Chapter 20: Bossy Bodyguard: Part 2 – Chapter 20

I was grinning from ear to ear, rubbing off the dust from my skirt and blouse, fixing my hair. “It’s very thrilling. I wish I had done that sooner!”

We both sat in her car, strapping the seat belts on. “Between you and me, if you ever sneak out again, park your car blocks away and start pushing it before you start it so that no one knows you are sneaking out.”

I clicked my tongue. “That seems clever. Then why did you start the car right here?” I asked, as she drove past the driveway to my house and towards the road, with overgrown trees on the side, that leads to the town.

“Because I thought you were kidding about having a curfew,” Summer said, tapping her fingers on the wheel, giving me a small smile. “First of all, you’re Emma Moore and second of all, you kind of deserve a break after yesterday…”

Her soft voice trailed off into the sound of wind and night. I looked out of the window, my mind going to the day before. She was right. I hadn’t really coped with anything that had been happening since my birthday.

A warm hand closed over mine. I squeezed her hand back and thanked her for being there with me. Even though my mom was dead, I had dumped my boyfriend, and I had a stalker… at least my friends were with me.

“Is Mia going to join us?” I asked, knowing well that her older boyfriend was a stubborn piece of shit.

“What do you think?”

“If James can pick her up or have a tattoo of his name on her forehead, he might let her off his leash,” I said, ending my sentence in a singsong voice.

Summer giggled. “He’s not that bad.”

“Excuse me? Not that bad?” I asked. “Do you remember when he threw her over his shoulder like a freaking cave man at the club?”

“Ahh, yes, I remember. That was kind of hot, huh?”

“What?”

“Yeah,” she shrugged, fiddling with the knob of her radio player. The car was vintage, so it didn’t have a working radio. “I mean, he’s not overly possessive of her and lets her do her own thing. I bet they have nasty, kinky sex afterwards. I kind of like that. I wish I had that.”

I remembered the look on Mia’s face when they had opened the door of the private room at the club months ago. She had tears gleaming in her eyes, but she didn’t look like she was crying from sadness. She looked like she had seen heaven and danced in the clouds. And the way James looked at her every time they both were in the same room made me both want to puke and yell at them to get a room. Like they couldn’t have enough of each other.

“Yeah,” I whispered, my voice seeming far away. “I wish I had that, too.”

I realized too late what I had just spilled.

“What? You have Caleb fucking Chang wrapped around your pinkie. You already have that, bab—”

“I dumped him, Summer,” I blurted, fiddling with my fingers. “I found him kissing Aaron on my bed. I broke up with him.”

I didn’t know why but saying that aloud made my heart ache and throat burn.

“What the hell?” Her voice had gone soft, and she was driving slow as if she was processing what she was hearing. “When did this happen?”

I chuckled humorlessly, tucking my hair behind my ear. “Yesterday. At my mom’s funereal. Can you fucking believe it?”

“Yes. No. I… I can’t.”

We were both silent for a while and I jumped in my seat when Summer suddenly slammed her hand on the wheel, blaring the horn. “That asshole! He cheated on you at your mom’s funeral with a fucking guy? Jesus Christ.”

“I know, right?” I sniffed, wiping the tear that escaped my eyes. Traitor. “I was so furious and sad and done that I went to the club to get wasted and… you know, the rest.” I slept with his hot dad, who is now my bodyguard.

“Why didn’t you tell us, Em?” Summer asked, turning to a neighborhood I wasn’t familiar with. It was near our school and even though we were far from reaching the party, I could hear the bass of some pop song.

“I know, I’m sorry. I just wanted to get wasted and forget all about it.”

“Well, we are getting you wasted and make you forget all about it tonight!”

“We?”

“I called reinforcements.”

I stared at her and her smug grin. “Whenever you have that smile on your face, things never go well, Summer.”

“Chill, it’s just me, Mia, and a few guys from our school. Who are single and ready to mingle? Shelter your jerky, then nab that turkey.”

“Stop. Don’t call it jerky.”

“Cage that snake, then shake and bake?”

“Jesus.”

“You’re going to be fine!”

I was, in fact, not fine.

As Cillian had to come get me when I almost got naked at the party…

Cillian

“Why the fuck are you here?” I stared at the black-haired man, sitting on my couch with crossed legs, flashy watch and glasses perched on his nose.

