Page 33 of The Handyman

“I taught second grade in Los Angeles. I love kids. But then… I slept with the wrong guy, and then I made the mistake of doing it again. And again.”

“That’s awful…” Hannah shuffled over to sit down and pat Delilah’s back.

I rolled my lips between my teeth as sympathy washed down my sternum in powerful waves.

Delilah had obviously made peace with the past, but now that there was a light at the end of the tunnel, she couldn’t just ignore it anymore. The lies she told herself all these years were unravelling even as she shrugged slightly. “I was able to finish out the year, at least. And, to be fair…I do love Darren. Every time I think of the future, he’s in it. It’s just the uncertainty of it all that gets me sometimes. Even when he does come home, it’s not like he’s exactly blue-collar. We talk all the time about it, but things are never as good as we think they’ll be.” Delilah sucked in a big breath, straightening her posture to flip her long, gorgeous hair over her shoulder. “I always tell him ‘no’ because I wanted him to stop asking. What’s the point of being more than just friends with benefits because he’s not around to make it serious?”

“But he is coming back permanently, right? In a few months?”

“He doesn’t know. He’s trying and I know that’s all I can really ask for, but…” Delilah sighed heavily

Pursing my lips thinly, I turned to the mirror to watch her in the reflection. Emotion warred in my chest— I felt bad for Delilah, of course, but I got my job. I shouldn’t have asked her about her modelling. There was only one direction that conversation could go and it wasdown.

Hannah finally spoke up, “Everything gets better. You know, every seven or so years, you’re anentirelynew person, and you don’t even realize it. You’ve been with this guy for a while, right? So, it’s about time for a change.”

I hummed softly in agreement with Hannah, training my gaze on myself as I held out my arms. This shirt came to my elbows and I liked the color.

Hannah continued with optimism brimming her tone, “Yeah… it’s true. Eight years ago, I was engaged to a loser that could barely wipe his own butt, and here I am now, on my own, good job, great friends. . .”

“Eight years ago, I was in…7thgrade.” Giggling a little, I glanced back as Delilah and Hannah both laughed.

Delilah nodded with a wave of her hand. “Yeah. Okay, I get it. And you know what? You’re right. Things are gonna change—for the better.Even if I have to break up with Darren, it’d be better than being strung along forever.” Delilah lloked deeply saddened by the idea but she was quick to wipe her expression before shooting me an apologetic, faux happy smile. “Congratulations on your job, Riley.”

“Thanks. Don’t worry, we’re gonna get so drunk later and blast everyone in our lives who so much as looked as us wrong. It happens every time.”

Her smile picked up a bit, became a little more genuine.

I glanced over at the keep pile we’d made. “I don’t think we have to spend this whole gift card today. Besides, I don’t even know what I need to get rid of and I’m not gonna just shove all my clothes in a donation bin without looking through them first.”

“Ah— another good thing to do while drinking. I’m liking where this is going.” Hannah clapped loudly. “We should eat first, before we go back. I get a discount at my job, do you wanna go there?”

Carefully taking off the shirt, I covered my chest as I reached for the clothes I’d come to this boutique in. “Sure.” Pulling my jeans up, I snatched my phone off the bench to shoot Reece a text.

‘We were thinking of grabbing something to eat. You okay with that?’

Setting my phone down again, I fastened my jeans as quiet descended on the dressing room. Clearly, Delilah just had it rough, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she’d just disappear as abruptly as she’d entered my life. She seemed really nice despite the circumstances and I thought we could be friends if things were different.

Of course,ifthings were different, we never would’ve met. Neither of us had said anything, but I got the feeling that Delilah felt the same. She was really alone and a very publicized celebrity, so friends for her were hard to come by. Scrambling into my shirt, I pulled my hair over my shoulder to tie into a loose ponytail and held back a sigh.Being famous was bad enough, but being forced to be famous is even worse.

“Ready to check out? I’m just gonna put my socks and shoes on.” Hannah popped up, gathering up the clothes in the ‘keep’ pile to hang over her arm.She’s more excited to buy it than anything else.

Once she was out and weaving through racks of clothes, I sat down to grab Delilah’s hand and squeeze. “It’ll all be worth it. I know it’s not a situation you want to be in, but Reece says Carlyle is a man of his word. He’ll let you have your happily ever after, Delilah.”

“D-do you know how awful it is to need permission to have my ‘happily’ ever after?” Delilah stood up to shake her head, gazing at me with sad, green eyes. “It’s easy to forget that these people are murderers, torturers and terrorists, Riley. But that doesn’t mean they’re not. Your boyfriend has killed a lot of people. If you asked him, would he even be able to tell you how many? Just because he’s nice to you doesn’t mean he’s not a monster. At least I know what I’m getting into.”

24

Reece

“All lies unravel eventually.”Carlyle’s words hung heavy against the backs of my eyes and I tapped my feet as I stared at the ceiling. My sofa was more uncomfortable than I remembered, but there wasn’t much I could do at the moment. I had three drunk as shit girls in my bed, but it’d bewaytoo awkward to climb in with them compared to when there was just the one.

Riley hadn’t had a sober moment, and I ended up sitting out in the hallway four times. She’d gotten the job with Vanessa and she deserved to party it up before starting when the weekend was over. By her own words, Riley didn’t drink a lot or often, a glass of wine here or there, but no beer and no hard liquor.

But—holy shit did her neighbor have an iron gut. I doubted even Mateo could keep up with that blondie. In hindsight, I really should’ve agreed to partying at Riley’s place, but it didn’t matter after a few hours when they were too drunk to complain.

“I’m gonna die.” Riley shuffled heavily to plop her firm ass in my lap. She reeked of alcohol, but her breath was minty fresh when she kissed my cheek. “Thank you.”

“Sh-h…” Holding her forehead in my palm, I could feel her sweating through both our clothes. I’d gotten drunk as all Hell in this very same room recently, so the blue lightbulb in one of the lamp prongs was all that illuminated the room. Nimble, hot fingers played with the buttons of my shirt, and I rubbed her side with my free hand. “You okay?”