Page 76 of Finding Delaware

Salem steps up, trying to put herself between us. “Huck, I think you need to leave. You’re drunk.”

“Me?!” Snarling, I pull Taylor closer and away from Logan.” He’s the one with his hands all over your boyfriend!”

“You don’t own him, asshole.” Taylor tries to escape my hold on his arm again, but I’m not letting go. So he grabs Logan’s wrist and holds it up, shaking his hand around. “What, does this piss you off?”

“Let go,” I growl, seeing red when he threads his fingers through Logan’s, holding his hand.

“How ’bout this? This not ok?”

Salem whips around, glaring at him. “Taylor quit it.”

But Taylor isn’t done. I feel my grip tighten around him with bruising force as he reaches up to grab Logan’s jaw.

“You know what I think willreallymake you mad, though?This.”

He yanks Logan’s face down to his and plants a kiss square on my best friend’s lips.

For a moment, I’m stunned. Shook.

There are multiple gasps throughout the room, and Salem is even gaping with her jaw on the floor. The two of them part with a smack that leaves Logan looking dazed, and Taylorsmirks as he looks up at me from under his lashes, lips wet from Logan’s spit.

Before I can even comprehend what I’m doing or think about the repercussions of my actions, my fist slams into Taylor’s jaw, knocking him out cold.

An arm snakes around my throat, pulling me backwards, the smell of sweat and gasoline filling my nostrils as Christian puts me into a headlock.

“You crossed a line, motherfucker,” he hisses in my ear before pressing a thumb into the pressure point beneath my chin. Pain erupts throughout my body, muscles spasming.

And then it all goes black.

Taylor

February

Smoke swirls around the ceiling, dancing in the light streaming through the blinds.

I’m lying on the floor in my room, a cigarette in my mouth with a fan blowing toward the open window since we aren’t supposed to smoke inside the apartment, and I don’t want to make Baby Bones sick. Usually, I’d just step outside for a quick drag, but it’s cold as shit, and I needed to lay on my back to think. Process the last few weeks.

Christian’s in his room bumping tunes, ‘Killing You’ by Asking Alexandria vibrating through the walls. He’s the only person I know who cures a hangover with loud music. Before I got sober, any amount of noise after a night of heavy drinking was like nails on a chalkboard; unfathomable and to be avoided. But not Christian. Heavy breakdowns and excess amounts of coffee seem to get him goingagain.

He’s been drinking a lot lately since we quit our jobs at the local Jiffy Lube. More than normal. I know it’s boredom. Between the rally, my father’s life insurance, and the content Salem posts of us on social media, we’re doing fine financially, but it leaves us with too much time on our hands. Which leaves me lying here, poisoning the environment with my vices, overthinking.

And, of course, as always, my mind is on Huckslee.

Haven’t seen or heard from him since the night he whooped my ass, which is to be expected. Can’t really say I didn’t deserve it. The moment Logan whispered to me that Huck was pissed off at me for touching his best friend, I may have laid it on a little thicker than I usually would have. Because I’m a dickhead, first and foremost, but I also wanted to see what he’d do. In hindsight, kissing Logan was not the best way to do that. I fucked around and found out.

And, unfortunately, there’s a small scar on my chin from Huck’s class ring to prove it. Honestly, I like it. Reminds me that maybe things aren’t utterly hopeless between us. I’m not stupid; I know why he was mad that night. It had little to do with Logan and everything to do with the fact that I wasn’t touchinghim. I could see it.

Maybe I’m a bit delulu, but I don’t care. I’m holding on to that hope like it’s a lifeline.

We got extremely lucky that the arena owners were cool with the whole thing and promised we’d still be invited back next year, so that’s good, all things considered.

The sound of the front door slamming shut echoes over Christian’s music, and I hear Salem call out from the front room.

“In here,” I reply around my cigarette, glancing up when she appears in my doorway.

“I’ve got good news,” she starts but pauses and makes a face when she sees where I’m lying. “Uh oh. Floortime, huh?”

Shrugging out of her winter coat and kicking off her boots, she bends down to give BB a pat before crawling over to lay next to me on the carpet, shoulder to shoulder.

---