finger. Watch as goose bumps follow the same path.
She’s breathing hard, and shaking a little. “And you’re good at this.”
“I’m just getting started.” Soon it’s my tongue tracing the same path my finger did. I unhook her bra and watch her breasts spill free, before my tongue tastes each pert tip. We spend the rest of the night alternating between kissing and talking. Turning the car off and on. We end up in the backseat but don’t talk about anything important. I spend a lot more time with lips taking voyages over her body, traveling her land. Somehow I know if I go for her pants, she’s going to stop me, so I don’t.
Tonight, this is enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve done nothing but make out with a girl. When I went to live with Angel at fifteen, I was free for the first time in my life. Away from my dad and finally living, so I went wild for a while. I did a lot during that time, messed around with a lot of girls, but none of it felt as good as it had just kissing her tonight.
“I’ve never watched the sun come up.” She stares out at the pinks and oranges looking like watercolors in the sky.
“You work graveyard.”
“I didn’t say I’ve never seen it. I said I’ve never watched it. There’s a difference.”
Maybe, just maybe, she might be right. “Then we’ll watch.”
It only takes a few minutes for the sun to come up and we don’t talk or touch the whole time. Soon I’m driving her home. Colt and Cheyenne’s car is here. I wouldn’t be surprised if they went home right after we separated.
“You’re up all night again because of me.” There’s laughter in her voice. I consider kissing her good-bye, but I don’t.
“Doesn’t matter. Sleep in the daytime or at night is all the same. It’s still sleep.”
“Yeah, I guess.” She pauses. “Am I going to see you again? I don’t mean that in a clingy way. I know what this is, but…”
“You said you wanted to be friends, right?” It’s the only way that I have to say yes.
“Sure… friends.”
Delaney gets out of the car. I wait as she walks toward the apartment, but then she stops and looks back at me. “I don’t know if it matters, but I don’t work tonight.”
And then she’s gone and I sit here, trying to figure out if it does matter, and I think it might.
Chapter Ten
~Delaney~
“Mom?” I walk into the house after school. Fear clings to my spine at the mess inside. The pictures that have been ripped off the walls. The faces torn out. Photo albums strewn around the room.
Bump, bump, bump, bump.
The drum of my heart almost rivals the music, Simon & Garfunkel, that’s blasting through the room. She and Dad used to sing them all the time. Loved the song “The Boxer,” but I don’t get the same feeling as I used to when I hear it. Now when I do, I know she’s thinking about him.
“Mom?” I say again, hoping she’ll come out. Hoping that even if her face is tear-stained or she’s still wearing the same clothes she had on yesterday that she’ll come out. It’s only when she doesn’t want to leave the room that I know the depression has its claws in her again. That it’s pulling her so far under that Maddox will stop leaving her alone with me again, taking up as my savior and bodyguard.
He’s not here.
She’s not coming out.
I let my backpack drop to the floor and leave the door open as I take slow steps toward the hallway.
This house is so much smaller than our old one, so it’s only about twenty steps later that I’m at her bedroom door. “Mom?” My voice shakes. Even if she is here, she probably can’t hear me over the roar of the music.
I peek inside. It’s empty.
Two more doors stand closed in the narrow hallway, mine and the bathroom. Maddox sleeps on the couch. Knowing she’s not in there, I still check my room first before turning to the bathroom.
It’s okay. She’ll be okay. I don’t have to be scared to go in.
Only I know it’s not okay and there’s no
She’s breathing hard, and shaking a little. “And you’re good at this.”
“I’m just getting started.” Soon it’s my tongue tracing the same path my finger did. I unhook her bra and watch her breasts spill free, before my tongue tastes each pert tip. We spend the rest of the night alternating between kissing and talking. Turning the car off and on. We end up in the backseat but don’t talk about anything important. I spend a lot more time with lips taking voyages over her body, traveling her land. Somehow I know if I go for her pants, she’s going to stop me, so I don’t.
Tonight, this is enough. It’s been a long time since I’ve done nothing but make out with a girl. When I went to live with Angel at fifteen, I was free for the first time in my life. Away from my dad and finally living, so I went wild for a while. I did a lot during that time, messed around with a lot of girls, but none of it felt as good as it had just kissing her tonight.
“I’ve never watched the sun come up.” She stares out at the pinks and oranges looking like watercolors in the sky.
“You work graveyard.”
“I didn’t say I’ve never seen it. I said I’ve never watched it. There’s a difference.”
Maybe, just maybe, she might be right. “Then we’ll watch.”
It only takes a few minutes for the sun to come up and we don’t talk or touch the whole time. Soon I’m driving her home. Colt and Cheyenne’s car is here. I wouldn’t be surprised if they went home right after we separated.
“You’re up all night again because of me.” There’s laughter in her voice. I consider kissing her good-bye, but I don’t.
“Doesn’t matter. Sleep in the daytime or at night is all the same. It’s still sleep.”
“Yeah, I guess.” She pauses. “Am I going to see you again? I don’t mean that in a clingy way. I know what this is, but…”
“You said you wanted to be friends, right?” It’s the only way that I have to say yes.
“Sure… friends.”
Delaney gets out of the car. I wait as she walks toward the apartment, but then she stops and looks back at me. “I don’t know if it matters, but I don’t work tonight.”
And then she’s gone and I sit here, trying to figure out if it does matter, and I think it might.
Chapter Ten
~Delaney~
“Mom?” I walk into the house after school. Fear clings to my spine at the mess inside. The pictures that have been ripped off the walls. The faces torn out. Photo albums strewn around the room.
Bump, bump, bump, bump.
The drum of my heart almost rivals the music, Simon & Garfunkel, that’s blasting through the room. She and Dad used to sing them all the time. Loved the song “The Boxer,” but I don’t get the same feeling as I used to when I hear it. Now when I do, I know she’s thinking about him.
“Mom?” I say again, hoping she’ll come out. Hoping that even if her face is tear-stained or she’s still wearing the same clothes she had on yesterday that she’ll come out. It’s only when she doesn’t want to leave the room that I know the depression has its claws in her again. That it’s pulling her so far under that Maddox will stop leaving her alone with me again, taking up as my savior and bodyguard.
He’s not here.
She’s not coming out.
I let my backpack drop to the floor and leave the door open as I take slow steps toward the hallway.
This house is so much smaller than our old one, so it’s only about twenty steps later that I’m at her bedroom door. “Mom?” My voice shakes. Even if she is here, she probably can’t hear me over the roar of the music.
I peek inside. It’s empty.
Two more doors stand closed in the narrow hallway, mine and the bathroom. Maddox sleeps on the couch. Knowing she’s not in there, I still check my room first before turning to the bathroom.
It’s okay. She’ll be okay. I don’t have to be scared to go in.
Only I know it’s not okay and there’s no
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