Hatred With Benefits

F O R T Y - E I G H T

EVA.

"Let me take a look now?" I try persuading Emerson about the pictures he took of me again, and he

hums in objection as he opens the car compartment and throws the camera inside.

"You're such a pussy. " I cuss when he turns back to me and his famous signature look masks his face

as he says, "Yeah, right. Your pussy. Want me to check on my pussy to see if it's doing alright down

here? Possibly need some attention?" He lifts a teasing brow as he bends over the divider to my thighs

and I shift back, pressing my body into the car's door as I push at Emerson's shoulder.

"Stop!" I say through a giggle and Emerson lifts his head with a satisfied smile gracing his lips before

he nods behind me. "Come on, we should eat. "

He waits for me to get out of the car before he follows behind me and we make our way inside the

place.

"I come here often; a woman here is a friend of my mom but she isn't around today. " Emerson explains

as he leads me to take a seat in the same restaurant he brought me to last time.

"You must have been close with her. " I tell him as he takes the seat across from me, and he responds

with a sad smile on his face, "Probably would have been the closest if she had enough time for me. "

"She did. You know a lot about her. " I assure him and he says, "I don't. I know those things because I

trailed after her every time she was around; not because she spent enough time with me. "

"Emerson—" I start to say, but he cut me off before I could finish the rest of my words. "I should get us

something. What do you want?"

"A coke is fine by me. " I tell him and a frown pulls to his lips as he says, "A coke? That isn't food. "

"I don't feel hungry. " I proclaim with a gentle smile and Emerson snorts out a laugh, "After how you

were back there? I don't think so. I'll get you some fries. With more ketchup, right?"

"How do you know I enjoy my fries with enough ketchup?" I question in amazement and Emerson's lips

remain parted for a while before he says, "I just guessed. "

I narrow my eyes at him, letting him know I don't believe a word from those.

"Everyone loves their fries with enough ketchup, Carson. Stop overthinking it. " He says in one breath

before he's out of his seat without waiting for my reaction and a cackle leaves my lips as I watch him

make his way to the front counter.

After a few minutes of standing at the counter, Emerson comes back with the fries and places them in

front of me as he says, "There you go. "

"This is part of you trying to get on my good side, isn't it?" I drop my gaze on him and he smiles as he

takes his previous seat, "It might be, and it might not. Maybe I'm turning out to be a natural gentleman.

"

"I'll believe everything, but that, Ford. " I tell him before I look down to my fries to try one. With a nod of

my head to the taste of one of my favourite fast foods, I take another fry and dip it in the ketchup, about

to throw it in my mouth when I hear the sound of a click and I lift my head to see Emerson holding his

phone in hand.

"Did you just take a picture of me?" I ask him, looking down at his phone and Emerson turns the screen

to the table before he responds, "You think so of yourself so highly, Carson. I was taking a picture of

that cute girl behind you. " ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

"Let me see. " I request and he trembles his head, "No. Finish your fries. "

"Emerson—"

"No, Carson. "

"Emerson. "

"Emerson. "

The sound of my voice and another's blend to the call of his name and I angle my head to the side in

the direction of the sound. A girl in a mini skirt and a cropped tank stand a few steps away from us with

her gaze on Emerson.

"Oh, fuck. Not her. " I turn my attention back to Emerson at the whine from him. "Do you know her?"

"Yeah. We used to fuck; took a while for me to get her off my back. " He grimaces at the sight behind

me before he looks back at me with a pleading look on his face.

"It's your mess, and you should deal with it. I'm not helping you with shit, Ford. " I ignore the convincing

look on his face and turn back to my fries just as the tall girl appears in front of us with a wide smile on

her face.

"Oh my God, Emerson! It's you! I can't believe I'm seeing you again. " She paces to him and I watch as

he slides further to the side while she takes the previous seat.

She locks arms with him and pushes her red lips forward as she says, "Why didn't you pick up any of

my calls? Or respond to any of my messages? You have no idea how much I've missed having you

inside me. " I scrunch my nose at the way she voiced that out, not caring about the fact that there's a

third presence in the room.

"I told you I was done with you, Maya. Why's it so hard to accept that?" Emerson finally speaks in a

harsh tone and you would think that's enough to keep Maya off, but it isn't. It doesn't even come as

close as the girl opens her mouth again, "And I told you I love it when they play hard to get. I know you

miss me more than you're willing to admit. You've probably missed these two—" my eyes widen as she

snatches his hand to take to her chest and I clear my throat, interrupting her movement and catching

her attention.

"Don't you think it's disrespectful to do that to him in front of me?" I lift my brows and Maya looks to

Emerson before she looks back to me and says, "Do I know you?"

"More like do I know you? You're touching someone that's mine. " Maya looks dumbfounded for a split

second before she breaks into a laugh; a laugh that grabs the attention of a few around us.

"Yours?" She repeats my claim. "Did you just call Emerson Ford yours? The Emerson Ford? Bitch, you

better be joking because Emerson Ford isn't a one-girl guy. " She looks back to him to place a hand on

his chest and Emerson swats it off before I have the chance to speak.

"She isn't wrong. " He tells her in a calm voice and Maya moves back a bit, "What do you mean by

those words?"

