shit,” I whispered.

She stood up, and that was when I got a good look at her.

Damn.

Her shirt couldn’t possibly get any tighter. Her tits were practically spilling out of it, and I couldn’t help but stare.

I quickly looked back into her eyes and gave her a weak smile. “You wouldn’t happen to know where she went, would you?”

When she put her index finger in her mouth and bit down on it, I wanted to roll my eyes.

She let out a laugh and said, “Oh yeah, I know where she is. When you leave here, take a right and walk for about two blocks. You’ll see Johnny D’s on the corner. I believe she said she was going to meet someone there for a burger.”

I smiled. “What’s your name?”

“Marcy,” she said with a huge grin on her face.

I nodded my head. “Thank you so much, Marcy, for your help.”

She winked at me. “The pleasure was all mine. If you, um…find yourself looking for some fun, be sure to stop back by in a few hours. I can…show you around Austin, cowboy.”

My smile faded for a brief second before I took a few steps back. I turned and headed out the door. I jogged back to the car and tried to shake the uneasy feeling I had.

I opened the passenger-side door and jumped in. “Head down the road about two blocks to a place called Johnny D’s. She’s meeting a girlfriend there for a hamburger.”

Raymond started the car.

Margie let out a little squeal. “I can’t wait to see my cousin!”

I felt the same way. The closer I got to seeing Emma, the harder my dick got. It was going to take everything out of me not to make her mine this weekend.

After Raymond parked the car, we all piled out and started to make our way up to the restaurant. Raymond and I were talking about the traffic and laughing when I smacked right into the back of Billy.

“Shit, just stop in the middle of the damn sidewalk, why don’t ya?” I said as I gave him a push.

Margie quickly turned to me, and the look in her eyes told me something was wrong.

“I don’t see her. Let’s just drive around and see if we can find her,” Margie said as she tried to pull me back to the car.

“What? We haven’t even walked in. How do you know she isn’t here?” I pushed her hand off my arm and started to walk toward the entrance door.

Billy stepped in front of me and said, “She’s not in there. Let’s go.”

I gave Billy a push back. “What’s your bag? Why in the hell are y’all trying to keep me from going in?” Right after I asked that question, I looked through the window, and my heart stopped beating.

Emma. She looked beautiful. Her blonde hair had grown longer and was pulled to the side. She was laughing, and when my eyes followed to where she was looking, I almost puked.

I watched as Emma held the hand of another guy, and she was laughing at something he’d said to her.

I’ll wait for you.

“She lied,” I whispered.

Margie grabbed on to my arm and said, “No, Garrett. We don’t even know who that is. I mean, they are probably just—”

“That’s why Marcy told me to come back and see her. She knew Emma was here on a date.” I slowly turned and looked at Billy.

For the first time in almost a year, I saw pity in his eyes. I hadn’t seen it since my father passed away, and now, here it was again.

“Let’s just go back to Mason, Garrett. She doesn’t even need to know you’re here.”

I glanced back at Emma and this other guy. Have they kissed yet? Maybe she’s fucking him?

I shook my head and pushed past Billy and Margie. “Now, why would I want to do that? We drove all this way. The least we could do is say hi.”

“Garrett!” Billy, Raymond, and Margie called out.

“Shit!” I heard Billy say as he ran up behind me.

I pushed open the door and walked right up to the table. I stopped just behind Emma and said, “So, now I see what’s been keeping you so busy the last few months that you couldn’t call.”

The dick looked up at me and gave me a strange look. He was a built bastard, and I was pretty sure he was a football player.

Emma turned and looked at me. “Garrett?” she said as she stood up. “Oh my God! What are you doing here?”

At first, she wasn’t smiling, but then a huge smile spread across her face before it quickly vanished. She must have realized what was happening.

I looked her body up and down, and I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms and kiss her. “I wanted to surprise you, but it looks like the surprise is on me, Em.”

She looked back at the guy she was with, who was just sitting there, and then she turned back to me. She shook her head and said, “Um, Garrett…wait, no. Philip is…well, he is helping me with biology, and he’s my—”

I let out a laugh. “No need to worry about explaining, Emma. You waited as long as you could, right? While I’ve been lying alone in bed at night, thinking about you, after working my ass off for fifteen hours a day…you’ve moved on, right? I bet your father is happy. Phil here will most likely give you that life your daddy wants for you.”

Emma’s mouth dropped open. “Garrett, that’s not what’s happening here. Philip and I—”