Page 10 of Unstoppable You (Sapph in the City #6)

Chapter Ten

James

The interaction with Delaney bothered me for the rest of the weekend. After the brunch thing, I’d thought that she might have revised her feelings on me. Guess not.

Judging from her social media posts on Friday, she’d had a good night. I was almost jealous. I’d taken my ass to Sapph for drinks and dancing, but I couldn’t find anyone I wanted to kiss. Not that there weren’t offers, but none of them made me have that breathless, fluttery feeling in my stomach.

None of them were Delaney . I’d been kissing planning to stranger and hope they would magically transform into her, but it wouldn’t happen. That kind of magic existed only in the kinds of books I liked to read.

Frustrated, I went home from Sapph and was irritated for the rest of the day on Saturday, and that feeling carried over into Sunday. My parents and my brother weren’t helping either. Connor was mad about something and he’d recruited my parents to his cause of harassing me. The messages and voicemails were constant.

When I’d moved away, I’d gotten so used to not hearing from any of them, and now it was like they couldn’t go a day without reminding me of the reasons I’d left in the first place. At least they didn’t know where I lived, or else they might show up.

I went to Pilates on Sunday and was surprised to see a new instructor who introduced herself as Lea. She was beautiful, with willowy limbs and dark hair, but she took us through an absolutely brutal class. She had us doing moves I had never seen before, and it was one of the most innovative and difficult classes I’d done in a while. I had to go up to her after to tell her how great it was. My abs were going to be wrecked for the next two days.

“Thank you so much,” she said. “I just started teaching so I’m still nervous every single time. It’s nice to hear when someone appreciates what you work so hard on.”

How sweet.

I asked her if she was new to the city and she shook her head. “No, I grew up nearby, but I recently moved back.” It sounded almost exactly like my story.

Taking a risk, I asked her if she wanted to go grab a coffee or something and crossed my fingers that she didn’t think I was hitting on her.

“That sounds great. I could use a boost. Just let me clean up and I’ll meet you out front.”

Delaney hadn’t been in the class, but I still kept a lookout for her while I waited for Lea.

She came around the corner wearing an outfit from an expensive and well-known activewear brand, her hair pulled back into an absolutely perfect ponytail. There was a way that Lea carried herself that broadcast that she’d come from money. An indefinable quality and posture that you couldn’t quite put your finger on, but you knew it when you saw it. Her bag was one that I’d coveted for myself but had never been able to justify the expense of.

I asked her about school, wondering why we didn’t know each other since we seemed to be about the same age.

“I went to private school,” she told me, meeting my eyes as if I was going to give her shit for it. When she said the name of the school, I knew that yes, she had come from money because no one who went there didn’t have prestigious parents. Very prestigious parents. Even more prestigious than mine. They’d wanted to get both me and Connor in, but hadn’t had enough clout.

Moving on from that fraught topic, I asked her about post high school.

“Mmmm, let’s just say college didn’t agree with me,” she said through a little laugh as we walked together down the street to the closest coffee shop. It was one of those cool independent places with themed drinks and lots of vegan and vegetarian options.

Okay, college was a no go. I told her about my own experience going away and moving back. We were in line to order when my job came up.

“That’s so interesting. How do you get into something like that?” I gave her my little abridged bio and she told me how she’d bounced around to a bunch of different jobs and now did a combination of things including digital art, Pilates, yoga, and making fitness content. It sounded like she did a lot of things, and I understood that kind of lifestyle.

We commiserated about being self-employed and how much work you had to do that wasn’t your actual job.

“Teaching classes at least is a little bit of stability. My parents are livid that I resisted their indoctrination to come and work for the family business.” Now that was something I knew a little bit about.

It was shocking how many things Lea and I had in common, and we talked until our pastries were just crumbs and our latte cups were empty.

It was so nice to meet someone that I immediately clicked with.

“This has been really great, thank you,” she said. “I feel like we’re almost living the same life.” I laughed because it was true.

“If you ever want to hang out or go for a walk or something, just let me know,” I said and gave her my number. She gave me hers and we waved to each other outside of the shop.

