My Ex Wants Me Back

EMILYFive years ago, when I left this town, I never expected to come back. Of course, at first, I wanted to return—to my parents, my friends, to have my life back. But life had a cruel way of burying those feelings deep inside me.The idea of returning under these circumstances only made everything worse, but my father needed me, so I had to be strong and face whatever came my way, swallowing my ghosts and nightmares for his sake.My brother had just found out that his wife, Helen, was pregnant, and I couldn’t ruin their celebration because Dad was struggling with his drinking again. Truth be told, he’d been a problem for a long time, ever since Mom passed away. We just didn’t realize how much worse it had gotten. When Janice called me, saying he’d ended up in the hospital after drinking heavily and getting hurt, I knew I had to step in. Especially when he decided to fire Janice, the woman who’d worked for our family since I was a kid, who’d helped raise me. He must have been out of

YEARS AGO - EMILY“Emmy, your time’s up,” Fernando, my brother, said, already pushing me out of the party.“Come on, Fe, just a little longer,” I begged, giving him my best puppy-dog face.“Not even ten seconds. Get your butt out of here before Dad grounds me because of you.”“Fine, fine. Let me just find Bete,” I grumbled, running off to find that crazy girl, who was probably hanging all over Brian. “There you are.” I found her on the porch after circling the whole house looking for her. “I have to go now. You coming?”“No way. We’re heading to Tom’s place next.”“Have you lost your mind? Tom’s mixed up in bad stuff. He even went to juvie!” I complained, hoping she’d see the obvious. “Stop listening to everything Brian says.” She always got sucked into the world of whatever guy she was dating.“Babe, I’ve got him eating out of my hand, not the other way around,” she whispered in my ear while waving at him. “Look, Bianca’s leaving too. Maybe you two can walk together?” Bete shouted so

EMILYI woke up with zero desire to get out of bed. It was nearly impossible to keep sleeping in this town long after sunrise—the birds and the heat woke everyone up. Still, I stayed in bed for another hour after waking.My dad’s bedroom door was still closed, and I was going to give him the time he needed until he was ready to finally talk.Then I faced the kitchen: *“You weren’t here!”* His words swirled in my head, hitting me like a slap in the face. *“Don’t pretend you care!”* Facing the truth head-on was harder than I’d thought, but before I could sink into dark, depressive thoughts, the doorbell rang.Janice wouldn’t knock—she had a key and had promised not to tell anyone I was here. So who the hell could it be? I stood frozen at the door, waiting for another knock, and it came, louder this time.“Emily Carvalho, I know you’re in there, and I’m not leaving without getting a good look at that face!” Bianca’s voice filled my ears.I flung the door open and saw her. Her brown hair

MARCOSBianca had been on duty last night, but that didn’t stop me from going straight to her workplace to ask what Emily was doing back in town.I was full of hope that she’d returned for good, to stay. Part of me imagined she might be hurting from a recent breakup, but at the same time, I was glad because it meant she was free to be won over again.I’d always hated seeing any guy touch her, even before we started hooking up. Something inside me screamed that she needed to be protected, cherished. Emily was pure, innocent, and sweet—she should stay that way, but I couldn’t resist her.After the day I felt her lips, I knew I couldn’t go back and let others kiss my girl. Like anyone else, she had desires, even if she was just starting to discover them, and she’d find them with any guy or man she wanted.But I’d never let another touch her. She was mine and no one else’s.“Can I know why you’re here at this hour?” Bianca had just become a nurse and was already completely dedicated to her

EmilyI ran as fast as I could from that place. I’d been stupid enough to go there in the first place—it served me right.Even from a distance, I could see the resemblance: the same hair color and Carla’s round face. That damn bastard!“Emy?” I heard the shouts. “Emily!” I turned just in time to see Bete running toward me across the parking lot. “I can’t believe it’s you, you big jerk! Where’ve you been, and why didn’t you come see me?” she yelled, still not close enough to reach me.“When did you get here?” I managed to say before our bodies collided. After Bianca, she was the only person in this town I still kept in touch with. “Why didn’t you tell me you were back?”“You didn’t exactly tell me you were coming back either. And returning to this town isn’t exactly exciting news to spread around.”“Trust me, I know. What did you do to your hair?” I stared at her locks, once constantly dyed a natural red, now back to their real blonde. “Let’s get out of here before Bia sees me and drags