Page 55 of Left in the Dark

It’s better that Delaney doesn’t know I’m coming to see her tonight.

The small box on my seat taunts me. Inside the wrapped box is her favorite perfume. I’m well aware it’s her nineteenth birthday. Mine was two weeks ago, and her silence after my calls and texts was deafening.

Yet here I am, with a present for her birthday beside me.I must be out of my goddamn mind.

My dad’s words ring inside my head, but I push them away. I can’t accept that Delaney had anything to do with what happened to us. I’m probably a fucking idiot.

Beneath the cover of darkness,I stand far enough away from the bonfire that no one spots me. My hands are shoved inside my shorts pockets while my eyes are glued to Delaney, clad in a pair of jean shorts and a tee shirt. I’m drooling as my gaze drinks in her tan, trim thighs.

When the bleach blond-haired guy hands her his sweatshirt, rage throbs through my temple.She better not take it.

Delaney smiles and shakes her head, then reaches into a bag she has with her and pulls out a sweatshirt. Tugging it over her head, a relieved smile crosses my lips.

Goddamn, she’s gorgeous.

My heart still beats for her. Every pump inside my chest sounds oddly like it’s pounding her name.

I’m so fucking gone for her that I don’t think I’ll ever escape her clutches.

About ten people are gathered around the fire on the beach, but I’m only paying attention to the blond guy and Delaney. I noticed the way he was looking at her the second I got here, and while she’s being polite and listening to what he’s saying, I haven’t been able to determine if they are more than friends or not.

When he stands and gestures for her to follow, my heart stutters inside my chest.

I move toward the beach, staying a distance away so no one will think I’m following them, even though that’s precisely what I’m doing.

I’m not close enough to hear what they’re saying, but I don’t like how close he is to her or how their heads are so close together as they talk.

I freeze as he stops and turns to her, a smile on his face. He gathers her in his arms, and his lips press to hers.

I stand there, shocked, waiting for her to push him away.

But when the kiss goes on, and she doesn’t, the pain inside my chest morphs throughout my body.

My hands clench into fists.She moved on just fine from the incident that prompted her to enter my dad’s bar.

I turn away, the pieces of my heart breaking into smaller shards. My legs carry me away, heading back to my truck.

As I climb inside, my breaths heave from my lungs as tears burn behind my lids.

There can be only one logical explanation for what I saw tonight.Delaney set me up before she blew out of town, and now my father is likely going to jail.

I feel like a disloyal fool as I lean back against my seat, staring at the ceiling. Rage courses through my veins, churning violently like ocean waves during a storm.

Lowering my head, my gaze lands on the wrapped present I was delusional enough to buy for Delaney.

My fist crashes through the wrapping paper and box, tearing it open. My knuckles crack and bleed against the broken shards of glass, the smell of her perfume filling the cab of my truck.

This isn’t over. I will make every goddamn one of them pay. Including Delaney Warner.

PART TWO

Fifteen Years Later

CHAPTER 36

Zayne

Iraise my brows at Jaxson King, my friend and business partner. He and I met during my first year at the California Institute of Technology, nicknamed Caltech.

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