Page 43 of Battling the Enemy
The corner of his lips lifted, and it wasn’t in a smile. It was a sneer. “When he’s done with you? When he finally gets bored and moves on to someone…more his class? I’ll be here waiting for you.”
It was the final slap in the face. He was implying that he’s more than willing to wait because he knows it’s going to happen. “Winston it’s over no matter how things play out between me and Deke,” I repeated. “It’s over.”
He cocked his head as he said, “You know your way out, Delaney.” It was cold and…mean.
I grabbed my purse, hooked it over my shoulder and said, “Goodbye, Winston,” as I turned my back on him and walked out the Reynolds’ home.
It wasn’t until I was sitting in my car that I felt I could finally breathe. Now, I had to call my parents and tell them, and they were going to be harder to deal with than Winston. Never having gone up against my parents before, I wasn’t too proud to admit that I needed Deke with me to do this. I needed a physical, visual reminder of why I was doing this.
I needed his strength.
Chapter 27
Deke~
Iknew Delaney had gone to Reynolds’ house, and it had taken everything in me to let her-to trust her. Now, it wasn’t that I didn’t trust Delaney, per se. It’s just I’ve never been in love before and it’s a fucked-up feeling, if I was being honest.
It’s the lack of control I was struggling with, and with eyes finally wide open, I was understanding Ramsey and Liam more, and more now. I used to think they were unhinged with the way they stressed out whenever the girls weren’t around, but I got it now.
Boy, did I fucking get it.
The rest of the school day had gone fine, and by the time the end of the day rolled around, it was all over the school that Delaney Martin was my girlfriend.Mine. There was no more confusion or love triangle with Reynolds. So when Delaney told me she was going to his house after school so they could talk, a part of me knew it was the right thing to do, but the rest of me wanted to conk her on the head and never let her leave my cave.
Finishing up in the gym, I heard the doorbell ring, and I prayed it was Delaney. I’d been working out for two hours trying to occupy my time, so I didn’t storm over to Reynolds’ place and drag her home, and I was barely hanging on.
Wearing only my basketball shorts, I opened the door to a forlorn-looking Delaney. “Hey, baby,” I said, stepping back and letting her in, noticing she didn’t have an overnight bag.
Fuck.
“Hey,” she returned walking towards the living room and sitting down.
I sat down on the coffee table across from her. “I take it things didn’t go well?” I prompted.
Delaney shrugged a shoulder. “It’s not that it went…bad,” she hedged. “It was just a bit, sort of…uncomfortable.”
Oh, I bet it was. “Did he get pissed?” Any excuse.Anyexcuse to fuck him up again.
Her beautiful face looked absolutely miserable. “He got…resentful,” she muttered.
Resentful?
I was going to fuck him up.
“Meaning?” I said, prompting her to say more.
“Ugh,” she groaned, and threw her head back rather dramatically. When her eyes met mine again, she said, “He basically said that we don’t have to decide anything for another four years, and…”
I couldn’t stop my hands from clenching into matching fists. “And, what?”
Her eyes narrowed as she regarded me. “Promise you won’t go off half-cocked?”
Wow.
That was encouraging.
“Delaney…” I growled.
“Promise me, Deke,” she ordered, rather sternly.
