Page 47 of The Sinner (Haven Grace Prep 1)

DELANEY AND I SPEND hours catching up. She tells me about how her older sister Ainsley went away to college, which doesn’t surprise me. After graduating valedictorian three years ago, I’d expect nothing less. She also fills me in on what Tessa has been up to lately. I’d heard plenty of the rumors going around, but I never thought they were true—especially the one about her dating Easton, one of Knox’s best friends.

“What did your dad have to say about that? I can’t imagine he was okay with it.”

She laughs. “I mean, if you call getting into a screaming match with Tess as he told her she’s forbidden from seeing him okay with it,

then sure.”

“Oh God.” I face palm. “That probably only made her want to date him more.”

“Worse. She slammed a door so hard the chandelier fell from the ceiling and shattered on the floor.”

My jaw drops. “She didn’t!”

Laney nods. “Oh, she definitely did. And then she went and snuck out her window to go see Easton. My dad threatened to send her to boarding school, but you and I both know it’s an empty threat.”

“She’d get kicked out anyway,” I reply, only half joking.

The front door opens and then slams shut. A wave of dread washes over me as I look at Delaney, eyes wide and pleading. She may already know I’m poor, but I seriously doubt my father is sober right now, so she’s about to know all my secrets.

“Savannah!” he shouts, sure enough slurring my name while he stumbles down the hall. “Whose expensive ass car is in front of my house?” Appearing in the doorway, his sights land on Delaney. “Well, I’ll be damned—little Delaney Callahan. Look at you! You must be eighteen by now.”

Her brows furrow as she looks between the two of us. “Uh, not for another few months.”

My father, the sick fuck that he is, blatantly checks her out before frowning. “That’s too bad.”

“Dad, Delaney was just leaving.” I stand up from my bed, praying she follows my lead. I turn and give her a look. “I’ll walk you out.”

She fakes a smile. “Thanks. It was nice seeing you again, Mr. Montgomery.”

He stares at her chest as we slip by him, making me nearly vomit in my mouth. “Yeah, you too. Come by anytime.”

I don’t think I’ve ever rushed out of my house so fast, and Delaney is hot on my heels. As soon as reach her car, she looks back at the house and then at me.

“Jeez, Savannah! What in the world happened to him?”

I really don’t have the answer to that question. Shrugging, I say, “Drugs? Alcohol? Who the fuck knows exactly, but I don’t have time to get into it. He’ll follow me out here if I don’t get back in there soon.”

She gives me one last hug before unlocking her car. “I’m really glad we’re friends again.”

I smile. “Me, too.”

When I go back inside, my father is already drinking straight from a bottle of Jack Daniels. He grunts as he sees me, which I’m totally prepared to ignore until he opens his mouth.

“That Callahan girl grew up nice,” he tells me. “When’s her birthday again?”

Maybe it’s the fact that I have a lot to make up for when it comes to her, or that I just got her back in my life, but every protective bone in my body narrows in on him.

“Leave her alone.”

He laughs. “You have some nerve trying to tell me what to do.”

I stand my ground and step closer. “If you want to be a sick disappointment of a man, that’s on you, but leave Delaney out of your mess.”

Before I know it, he’s up and rushing toward me, gripping me by the neck and pinning me to the wall. “Excuse me, you ungrateful little bitch.”

“Go ahead, leave a mark where everyone at school will see,” I croak out, and he lets go but still stands too close.

He looks down at me, trying to intimidate me with his height. “You’re lucky I don’t kill you.”

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