Page 16 of Bring Me To My Knees

I laugh, sitting down on the towel, and she spreads hers next to mine.

“He’s so fucking hot,” she gushes, after I spill everything that just happened. “He’s got some hot friends too.”

“Right? Things just got a little more interesting for us.”

“I can’t wait to get the fuck out of here and start our life.” She sighs, leaning back on her elbows.

“You and me both,” I tell her, pushing my glasses back down over my face.

I allow myself a brief second to stare out into the water at my brother and Clark. Clark is the most gorgeous man I’ve ever laid eyes on, but he’s like a piece of forbidden fruit. I can look, but I’ll never be able to touch.

“He’s pretty nice to look at, isn’t he?” Delaney asks, breaking me from my thoughts.

“What? No,” I lie, but she can see right through me.

“Girl, you’d have to be blind to not think Clark is fucking fine as hell. Your brother isn’t too bad himself,” she says, grinning.

I scrunch up my nose in disgust.

“Gross,” I say, slapping her arm.

She laughs.

“I’m just saying, he’s fucking beautiful. Is there some sort of girl code thing, like, is he off limits to me?” she asks, and I’m pretty sure she’s serious.

I’ve never really given much thought to that. I guess because most of the years of my life that my friends would have been interested in Mitchell were spent at a boarding school. Does that bother me?

“I’ve never really thought about it. I mean, I guess he’s not off limits. You do you, girl. I don’t know Mitch well enough anymore to know what kind of guy he is.”

That’s the truth. I don’t know if my brother is a player. I don’t know if he leaves a trail of heartbroken women in his wake. I never really paid much attention to my brother’s dating habits when I was younger—our age difference played a huge part in that. I do know that Delaney is fragile, though. She’s been through a lot, and she’s still going through a lot that she doesn’t talk about. She’s like me in that way. We don’t talk about our trauma, we just know that we both have it.

“I’m not looking for a husband, Marley.” She scoffs.

She tries to play it off, but I see the slip on her face. She is looking for something. Aren’t we all in some way? Someone to help ease the sting of loneliness.

“I’m not looking for another sister, either,” I snark, and she looks at me, her eyes wide.

“I never know how to handle your humor,” she says, making me laugh.

I shrug but don’t respond, because my brother and Clark are walking closer to us.

“I think we’re heading back to the house,” Mitch says, bending down to grab his towel.

“I’m ready if you are,” I say, looking over at Delaney.

“Let’s go.”

After we all gather up our stuff, we make the walk back to the house.

“Who was that guy?” Clark’s deep voice asks as he slides up next to me.

“What guy?” I ask, looking at him confused.

“The one that had you laughing like you’ve never heard anything funny before.” He scowls.

I stop, making him stop, turning to face him.

“Are you jealous?” I ask, smiling.

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