Page 139 of Choosing Forever
“Here, Mom.”
The juice nearly flies into her waiting hand. I gulp and grab a plate of food to try and take my mind off the raging erection I’m hiding beneath the table. The same one Delaney saw and went beet red over.
“Thank you. Is there any update on the Abbie decision?” Mom asks, not mentioning my behaviour.
I fill Delaney’s plate on instinct, my dad doing the same with Mom’s. “What decision?”
“Are you going to tell her about your relationship?”
Delaney sucks in a breath, and I exchange the plate I’m holding for another. She doesn’t answer, so I do.
“Not yet.”
“From what I saw the other day, I don’t think she’ll have an issue with it.”
“I know. That’s not why we’re not telling her.”
“Alright, I’ll leave it alone.”
“Thank you,” I mutter, freeing my hands so I can drop one to Delaney’s leg.
She lets go of a breath that I know she’s been holding.
“You didn’t have to make so much food, Pauline. Really, this is incredible. Between you and Darren, I’ve been very well fed this last week,” she says.
Mom glows at the praise. “It’s my pleasure. We used to do weekly breakfasts with Darren, Abbie, Poppy, and Garrison, but with Abbie in school full-time now, we’ve switched to dinner. You’re more than welcome to join us from now on.”
“Oh, that’s really sweet,” Delaney starts. Her eyes flash up at me, and I wink, more than okay with that idea. “I’d like that.”
Mom claps once. “I can’t wait to tell Poppy!”
I lean to the side and drop my head, bringing my mouth close to Elle’s ear. “Expect a thousand texts and a call when she does.”
Her eye roll explains just how little that scares her.
“What doyou usually do when you have the house to yourself like this? I assume that it feels even more empty than it is after you’ve had Abbie here for a week.”
I hum and flick the lights on in the hallway. My bedroom is at the end of the hall, separated from Abbie’s and the guest room. Delaney follows me, keeping a pace behind me as she takes in the photos on the wall and the pink sheets I forgot to shove in the laundry room before leaving for my parents’ house.
“I’m usually working every night that she’s not here. It keeps me busy.”
“Ah, so that’s why you used to walk around town looking like a zombie.”
“That and a few other things that I haven’t worried about in about a month now.”
I shrug out of my sweatshirt and toss it into the hamperbefore sitting on the edge of my bed. Waiting for Delaney to finally step into my room, I take my belt off.
“Are you planning on giving me a striptease?” she asks, eyebrows waggling suggestively when she joins me.
Her steps stop once she crosses into the room. Intrigue fills her expression as her eyes flit around, staring at my desk and the clutter across it before darting to my plain nightstands and then the open closet. I lean back on my hands and watch, waiting for her to come closer.
“Would you like a striptease?”
“It could be fun.”
“Say the word, Elle.”
Gradually, her eyes make their way to me. She sighs and finally crosses the room.
