Page 106 of The Life We Left Behind

“Is out of my life,” I blurted out. “She’s gone. Skipped town. And I couldn’t be happier about it. She’s made my life hell for years. She’s not going to risk coming back now. There’s a warrant out for her arrest. I’m finally free. Finally happy. I’m not afraid of Delaney. I love her. I love Cade. This is the life I was always supposed to have, and I’m not going to fuck this up. I’mgoing to marry her and fill this house with kids as soon as she lets me.”

Dex grinned as I panted from my outburst. Fuck, how did he always get a rise out of me even when I knew he was trying to do it?

But in true Dex fashion, he’d got me to say something I hadn’t even realized I wanted. Because I did want to marry Delaney, and I wanted to do it now. I wanted it all, and I was so done putting my life on hold while I waited for the right time. I’d suffered through years of Chelsea’s abuse, telling myself that it wasn’t the right time to leave. I couldn’t admit to what was happening, to how miserable I really was. I could hear my mother’s voice when those thoughts came into my head now, and I saw it for what it was. I hated that she had so much influence over me, even at my age. Not that I’d known it then. Booker had seen it, but he’d known I needed to find my way to what I wanted in my own time.

I was done living my life for the family. Done doing what I thought everyone else wanted.

It was time to be selfish for a change. To look at whatIwanted in this life. There was nothing wrong with being happy, and anyone who thought they had a right to stand in the way of that could go fuck themselves.

“I’m proud of you, little brother,” Booker chimed in, drawing me out of the spiral I was starting.

I looked at him in confusion.

“It’s about time you started living for yourself. This life looks good on you.” He crossed his legs at the ankles and folded his arms over his chest as he looked like he was about to fall asleep. “Don’t fuck it up,” he added.

Dex pointed at Booker like he was reiterating his point and then sagged back into the couch as well.

“Does anyone else feel old as fuck right now?” he asked with a grimace. “I think I pulled a muscle in my ass when I did that epic skid into the kitchen.”

“You mean when you tripped over the rug and fell over, right? And yes, why does it hurt this much?” I tried rolling my shoulders, but it did nothing to ease the ache that was building there.

“You know what this means, right?” Booker said sleepily. His eyes were already closed, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he started snoring any minute. He did get up at the ass crack of dawn to get started around the ranch, though.

“If you’re thinking paintball once a month, then I’m in.” I could already hear the gears turning in Dex’s head, and there’d be no getting out of this. He’d probably have something set up within the week.

“No,” Booker said firmly, but I saw the corner of his lips tick up. He was on board, even if he didn’t want to admit it. “Might be time to dust off Grammy’s ring.”

My brow furrowed at the suggestion. “I thought you wanted to use that yourself someday. You’re the eldest. It’s supposed to be yours.”

“Nah, I just didn’t want you to give it to Chelsea,” Booker admitted. “It didn’t feel right giving it to her when I knew you didn’t love her like that. It was always going to be for Delaney.”

Booker was a self-declared bachelor for life. He said he was too busy for relationships. Didn’t have room for the drama. He got on better with horses than he did people. Or at least that was what he said. I didn’t think he realized that his business plan proved him wrong in that respect, but I wasn’t going to point it out to him. It was something he needed to come to in his own time.

“I think you should keep it, Book,” I told him quietly.

He shrugged like he didn’t mind either way and then we all fell into silence.

Maybe I shouldn’t sit back and let him make his own mistakes. It hadn’t exactly worked out for me. I’d been through hell and back while I learned a lesson that I really wish someone had just sat me down for instead.

I wanted Booker to be happy. He deserved to be. And even if he tried to say that he was, I could see the loneliness he felt when he thought none of us were paying attention. He tried to cover it up with his gruff, give-no-shits attitude, but I saw the truth in him.

Our parents had fucked with his head just as much as they did with mine, and it was time to figure out how to show him that.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

DELANEY

My brain felt like it was pulsing in time with my heart, only I was pretty sure someone had lined my skull with nails because every single one hurt like hell.

Ugh, it was years since I’d been hungover, and I’d forgotten how much I hated it.

This was why I didn’t drink.

Last night had been fun, but I was really paying for it now.

I looked down at the grocery list in my hand and tried to decide if we really needed to eat. Food seemed overrated right about now. But we were out of snacks after Cade and the guys had their night of fun, and I didn’t think I could cope with a hangry kid or the look Cade would give me when all I had to offer him was a granola bar I found in the back of the kitchen cabinet. It was there when we came back and I was too afraid to look at the expiration date in case this emergency turned dire. Not to mention the lack of coffee in the house. Blake without coffee wasn’t something I’d wish on anyone.

Not even the woman standing directly in my path, her hand coming up to straighten her perfect hair as she glared at me.

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