The Davis Years (Indigo) by Nicole Green Page B

her. Jemma murmured her thanks and took it.
    “You know, Emily Rose never would say all that much about why you left.”
    Jemma nodded, grateful to Emily Rose for that. “Let’s go in there.”
    “Okay.” Carolina held open the kitchen door for Jemma. She walked through to the living room and up the stairs to Emily Rose’s room.
    Jemma stayed long enough to make sure Emily Rose was as okay as she could be and to say goodnight. Then she left Emily Rose in the capable hands of her bridal party after telling both Emily Rose and Carolina to let her know if she was needed. She hated that Carolina had caught her in a vulnerable moment. She never liked feeling out of control of things. However, she felt a little better when she went outside and found Davis waiting for her by his car as promised.
    He held his hands out to her as she moved closer. “You okay?”
    She nodded, taking his hands.
    “Even with what happened out there, I’m glad I was here with you.”
    She smiled, pulling him close. “Me, too.” Her mind went back to prom and the perfect couple. Prom queen Tara and lacrosse jock Davis. High school royalty. And then there was Jemma.
    Davis’s face came close to hers, bringing her back to the present. “For now can we pretend you’re not leaving and that this mess of a rehearsal dinner didn’t just happen?” Davis whispered against her lips.
    She nodded, resting her hands on his shoulders.
    He started to speak again.
    She placed her fingers over his lips. “No talking.”
    Davis nodded, moving her fingers aside and placing his lips over hers.
    His fingers found hers and he brought their hands to rest on his hips. She sighed, pressing her lips closer to his. Squeezing his fingers, she moved herself closer to him until there was no space between them. He turned their bodies so that she was pressed between him and the car. She wanted to stay right there forever. From her ankles to her knees and upward, her body craved Davis Hill.
    “I like kissing you,” he whispered when their lips finally parted. “I missed it. A lot.”
    She grinned into his shoulder. “I like that you like kissing me.”
    “Good.” He stroked her hair.
    When she was able to think again, something occurred to her. “That had to be weird for you. Seeing Tara like that.”
    His fingers stopped moving through her braids.
    “Just out of the blue like that. And it’s probably been a while since you saw her last?”
    He nodded, staring down the street into dusk and streetlights.
    She brushed her fingertips along the backs of his hands. “If you want to talk about her or anything, I—”
    “No. I don’t,” Davis said, kissing the tip of her nose. “For now, it’s only us, remember? Your rule. Only us.”

Chapter 10
    Always a wedding guest and never a bride. That was how she wanted it. Jemma had no plans to become anyone’s bride. Definitely not soon and maybe not ever. She wasn’t sure people like her were meant to be wives. People who weren’t able to put a lot of faith into the word “love.”
    Saturday morning, she sat sideways on the bathroom sink so that she could face the mirror and concentrate on applying eye shadow. She didn’t wear it often—usually she went with only eye liner and mascara for eye makeup—so the task was a challenging one. Yet it still gave her too much time to think about Davis and being pressed between his car and his body.
    He was coming to pick her up soon to go to the wedding. She needed to finish getting ready. At least she didn’t have to worry about her hair. Her braids hung free over her back. Still, she needed to get done with the makeup so she could throw on her dress. She’d decided on a strappy pale-mint-colored sundress with eyelets. She paired it with white sandals and a matching jade earring and necklace set.
    Not a moment sooner than she’d slipped on her sandals and checked the mirror to make sure everything worked together, she heard a knock at the front door. When she answered