"It means I belong to only one person and she's sitting in front of you. " Maya gazes back at me after

his words and I quirk my brows, giving a wave with my fingers. Her eyes roam down my body and a

scoff leaves her lips as she turns back to Emerson to say, "Her? You left me to be with that?"

"The name is Eva, bitch; not that. You shouldn't be rude to someone you're meeting for the first time. " I

interrupt before Emerson could respond and Maya snaps her gaze to me, "What the fuck did you just

call me?"

"What did you hear?" I counter and she rises from her seat to storm toward me. "Lay a hand on me and

I won't hesitate to break your fingers. " I warn her, halting her steps just before she takes the last one. "I

don't know what you did with him in the past, but you need to get a life now, girl. He's done with you. "

"It fascinates me how bold you are. Whatever trap he's got you in, you'll snap out of it once he's done

with you. " She declares and I arch my brows as I tilt my head to the side, waiting for her to continue.

"We should leave, Maya. We don't want to draw attention. " Her friend appears by her side, pulling her

by her arm and she jerks her hold away. "I'll be back to mock you when he drops your ass. "

"You'll be breathless by the time he does that, Maya. " I throw her a smile that only pisses her further

before I turn back to my fries. "Oh, and just so you know—" I drop my gaze to her chest. "Those aren't

as seducing as you think they are; you shouldn't go around throwing them in men's faces. " She loses it

then, and she's about to charge towards me but her friend pulls her back and drags her away. I wave at

her as she disappears out of sight before I turn back to a smiling Emerson.

"What?"

"That was sexy. " He says with a proud face and I roll my eyes, "Why do you fuck them when you know

they're clingy?"

"It isn't written across their forehead, Carson and you can't honestly blame her; I'm just too good at

what I do. "

"You mean being stupid?" I taunt him and he throws me a glare, which causes me to laugh before I turn

back to my fries.

"Take that as payback for these fries. " I say and Emerson sinks back into his seat, his eyes clouded

with a new emotion as he says, "I tend to repay you with something else, Eva. " I'm yet to understand

why and how he effortlessly sounds so fùcking sexy when he speaks that way.

"Stop. " I groan out in frustration and Emerson throws me an innocent look, "I'm not doing anything. "

"You are, and it's working, so stop. "

"Beg me. "

"No fucking chance. " I grit out and Emerson lets out a chuckle as he turns to his fries, "I'll have you

doing that by the end of the day, Eva. " It isn't just a word; it's a promise. It's a declaration.

~

"Want me to stop here or drive you into your house?" Emerson jokes as he stops the car at the usual

spot and I unfasten my seatbelt to turn to him before I say, "You wouldn't do that if you were smart. "

He removes his hand from the steering wheel to twist his head to me and a sincere smile touches his

lips as he says, "Do you want me to thank you for showing up, Carson?"

"No, " I say as I shift in my seat. "I want you to know that I had fun, Emerson. " Emerson's smile drops

and the look on his face tells me those weren't the ones he was expecting.

"I'm not always ungrateful, Ford. " I say playfully to cut through the tension that swirls around us and he

shakes his head before he says, "It'd be a lie to say I'm not surprised. " Then he adds, "But I'm glad

you had fun. Because I did too. "

He keeps his eyes fixed on me before I drop my gaze from his to the front of his pants and when I look

back to Emerson, he's looking down to where my gaze was previously at before he lifts his head to me.

"Want to give me a parting gift, Eva?"

"Not exactly. " I say and we stay silent before I move over the divider to climb onto his lap. Emerson

presses a button by the side of his seat to incline it, giving me more room.

I lift my hand to his face and caress the skin, before I begin to rock against the bulge protruding through

his pants and Emerson's grunt floats in the air as he drops his hand to my hips to fasten my movement.

I remove my eyes from his and drop my mouth to the side, trailing kissing down his neck as satisfying

sounds fall from his mouth while he controls my movements on his clad cock.

"You will have me come in my boxers, Eva. " He mumbles as I drop my mouth down his face to press

my lips to his jaw. "Fuck, do that again. " He demands when I make a circular movement and I give him

what he wants, earning another starved sound from him.

"We should stop. " He whispers as he attempts to still the movement of my hips. "Before I lose it and

risk everything by fucking you in here, Eva. Before I have you scream your way down home. I won't

stop once I begin; I promise you. " I don't listen to him. I give another roll of my hips, and another, and

another till I feel him grow painfully hard against my wet panties, threatening to tear a hole through the

thin soaked material so he could slam his way inside my throbbing core to have me clenched around

him. Emerson's grunts turn painful and his hold on my sides gets tighter– his fingers digging through

the dress before I stop the movement with a swipe of my tongue across his earlobe.

When I pull back to look into his eyes, the brown orbs reveal that it's taking everything in him to hold

back and I throw him an innocuous smile as I move from his lap back to my seat.

"I'll see you around, Emerson. " I say to a silent Emerson, whose thick breathing takes the entire space

of the car as I grab my bag from the side and climb out of the car.

And just before I shut the door, he calls back to say, "Keep your windows open tonight, Eva. " It isn't a

request. It's a damn order. A fucking finality that leaves no room for assertions and one that holds vows

of what's coming to me tonight; of what Emerson Ford will bring to me and how he'll take me with my

parents down the hall.