Emily In The Selection (book 1)

Chapter 26

I sat in his arms for a while until we realized we had to go out to the party before it was over.

When we left the library I felt like I was apart of the real world again and back into reality. I wanted to whine and make Ryan let me back in, but we have to go.

Once we got to the ballroom, the energy died down. Amelia and Kathleen were back with their families and Tammy was dancing with a guard.

Robbie was sitting on my dads lap looking exhausted. I crawled over to my family and tried to greet them again.

"Hey, Em," my mom said.

"Hey," I sat down next to her.

"Where were you?"

"Oh, just in the bathroom."

I didn't want to bring up that I was with Ryan because I knew how awkward it would be. Yes, mom. I was upstairs making out with the prince in a dark room where no one was looking.

"In the bathroom? For 25 minutes?"

"You'd be surprised how long it takes to refresh this much makeup."

She laughed and I tried to laugh along. Soon did I realize that Ryan was making his way over to us.

"Good evening," he greeted my family.

My parents rose from their seats and bow/curtsied for him.

"Your majesty," they said firmly.

Mom. Dad. We're getting married. There is no need to bow down for my husband.

"Oh, that's not necessary, but I appreciate it," he smiled.

They sat back down anyways and listened to Ryan.

"May I sit?" He asked.

He grabbed a chair before my parents could even say yes.

Honestly, I was scared. What would he want to say? I'm assuming something about marrying me. I couldn't sit there and listen to that, especially if my mom was sitting right there.

"Robbie, why don't we go dance?" I said; trying to get away from their conversations.

Ryan looked disappointed because he wanted me to stay. Robbie also looked at me, still exhausted.

"Noo," he whined, "I'm too tired. You should've danced with me when I wanted to be out there."

"Robbie. Let's dance," I said vigorously.

He sat up, startled.

I grabbed his hand and practically dragged him to the floor. My heart was beating at a million miles per hour.

"Why did you want to dance again?" Robbie asked.

From the corner of my eye I could see my mom smiling, Ryan laughing, but my dad had a serious look on his face. He placed a steady hand on Ryan's shoulder.

Oh no.

I could picture the conversation now. He just asked permission to marry me but also cracked a joke.

"I think Prince Ryan is in a serious conversation with mom and dad right now, so I just wanted to leave them alone," I said putting my attention back to Robbie.

Robbie obviously didn't want to dance so I grabbed his arms and tried swaying him back and forth. I wanted to look like we were doing something.

Every now and then I would try to take glances over to Ryan and my parents and see if they were still there. And they were. Ryan sat there nodding and my mom talked.

Ugh.

I craved to know what they were speaking about. Probably me.

"Can I go back to mom and dad now?" Robbie whined.

"No. Stay," I kept swaying him.

The party was almost over and I decided I would keep swaying Robbie until the end.

We were simultaneously swaying now without thinking. I kind of forgot until I saw a smile grow on Robbie's face and felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Oh!" I bounced.

Turning around, Ryan stood in front of me.

"Goodnight," he whispered into my ear and then turned away.

I blinked. Mainly because that was all I could do. Nothing clicked until Ryan was gone and it already happened.

My parents came over to me.

"Hey, Em," my mom started, "we got to leave in the early morning so we better head off to bed now. It was great being able to spend time with you here," she ended up hugging me.

My dad also wrapped his arms around me and said, "We'll miss you, cheeto."

Cheeto? That's new.

I could see the sadness in my mom's eyes before she left to go to bed. I wasn't worried, though. I'd see them soon enough and they could live here with me and Ryan once we get married.

They left and I kissed Robbie goodbye. He was practically asleep and my dad carried him.

Robbie was 10 years old. It seemed like he acted a little young for his age, but that quality only made him sweeter.

Tammy and her family left and half of Kathleen's family was gone. The music had stopped playing and we were all about ready to leave.

"Thank you for coming tonight," an official stood next to the door once I existed.

I walked up to my room, excited to get this dress off and go to bed. My maids stood in my room looking pretty sleepy themselves.

"Ready for bed?" Karen asked.

"I'm ready to get ready for bed," I kid.

She little out a small puff of a laugh and got some wipes out to take my makeup off.

I let them do what they needed to do, but almost fell asleep in the process. The moment I would close my eyes I drifted off. Oh, how I'd do anything to crawl into bed right now.

"Goodnight, Lady Emily," my maids left.

I was about ready to shut the lights off when a knock came on the door. I was guessing it was Chelsea wanting something.

"What?" I asked grumpily to make my tiredness obvious.

"Emily?" Ryan's voice asked.

"Ryan?" I said opening my eyes more and stood up straight.

"Emily, I just wanted to say goodnight," he said walking in to my room.

"Goodnight."

"Okay, I wanted to say more than goodnight."

"What else?"

He didn't say anything, he only walked closer to me and rested his lips on mine. This kiss was soft and smooth. It felt familiar.

After he let go, I said, "Technically you didn't say anything else."

He laughed, "Are you always this sarcastic when you're tired?"

"No. You just chose a lucky night to stop by."

He smiled. "I love you, Emily Judith Blake."

"I love you too, Ryan whatever-your-middle-name-is Ashby."

"Frank."

"Frank?" I almost laughed.

"Hey, that's also happened to be my grandfather's name."

"Frank is lovely."

"It better be," he said and kissed me again.

"Goodnight, Emily."

"Night."

I don't remember much after that. I don't even remember him leaving the room. I turned the lights off, flopped into my bed, and immediately fell asleep.