Page 7 of Battling the Enemy
I remember being six and feeling ecstatic at how it hadn’t worked for me. My parents hadn’t deserved for it to work on me after what they did to me. As the years went by, and I realized how truly horrible my parents were, I declined plastic surgery options because I wanted them to have to look at me and see the evidence of what horrible people they were.
Not that they cared, but still.
Shortly after moving here, my parents had met the Reynolds, and a love affair was born out of my father’s need for accolades, and Mr. Reynolds greed for money. It wasn’t long before they concocted the match between their children to help further their agendas. Winston’s stepmother pushed for it-hard.
At the time, I hadn’t known what all of that had meant, but as I got older and knew what they were about, I hadn’t been too interested in alternatives to fight them on it. Besides, the marriage was to take place after Winston and I graduated from college. A lot could happen in four years when we’re both away from each other and we’re thrust into the arms of real life. Winston might find another match better suited for his family’s needs.
He could also get hit by a bus.
Or I could.
But, being betrothed hadn’t stopped him from losing his virginity to Clair McDaniels. It also hasn’t stopped him from sleeping with any willing girl at Windsor. I suppose it should bother me, but I couldn’t garner enough energy or emotions to care what Winston Reynolds did. He wasthatinconsequential.
The door to my bedroom flew open, and I didn’t even need to look up from my tablet to know who it was. Because I was a dork, I didn’t have many friends. And the friends I did have wouldn’t just barge into my house.
I felt Ava’s weight drop on my bed as she said, “Okay, I let you flee from the party last night like a bat out of hell because I knew you were trippin’ out, and truth be told, so was I. But you gotta come clean now, chic. I let you sleep in and everything, but no more.”
I sighed and put down my tablet, knowing she wasn’t going to go anywhere until she got the goods. “There’s nothing to come clean about, Ava,” I denied.
She rolled over onto her side and propped her head up over her hand. “You randomly take off from the party, and not twenty minutes later, you come rushing back with Deke Marlow hot on your tail as you grab me and beg for us to leave,” she recited. “That’s not nothing, Delaney.”
It didn’t feel right telling her what I saw, but if she was going to stick by me like she did last night, she should know the facts. “I was just…wandering around, and I got kind of lost. When I found a tiny clearing, I saw Deke getting a blowjob from Melissa Randall.”
Ava’s brows rose up casually. “So? Melissa Randall’s blown a lot of people,” she pointed out, making me feel like an even bigger nerd. Ava’s never teased me or made me feel stupid for being a virginal nerd, but sometimes I felt ridiculous discussing sex with someone so experienced. I felt inferior.
“I think Deke took exception to me…seeing it happen,” I hedged.
Ava let out a laugh as she dropped onto her back. She laughed up at the ceiling as she said, “Oh, please, Delaney. Deke Marlow does not care about someone watching him get a blowjob.” I could feel the blush rush my face at her casualness. “I’ve been to countless parties where that dude got his dick sucked in public. I mean, he didn’t drop his pants in the middle of a living room or anything like that, but there have been plenty of times he was huddled up in a corner somewhere with a girl on her knees in front of him.”Jesus.“Trust me, Delaney, whatever was bothering him last night, that was not it.”
“Then I don’t know what his problem was,” I told her half-ass honestly. “Maybe he was just funnin’ about.”
This time she snorted. “Deke Marlow doesn’t fun about, Delaney. The guy’s Satan.”
“I thought Ramsey Reed was Satan?”
“Good point,” she quipped. A few seconds of silence went by before she said, “What are you going to tell Winston?”
Huh?
“Nothing,” I replied. “There’s nothing to tell him. Besides, if I were to ride Deke Marlow in the middle of the eatery pavilion at school Monday, Winston would hardly have any room to complain, don’tcha think?”
Ava sat up and side-eyed me. “I still can’t believe you have an arranged marriage with that tool.”
I shrugged a shoulder. “Families with money do it all the time, Ava. How many people with money ever really marry for love? Most females from our class marry for more money and most males from our class marry for more power. It’s not that unrealistic.”
“But you couldn’t care less about money or power, Delaney,” she murmured softly. “Don’t tie yourself to a fool for life just because you haven’t experienced anything worthwhile yet.”
I looked over at my friend and wondered, not for the first time, if she had been sexually abused as a child. I couldn’t reconcile this sweet, tender girl with the sexually wild party girl. “I still have four years to either go through with this or bow out, Ava,” I reminded her. “It’s not forever, yet.”
The corner of her lip lifted in a mischievous grin. “If you’re going to go through with this ridiculous betrothal, I say you take Deke Marlow for a ride first before committing to Winston for life.”
I wanted to scoff at how ridiculous that suggestion was, but I couldn’t when her statement held a grain of truth to it. It had crossed my mind. Watching Deke and Melissa had turned me on. Getting caught had really lit a fire between my legs. But when Deke chased me down and wrapped his hand around my neck, all kinds of things I never imagined crossed through my mind. For the first time in all my life, I had wanted to have sex with someone.
No-notsomeone; Deke.
During those early puberty years, I had let Winston kiss me, but I never felt anything, and so, I put a stop to those kisses.
But Deke wasn’t Winston.
