Just Like Her

Chapter 46

Emma

I was asleep, with Tom's peck as my pillow, when the crash thundered throughout the flat. I gasped awake just as Tom flipped us over so I was pinned underneath the weight of his body.

"What—"

"Shh!" he commanded as he hovered over me, listening.

There was what felt to be a long silence before another crash, which this time I recognized as the slamming of the front door.

I felt Tom move to crawl off me and grabbed his shoulder to stop him, but he easily shrugged me off before tiptoeing toward the bedroom door.

"Tom, don't!" I hissed.

Tom held his hand up for me to be quiet before he carefully flipped the lock on the doorknob, securely locking it from the inside. I let out the breath I had been holding but sharply inhaled again at the sound of a man's voice shouting just outside the door.

"Tommy, I swear to bloody Christ!"

He cursed under his breath and mumbled for me to "stay here" before opening the door and swiftly closing it behind him.

I sat bolt right in bed, gripping the sheets tightly around me as I attempted to hear what was happening.

They were shouting, though their voices were muffled through the door so I couldn't make out what was being said. I quickly glanced around and found one of Tom's T-shirts discarded near his hamper.

I got out of bed as silently as I could and slipped it on before padding toward the closed door. Hesitantly, I pressed my ear against the doorframe. It was difficult to parse their words, let alone attribute the muffled voices to their respective owners.

"Unbelievable!" Someone shouted.

"Calm down—"

Tom. That was Tom, I was sure of it.

"Calm down?!" The other roared.

I gingerly placed my hand on the doorknob but immediately retracted it when I heard my name.

"You pine after Emma for weeks!"

"Shut it!" I heard Tom hiss.

I pressed my ear flat against the gap between the door and its frame, trying in vain to better hear what was being said.

"... nightly telling me how much you love her! Making plans to win her back—"

"Charlie, I swear to—" Tom tried to interrupt again, but whoever this Charlie was wouldn't have it.

"—and you throw it all away for some whore throwing herself at you like—"

At the sound of a shuffle, I burst through the door to find Tom and another man—slightly taller and leaner—struggled over a purple item, which I belatedly recognized as my bra.

"Oh, would you stop it!" I exclaimed. "I'm Emma!"

They both froze momentarily with Tom holding Charlie in some sort of rugby hold. Now that I could see both of their faces, I realized they looked so similar, especially in their wide-eyed expression at my sudden entrance. In my panic, I had struggled to recognize the name, but seeing them together, I finally placed it.

Charlie. Tom's cousin, Charlie.

Tom looked me up and down. I blushed under his gaze and attempted to tug his T-shirt farther down my thigh.