Page 30 of The Life We Left Behind

“Come on,” Delaney shouted over her shoulder. “Let’s get out of here.”

The bag of food was left abandoned on the grass where it had fallen, not that it was probably edible anymore, and we both ran, laughing like idiots already soaked through from the rain.

When we reached the gate for the paddock, I was just about to boost Delaney over when she easily opened the damn thing, looking at me cheekily and then laughing some more as she darted away.

I gave chase, letting the gate slam closed behind me. I should have remembered that no one around here kept the damn things locked anyway.

She looked so carefree as she ran through the rain, her head tipping back as she grinned at the drops that landed on her face. Her auburn hair was too wet for it to flow behind like it did in the memories I held of the last summer we’d shared. In some ways, Delaney seemed more carefree than her younger self. Almost like she’d taken a look at the world and decided not to let it weigh her down. And as I chased after her, it touched me too. The freedom I’d been denied for so long. The weight of everything that was usually shackled around me fell free, and I let myself just be for once.

When we reached the house, Delaney jogged up the porch steps and spun around to face me. My feet stalled at the bottom of the steps, and I stood in the pouring rain, looking up at her. Every memory of the younger Delaney I contained flowed through my mind, along with every daydream of what our life would have been like together.

She looked so beautiful, even when she was completely soaked.

I wanted to go to her. I wanted to sweep her up into my arms and taste her lips once more.

But I’d lost the right to do that a long time ago, even if I might not have fully stuck to that recently.

“What are you doing?” Delaney laughed as she stared down the steps at me.

“I should…go…”

Fuck, what was I doing?

I looked back at my car, knowing that I should just get in it and drive away, but when I turned back to her, she looked so perfect, like everything I dreamed about.

I knew my future lay with Delaney James. I just didn’t know if I deserved it.

My foot moved to the bottom step. I was a moth, and she was the moon. I couldn’t resist her light. As soon as the smile touched her lips, I continued on.

This was it. This was the moment that would change everything. I could feel it in my bones. As the smile slowly dropped from her face, I knew she felt it, too. She felt the way the world held its breath to see if we’d take the plunge.

I paused at the top of the steps, and when she took a step closer to me, I smiled. Her chest heaved with every breath as her eyes darted from side to side as she studied my face. I could see the questions in her eyes, the doubts and the hopes.

We’d been so young when we were together, and yet I’d had everything I’d ever wanted in the woman who stood before me now. How did we get to this point where everything was so broken? Where I was so broken. She was the only person in this whole world who saw me for who I was. I should have made sure that she knew that with every piece of her heart.

Part of me wanted to wait for her to make a move. To be the kind of man that would stand here dripping wet and freezing cold for as long as it would take.

But I couldn’t.

I couldn’t resist, I couldn’t hold back. I had everything I wanted in front of me, and I was taking my second chance.

“Fuck it,” I mumbled, closing that single step between us as I did.

My hands came to her cheeks as I cradled her face, and my lips landed on hers without a second’s hesitation.

Delaney gasped, and for a moment, I thought I’d made a mistake, but then she clenched my shirt in her fists and kissed me back.

One of my hands slipped back into her hair as we poured every emotion we clung to into that kiss. The pain, the heartbreak, the hope and joy.

It was the single most perfect moment in my life, so it made sense that it would be with the single most perfect person I’d ever had the fortune to know.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

DELANEY

Holy shit, I was kissing Trace.

And it was so much better than I’d remembered.

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