Page 36 of All of You

Dad leans in and kisses her softly, cutting her off.Nice moves, Dad.Also, gross.

I tiptoe out of the kitchen, snatch my keys from the console table and all but sprint to my truck. I am not missing my opportunity to get out of the house free and clear. As I pull onto the roadThe xxcomes on the stereo and I’m consumed by all thoughts Delia.

Her body.

Her taste.

The silkiness of her skin.

She said she’d never done it, and a ripple had shot through me thinking I might be the first and naively the only to ever worship her soft body. I adjust my shorts and change the song.

Nineteen

Delia

It’s a full moon on a rotten night. Langdon’s lack of words are more than sticks and stones. His silence hits like a bullet and lodges deep in my bones. Langdon acts like I don’t exist and I suddenly have an overwhelming urge to go home, even though I am at home.

It’s torture.

I could lose myself in his eyes if he’d just look at me. The way he ignores me cuts my skin to the bone. Just being in the same room with him lights a fire within me that threatens to burn me down. But at this point, I’d fucking light a fire to break the ice between us.

“You guys are awfully quiet,” Mom says at the table. “Did you have fun last night at the back-to-school party?” She winks as if she knows what those parties are about but noneof the other adults do. I almost laugh out loud.

“Yes.” Comes out of my mouth at the same time Langdon says, “It was okay.”

Langdon’s parents chuckle.

Anna takes a sip of iced tea, then says. “Life with a teenage boy. Communication is subpar.”

Langdon turns five shades of pink and pushes his chair back. “Bathroom.”

“I’m glad you had a good time,” Anna says to me.

I give her a polite smile. “It was nice to meet some of my classmates before school started.

“And Langdon behaved? Got you home safe?” Langdon’s dad asks.

I squirm in my chair and look at mom, hesitating.

“Of course. He was a perfect gentleman. Had her home just when I asked him to,” she says.Lord have mercy. Mom for the win.

“Yeah. It was nice of him to think of inviting me and driving me.”

Langdon’s hovering in the doorway with a deer in the headlights kinda look.

James glances at Langdon with a very paternal beam of pride. “We’ve done our damnedest to raise him right.”

Mom places her hand on Anna’s forearm. “You’re doing great.” She raises a brow at Langdon as he reseats himself across from me.

I stare at Langdon while he’s distracted.Please let me fall into your arms again.Last night was… intense.

Wild. Completely bizarre.

If I’m honest with myself, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about him since. The memory of his hot breath between my legs has me crossing one leg over the other and squeezing my thighs to stave off the inevitable wetness beginning to pool.

Langdon finally looks my way. I fold my arms, chin tilting as I fall back in my chair.Hit me with your best shot.But when he does, metaphorically speaking, of course, I begin to melt. I can’t tolerate the heat in his gaze.

He gives me a fake smile. An obviously super fake smile and heat creeps up my neck. Did I misread the situation? Is he still pissed about last night? I don’t understand—he came on to me. I didn’t even get to touch him.