Things were starting to look up.

* * *

I’d finished reading well before the book club meeting but went back through my copy and made a few notes in the margins. I always thought people who got enraged about writing in books were a little too uptight. I also didn’t really care about dogearing the pages of my own books. Library books were another story. I didn’t touch those, but my own? They had broken spines, notes in them, receipts used as bookmarks. I was a little bit of a chaotic reader when it came to my physical books.

I threw my book in my bag along with a few pens, a notebook to take notes in, and my phone. I didn’t really know what to expect, but I was nervously excited about tonight, and not just because of Delaney.

The energy was buzzing when I walked into the bookshop and I instantly spotted Delaney speaking with another woman I recognized from my first visit to the bookshop as the owner, Larison. I tried to figure out where I should sit, since the chairs were arranged all in a circle, which made sense. It was a little unnerving.

“You look like you’re a little scared,” Delaney said, sneaking up on me.

“I’m not,” I said, unclenching my fingers from the strap of my bag.

Delaney rolled her eyes. “There’s food and drinks, and you can sit where you want. Or you could leave, whatever. I don’t care.”

“You sure?” I fired back at her.

“No, I don’t care,” she said, her cheeks shading just a little pink. Interesting.

“You know, when someone repeatedly says that they don’t care, it kind of seems like they might care.”

Delaney fumed silently for a second before turning away from me and going back to the refreshment table to fiddle with something.

I followed her.

“Pass me a plate?”

She huffed out an annoyed breath but handed me a paper plate anyway.

There were all kinds of food options, so I was glad that I hadn’t had dinner already. A few other book clubbers came over to fill their plates and Delaney stepped away to take care of other things. Once I had my snacks, I filled a cup with some strawberry lemonade and decided it was time to find a seat. There were about twenty-five chairs and nearly half of them were full. This was a livelier club than I’d been expecting. I saw a few familiar faces that I might have remembered from high school, but I’d blocked so much of that experience out of my mind. Even looking through my yearbook just gave me page after page of people I had almost no memory of.

I noticed several existing groups of friends and I didn’t really want to sit in between people who already knew each other, so my options were limited. I selected a chair that faced the windows that looked out on the street.

“That’s my seat,” Delaney said. I glanced at her over my shoulder.

“Sorry,” I said, getting up and moving one seat over. She glared at me for a half second and then I watched her face morph into her bookseller smile.

“Okay everyone, we’re going to get started here shortly, if you want to grab any last snacks and find your seats and get your books out.”

It hadn’t been my intention to sit next to Delaney, but I wasn’t going to move now. Being next to her made my skin buzz in a pleasant way and if I inhaled deeply enough, I could smell her scent just a little. It was sweet and a little floral. Light, but I knew it was hers. I’d gotten a whiff of it a few times before. I wish I could ask her what it was.

Delaney began the evening and I got to focus on her. Beside me, she was confident and I could tell that she was enjoying herself. It wouldn’t surprise me if she had volunteered to host these events. The participants were bright and talkative and there was rarely a lull in the conversation.

Our book was a fun one, a sapphic romcom that was kind of out of the realm of the books I usually read, but I’d had so much fun with it and the feeling seemed mutual. Delaney had a typed list of questions, but she didn’t really need to use it as the talk flowed from one thing to the next, going over the stronger parts of the book and some of the weaker ones, or the parts we wished had been done a little differently.

Throughout it all, Delaney kept everything moving smoothly and fostered a light and jovial environment that made everyone relax.

She was really good at this.

I’d forgotten how good she was with people. Whereas I had been the one who had tried to control the group projects or always wanted to be the captain of any team, Delaney had sat back and watched the social dynamics before speaking up and then getting everyone on the same page.

There was more than one way to lead people and her way was definitely superior to mine.

I was left a little in awe of her by the end of the night.

What a huge mistake I’d made by coming here. Being in her presence was only making the crush I had on her stronger. Instead of being a mild presence in my brain, a tingling of my skin, a swoop in my stomach, now this crush was a hand around my throat. Fingers squeezing at my heart. It had transformed into a violent thing that wouldn’t let me breathe .

