Page 20 of Make Me Wild (Rich Demons of Darkwood 3)

“Hey,” I said with a smile, throwing my arms around Delilah in the hallway at school. I snuck a deep inhale of her intoxicating scent and then quickly pulled away so she didn’t think I was a creeper. There were big circles under her eyes, and she didn’t look like she’d slept at all.

He’d done it again last night. I’d snuck over to try and talk to her, and I’d seen the belt wrapped around his hand. The way he’d made her push her shirt up and then whipped her with it until there were welts and bruises and cuts all over her skin.

I’d just stood there in the window, a worthless idiot, feeling more helpless than I ever could have imagined. What was I going to do?

“Everything okay?” I asked, taking her hand. That was safe, right? Friends touched each other. And I’d always been touchy-feely to begin with.

“Just didn’t sleep well,” she lied, and my insides clenched, wondering what I could do to get her to tell me what was going on with her dad. She started walking toward Calculus, and I followed behind her like a lost puppy.

Stellan passed us just then across the hall, surrounded by his usual posse of worshipful sheep, and Delilah stumbled as she watched him pass by. The fucker locked eyes with her for a second before quickly looking away, and I could see how her whole demeanor dropped when he didn’t even say hi.

“My brother’s an idiot,” I said, locking eyes with her and giving her a reassuring smile.

She wrinkled her nose in that cute way of hers. “Yeah, he is.”

Was it just me? Was there something else in her gaze when she looked at me? Or was that just wishful thinking since I’d just seen her pining over my brother?

We walked into class and I silently cheered when I saw we had a sub. That meant we’d be able to talk all class without getting in trouble.

I glared at a guy who was staring a little too hard at Delilah, and he quickly looked away as we sat down at desks nearby.

Delilah winced as she sat down, gingerly leaning back into the seat.

Just tell me.

She noticed me watching her and quickly schooled her face, erasing the grimace she’d just been sporting.

“So what did you do last night?” I asked innocently, not really expecting her to blurt out in class what had really happened, but definitely grasping at strings to try and get her to hint at anything.

“Same old, same old.” She doodled on her paper as the sub announced that we’d be watching a movie for class today.

The rest of the students cheered, but Delilah didn’t even smile. The lights dimmed and I reached into my backpack and pulled out a Starbucks banana bread loaf that I’d picked up for her that morning on the way to school.

For the first time today, she grinned, and butterflies exploded in my stomach. I had to yank my face away before I started drooling or giggling uncontrollably.

She took a bite, continuing to draw on her paper while the movie started.

I leaned over to look at what she was drawing and cringed when I saw the scary-looking skull she’d doodled.

Just then, the kid behind her knocked his legs against the back of her seat and a gasp of pain flew out of her as the metal seat banged against her injured back.

“Are you trying to die today?” I hissed at the guy, as he shrunk back in his seat and mouthed sorry to me. People at the school didn’t mess with me. Not with golden god Stellan as my brother. Stellan had no problem putting people in their place if they stepped out of line when it came to me. Begrudgingly, I admitted to myself that he’d started to do it for Delilah too.

Delilah scooted out from her chair. “Bathroom break,” she whispered before walking towards the front of the room.

I only admired her ass for one second. Because I wasn’t a perv. Or at least that’s what I was telling myself.

She said something to the sub and then left the room.

When fifteen minutes had passed and she still hadn’t returned, I decided to go check on her.

I walked into the bathroom, immediately hearing her falling apart in one of the stalls.

“Delilah,” I called out softly, knocking on the door. Her cries abruptly cut off.

A second later, the stall door opened and she was there, with red-rimmed eyes and a tear-stained face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, keeping my arms plastered against my sides. All I wanted to do was hug her, but I knew she wouldn’t appreciate that right now.

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