Page 48

What if?

Those two words pounded in my head like the beat of a song. I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Delaney was straight. Wasn’t she?

* * *

It turnedout that alcohol also made Delaney sleepy, and her eyes kept fluttering closed. Time to get her home.

“Hey. Let’s go home, okay?” I called a car to take both of us to her place. Thanks to dropping her off, I had her address in my phone already.

A very drowsy and warm Delaney let me take her out of the bar and get her into a car. I was going to make sure she was in bed before I left and went home myself.

“Have a good night?” the older woman driving us asked.

“You could say that.” She smiled and offered us both mints and water. I declined, but it was sweet of her to offer.

Delaney was a little more lucid when we got to her place.

“Why did we leave?” she asked.

“Because it was time to go,” I told her, helping her up the stairs. “Where are your keys, baby?” There it was again. That word I couldn’t stop saying.

“Here they areeeee,” she sang, dangling them in front of me. “I can do it.”

I watched as she fumbled a few times, but did manage to get the door open, giggling as she walked in and dropped her bag on the floor.

“I wanna dance,” she said, pouting and swinging her hips. Jesus Christ. She was too sexy for her own good. It was a serious problem for me, especially tonight.

“You can dance if you want, but how about we get some more water and aspirin into you?”

She pouted even further. “I gotta pee.”

“Well, I’m not going to help you with that.” She stuck her tongue out at me and stomped to the bathroom. I moved closer to the door, just in case she needed some help.

“Everything okay in there?” I asked when she’d been quiet for a few minutes.

“Shhhh, you’re distracting me,” she said, and I choked back a laugh.

I shut up and looked around. Delaney’s apartment wasn’t what I thought it would be. I’d assumed it would be warm and full of books and little knickknacks and cute things and maybe some plants.

This place was…bland. And dark. The couch was faded navy blue and there was one tan rug and barely anything on the walls. There were books, yes, but not as many as I would have thought.

Connor. This had to be Connor. He would have told her not to buy anything that he thought was too “girly” or not “masculine” enough. His fingerprints were all over this place.

She needed to get some new fucking furniture.

Delaney emerged from the bathroom with a goofy smile on her face.

“All done.”

“Good.” I gave her another glass of water and made her sit on the couch while she drank it and had some aspirin.

She started nodding off again, so I got her up and pushed her toward the bedroom.

“Come with meeeee,” she said. “I’m so tired of being alone.”

Her bedroom was a little more her speed. The bed had a pretty flowered comforter and there were stacks of books everywhere.