“Nice to see you too, brother,” Sean smiled at me with a small wave.

I threw my keys in the bowl, removing my shoes and wearing slippers, and walking inside. “We are not brothers,” I reminded him for the umpteenth time, grabbing a glass and pouring cold water from the fridge.

“That’s not how Mrs. Chang treats me,” he said, talking about my mother and opening the fridge. “She treats me like her own son.” He emphasized the last part, grabbing a jar of kimchi and leftover noodles.

I sighed, knowing full well where the conversation was headed. “Let me guess, she put my profile on some dating site and wants me to go on a date? So, you’re here to prod me into going to one?”

He leaned back on the island after putting the noodles in the microwave to heat it up. “You’re almost right. She threatened me using her secret soup recipe if I didn’t give you this letter.” He pulled out a plain letter from his pocket and opened it for me. “It’s a list of Asian women who are single moms and looking for a suitable, handsome—”

Before he could finish, I picked it up and tore it into tiny pieces and threw it into the bin. Sean smiled at me and pulled a plate from one of the cupboards, pausing and looking over me with a raised brow.

“No, I already had dinner. It’s all yours.” I sat down on the stool and opened the iPad to look over Emma’s school schedule with all the events. “Have you seen Caleb today?”

“Not really. I bought him some beer, but I haven’t seen him since I arrived. Must be with his girlfriend or out partying.”

I stiffened. “He got dumped by her.”

Sean laughed and sat across from me with a steaming bowl of noodles, kimchi, and two glasses of soju. Smart man.

“Remind you of someone?” he asked, wriggling his brow. “You and Olivia broke up every couple of months. Don’t give me that look. He’ll be with her before this month ends.”

I poured another glass of drink and threw it down my throat. “I don’t think so,” I said, slamming my lips and clearing my throat at the burn. “He told me he fucked up and—”

I shook my head, looking down at her schedule and marking my calendar according to it.

“You’ll get stomachache if you won’t tell me.” He said in a singsong voice, annoying me by playing with the chopsticks in front of me.

Sean Tae was one of my only friends who stuck around me after the death of my wife. We grew up in the same neighborhood, went to the same school, military, and he was the best man at my wedding. He was the one I called when she passed away, and he was standing beside me at her funeral.

He was also a damn good lawyer and knew me too well.

Sighing, I pushed the tablet towards him. “Emma Moore. Nineteen years old and ex-girlfriend of Caleb.”

“Why do you have a file on her?”

“She’s being stalked and I’m her bodyguard until we catch who’s harassing her.”

He stopped eating and frowned at me. “Caleb should be the leading suspect?”

“He is.” I clasped my fingers together, leaning on the marble. “But I know he is not.”

“True. He’s too emotional to ever pull this off.”

I stared at him.

He swallowed his food and blinked at me. “What? We both know he’s lazy, too. He won’t do that.”

“Yeah… but he still hasn’t told me why she dumped him. I don’t want to—so you know, that’s how I made the stir-fry sauce. Just a bit of oyster sauce does the magic.” I pursed my lips, changing the topic abruptly when I heard the door of Caleb’s room slam open, the sounds of his footsteps running downstairs.

Sean subtly closed the tablet and stuffed his mouth with noodles so he wouldn’t have to speak as my son looked at both of us with suspicious eyes.

“Hey Sean.” He nodded at him. He was wearing a clean shirt, and I caught a whiff of cologne in the air. “What’s up?”

“Are you going out?” I checked the time again on my watch. “It’s way past ten.”

“There’s a party, so…” He shrugged, scrolling down his phone.

I stared at him. “It’s a school night, Caleb.”

I didn’t want to be a dad right now, but I had to.

He scoffed, looking at me, “Right. Yeah, it is. And are you going to tell me why were you discussing Emma with him? And what were you doing in her room this morning?”

My fists clenched when I felt the burning stare of Sean on the side of my face. “I was in her guest room, and we were talking about her. It’s confidential. I already told you this morning.”

“So tell him you are her bodyguard,” Sean said, scooping more food into his mouth as I glared at him.

I closed my eyes, holding my head when Caleb yelled, “What?”

Fucking great.