Page 19 of Battling the Enemy
I knew she was right. I let this arrangement go on for so long because I had been fine with it. I had been fine with marrying a man I got along with because I’ve never been a passionate person. I didn’t need a love of a lifetime. I was used to my parents’ marriage, and that marriage lacked love like ninety percent of Sands Cove’s marriages. But Deke inspired that passion, and I wasn’t going to pretend like he didn’t any longer.
“I think-”
“Delaney?” I whipped around at the sound of my name, and I saw Emerson Andrews and Roselyn Bell walking towards me.
What. The. Hell?
I shut my locker closed and glanced at Ava. She looked wary but that could be for any number of reasons. It wasn’t a secret that she’s slept with both Liam and Ramsey at one point in her life. I could see how Emerson and Roselyn approaching us might make things awkward.
I waited until both girls were standing in front of us before saying, “Hey, Emerson. Roselyn.” They were such pretty girls, it was hard not to be intimidated a bit. Emerson had gorgeous brown hair with hypnotic grey eyes and a body built like a woman’s, whereas, Roselyn was dainty with rainbow-colored hair, big blue eyes, and a tiny nose ring.
Roselyn smiled, while Emerson’s eyes darted towards Ava, and I was immediately flooded with anxiety. Ava wasn’t weak, and she wasn’t the type to back down, but even after all these months, Emerson was still an unknown. She came to Sands Cove because her father had killed her mother and her aunt had taken her in because, at the time, she had still been a minor. But nowadays, she lived with Ramsey. The thing was, any girl brave, strong, or crazy enough to go up against Ramsey Reed had to be packing a powerful punch.
Emerson Andrews was a goddamn legend.
Emerson’s eyes bounced back and forth between me and Ava before finally settling on Ava. “Can I be frank about something?” Ava and I just nodded silently. “I don’t care that you’ve slept with Ramsey, Ava,” she said, shocking the shit out of both of us. “If I worried about every girl Ramsey’s ever slept with, I wouldn’t be able to live in this town, much less go to this school. I don’t care what he did before I came along, I really don’t.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Besides, it’d be an insult to Ramsey if I let the girls he’s slept with bother me. It would mean I didn’t believe the things he tells me, and that’s just not the case. I know Ramsey loves me. I know he’d give his life for me. And I definitely know he’d never cheat on me. It doesn’t bother me, Ava, if it doesn’t bother you.”
I glanced over at Roselyn and she threw her hands up in a surrender motion. “Don’t look at me,” she laughed. “I’m the last person to judge anyone on their past and the shit they’ve done.” She put her hands down and smiled. “I’m with Emer on this. The last thing I’m worried about is Liam’s past.”
I looked over at Ava since this wasn’t my conversation and she looked…humbled. “I…I know I…I know what my reputation is,” she stated. “And I’ve earned most of what anyone has ever said about me, but whatever anyone has ever heard of me, they’ve never heard that I sleep with guys who are taken, because I don’t.” It was hard for me not to get teary-eyed at Ava owning her shit. She was such an awesome person underneath her actions, and I hated how so many people would never know that. “Ramsey and Liam were so long ago, I honestly haven’t given them so much as a thought in years.”
Emerson smiled, and it felt like a stamp of approval. “Well, I felt like we needed to clear that up since you’re Delaney’s best friend and she belongs to Deke now.”
She said it so casually factual it took a second for the words to register. “Whoa, what?”
Roselyn’s smile joined with Emerson’s. “Look, Delaney, I know Deke can be rather…much, but you’re a smart girl. After what happened Monday, you have to know that Deke’s claim on you is solid.”
“Why, though?” I asked. “In all the years I’ve known who Deke’s been, he’s never paid me any mind. Now, all of a sudden, he’s interested, and I’m just supposed to accept that? Rearrange my life with no explanation, whatsoever?”
“I don’t think you have a choice, Delaney,” Emerson answered. “Deke’s not going to let you go.”
I shook my head. “I don’t understand any of this,” I admitted.
Roselyn snorted. “Who does? This is Deke Marlow we’re talking about. Hell, trying to figure him, Liam, or Ramsey out is like trying to understand what makes the Bermuda Triangle tick. Give up the ghost, girl, and just go with it. Trust me. You’ll have fewer headaches that way.”
I ignored their advice and asked the one question I’d been dying to. “Why’s he not in school?”
Emerson’s eyes darted towards Roselyn’s before returning those grey eyes back on me. “The truth?” she asked.
“Yes, please.” Roselyn started gnawing on her lower lip, and she gave me the same sad look Ava had when I had told her I was attracted to Deke. She looked like she felt sorry for me.
Emerson cleared her throat and told me the truth. “He’s staying away because he’s in such a bad headspace, he’s afraid for your safety.”
All the air left my lungs at her statement. “What…what do you mean?”
Roselyn let out a deep sigh. “The boys are really hush, hush when it comes to…their man-bonding, but whatever it is you did to get on Deke’s radar…well, it’s serious for him. That’s all I know.”
I looked over at Emerson and asked, “What has Ramsey told you?” I knew she’d never breach his confidence, but I still had to ask.
She looked sad for me too. “Nothing. Roselyn’s right about their bond. But I can tell you that there’s no outrunning Deke Marlow, Delaney. You’re pretty much fucked, chic.”
Chapter 13
Deke~
Istill wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to come back to school, but I couldn’t stay away any longer. For years, I hadn’t paid any attention to Delaney Martin, and in a matter of one Friday night, she was all I could think about now.
I knew from the gang’s reports that Delaney was keeping to herself, but that didn’t surprise me; she always did. While she chitchatted with people here and there, Ava was her only real friend. What had surprised me was the phone call I got from Emerson telling me all about the talk she and Linnie had had with Delaney and Ava, and it made me fall in love with my two girls that much more. The fact that Emerson and Roselyn would clear the air with Ava, just to make her and Delaney more comfortable about my pursuit, showed me what real class acts those two girls were. While Ramsey and Liam knew the extent of my obsession with Delaney, I hadn’t shared the details with the girls, and they still went to bat for me.
