Page 147 of Choosing Forever
46
PRESENT
DARREN
“Darren? Are you still sleeping? Darren?”
I crack my eyes open and glance down at the woman sleeping in my arms. Her hair’s a mess, but her features are even, at peace. I’m close enough that I could start counting each of her freckles before she woke up.
“Darren!”
Delaney shifts beside me, moaning sleepily. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” I croak.
There’s a loud slam that jerks through my sleepy haze. It sounds like the door, but that wouldn’t make sense. Nobody has a key to my place but my mom, Poppy, and Bryce, and not a single one of them are early risers. Alarm slaps me right across the face.
There’s another key out there.
“I need to get up for a minute, baby,” I rumble, trying to keep my voice steady.
Delaney frowns, her lip jutting out in a pout before she reluctantly rolls off me. The comforter is at our hips, and fuck, wedidn’t put clothes on last night. Not after getting out of the for the third time and growing too tired to slip them on again.
Her chest is bare, breasts exposed and nipples hard from the morning chill in the room. She rolls her head to look at me and smiles softly, the happy daze on her face gnawing at my stomach.
I sit and pull the blankets up to her shoulders. Then, I slip out of bed and throw my discarded clothes on. Every second I’m not beside her feels wrong.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, concern eating at that daze.
“There’s—”
“Darren, I told you how much I hate when you don’t triple-check that she has all of her things in her bag before she comes to my house! How hard is it to remember to pack an iPad? You better be awake by the time I get to your room.”
Sasha’s booming voice travels through the room, freezing everything in its path. My stomach falls.
“I’ll be right back,” I say, stealing one more look at Delaney.
In a blink, she’s staring down at herself and pulling the comforter up to her chin. I can’t wait any longer to leave, even if every bone in my body fights me on moving.
I’m pissed off by the time I make it to the closed door and pull it open. This is my house, and she’s storming through it as if she has any right to be here instead of sending a text asking me to bring her whatever she needs. Delaney doesn’t need to worry about my ex-wife appearing out of the blue. Especially not after everything.
Slipping out of the room, I catch Sasha only a few feet away. She stares at me, unimpressed.
“Where is Abbie’s iPad? This is the third time you’ve forgotten to pack her with it.”
I shut the door behind me. “It’s in her room. And you could have texted me and asked for it. You don’t get to just show up here and let yourself in whenever you feel like it.”
“Oh? Does this new rule have anything to do with thewoman’s shoes I nearly tripped over when I got here? Is this woman why you’re forgetting to pack our daughter with her things?”
“Are you fucking kidding me right now, Sasha? She hardly even uses that iPad, and you know that as well as I do.”
Her brows rise. “Well? You’re also still sleeping, and it’s past eight. Do you even still have a job?”
“It’s Sunday.”
“I checked her room already. It wasn’t there,” she snaps, not enjoying losing a fight.
“Alright, then I’ll bring it by later today. You can leave your key on the counter on your way out.”
