Discovering Delilah (Harborside Nights, Book 2) by Melissa Foster Page A

limbs and threatening to steal my voice. “I’m not proud of the way I’ve lived my life so far, but it’s what I had to do. You guys knew my parents. You knew their views on this.” I pause, because when I think back, I don’t remember my parentsever looking at Brandon or Tristan the way they looked at me when I came out to them on graduation day.
    “Your parents?” Tristan releases my hand and looks at Wyatt.
    “They weren’t exactly pro same-sex relationships,” Wyatt explains.
    “They never said anything to me.” Tristan sits back and crosses his arms. His biceps flex and his brows knit together.
    “How do you know, Wyatt? BecauseI’m with Tristan on this,” Brandon says with a serious tone. “They never said anything to me either, or made me feel out of place, and hey, I don’t exactly hide my lifestyle.”
    Wyatt tried to talk to me about Mom and Dad several times this summer, but I haven’t wanted to. When we first got here, my emotions were too raw and I was too scared about how we were going to learn to live without themto even think about my feelings in that department. But over the last few weeks, my feelings for Ashley have grown, and I want to get past this.
    “They were pretty verbal with me and Dee,” Wyatt explains. “I always thought it was weird that they could treat you guys fine, when back home they made no bones about what they believed was right and wrong. Dee—”
    I hold up my hand to silence him.“I’ll tell them.” Wyatt likes to take care of me, and I love that he does, but if I’m going to figure this out, I have to learn to deal with these things on my own. I hope that starting here, among our friends, will make it easier to face the rest of the world.
    “I hid my sexuality from everyone and denied it to myself. I’m not proud of it, but I hid it from you guys, from my parents, fromWyatt and Cassidy. Well, until Wyatt confronted me a few years ago and I finally told him the truth.” Wyatt holds my gaze, and I read a hundred things in his eyes. That he’s there for me, that I don’t need to explain anything. That he’ll take care of it, which only makes me want to stand up and do it on my own even more.
    “I did date a guy in college,” I admit. “But it was just to fit in andto be able to go to parties without being hit on.”
    “Aw, Delilah. Plenty of gay people hook up with straight people to fit in. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” Tristan touches my arm again.
    “If what you’re saying about your parents is true, it’s people like that who cause their kids to commit suicide and feel ashamed of themselves.” Brandon sips my coffee. “Been there, done that. Well, notthe suicidal part.”
    “Hey, our parents aren’t here to defend themselves,” Wyatt says in a serious voice. “Believe me, Brandon, if anyone wants to give my parents hell, it’s me. But that’s my place, not yours, so be respectful.”
    Brandon turned a serious and respectful gaze to Wyatt. “Sorry, man.”
    “I know lots of people do that, Tristan, but I’m not sure how to get past it, and I wantto. I desperately want to.” The hurt in Ashley’s eyes crashes back in like a wave breaking in my chest.
    Cassidy moves from Wyatt’s lap and pulls up the empty chair next to me. She sits down and leans in close. Cassidy grew up around the corner from us in Connecticut. Her parents were never around, so she spent lots of time at our house, and until meeting Ashley, Cassidy was my closest femalefriend.
    “Delilah, I’m sure that right now it seems like you have two choices—come out to everyone or live a secret life. But it’s really not that black-and-white. Have you talked to Ashley about this?”
    I nod, thankful that she understands, too. “She knows, and she still wants to be with me.”
    Cassidy looks at Wyatt and smiles, then looks at me again. “Then it doesn’t matter what anyoneelse thinks. Just do what comes naturally.”
    “Sometimes doing what comes naturally is