Fuck. I only had myself to blame as I watched her start to clean up and laugh with a few people as they worked to fold up the chairs and stack them in the back of the room.

She was so gorgeous it made my eyes burn to look at her.

I’d barely touched my food once Delaney had started talking, so I shoved a few things in my mouth so they wouldn’t go to waste. She came over to get another chair and saw me standing there and shoving food into my face.

Busted with my squirrel cheeks.

She made a choking noise and started coughing, as if she was trying to eject a laugh from her body.

I did my best to chew and swallows quickly without compromising my breathing. It was close, but I managed.

“Can you just forget that you saw me do that?” I asked.

She tried to hide a smile. “Absolutely not.”

“Damn.” Well, it was worth a try.

“You don’t have to rush out, you know. I still have to clean up and it’s going to be a little while.” While we’d been talking, the last of the other book clubbers had left and it was just the two of us now. The bookshop was quiet, and I became conscious of my own breathing. Why was it so loud?

“Um, yeah I’m just… Do you need help with anything?” It seemed only fair that I’d give her a hand.

“If you wanna carry all those chairs to the storage room in the back, I’ll wrap up a plate of desserts for you.” Well that was generous.

“Deal,” I said.

Most of the chairs were already stacked against the wall, so all it took was me hooking a few under my arms and carrying them to a back room that had the door cracked open. Most of space was taken up by boxes and boxes of books, as well as several tables covered in shipping supplies.

I set my first round of chairs in an empty space against one wall and went back for the others. I almost jumped when soft music piped through the hidden speakers. Delaney must not have liked the silence either.

On my third round of chairs, I paused for a second, watching her as she swept the floor and swayed to the music. I recognized the song, a soft bluesy cover of an older song that I often played myself. Delaney did a little twirl with the broom, oblivious to me watching her.

Fuck. Tonight had really done me some damage. If I’d thought I had a crush on her before, things were now so, so much worse. She was beautiful and she was sassy, and she was competent, and she was a leader. There was nothing about her that I didn’t like.

Before she noticed me being a total creep, I got back to carrying the chairs and finished at the same time as she was carrying some of the leftover food to the fridge in the storage room.

Without asking, I went out to the main part of the shop and grabbed more of the containers she’d already packed up.

“Oh,” she said when she almost crashed into me in the doorway of the storage room. “You don’t… I mean, you can leave. I’m getting paid to do this.”

I shrugged. “It’s fine. I don’t have anything to rush home for. I don’t mind, Delaney.” Saying her name was like a little treat I allowed myself.

She huffed out a breath. “Fine. Suit yourself.”

I followed her lead and helped her with the rest of her closing duties. The music continued to play, and I wondered if this was a Delaney-specific playlist, or if it was a generic one for the shop.

“Okay, I need to get my shit and set the alarm, so you can definitely leave now,” she said, turning off the lights. The shop was spick and span and ready to open tomorrow for eager readers.

I settled my bag over my shoulder. “I’ll just wait outside and walk you to your car.”

“That’s entirely unnecessary.” Maybe it was. I was still doing it.

Things were pretty quiet in this part of the city at this time of night. The tourist season was almost at an end and soon the residents would start preparing for winter.

Delaney appeared surprised when she found me leaning against the building as she exited the front door and locked it with her key.

“Jesus, did you have to lurk like that? I thought you were going to attack me.” She put her hand on her chest and breathed hard.

“I’m sorry. I just didn’t think you should walk alone.”

Delaney looked up and down the sidewalk, which was mostly deserted. “Yeah, this is a real high crime area.”

“You never know,” I said in an ominous voice. “Come on, just let me do this.”

“Fine. Whatever. I can’t stop you from following me. Just don’t be weird.” I could do that. Probably.

“Right, got it. Don’t be weird.”

I fell into step beside her and matched my walking pace to hers.

“Did you enjoy it? Book club?” she asked after a few moments of silence.

“Oh yeah. I’d never really been to one before and I didn’t know what to expect. You put everyone at ease.” Shit. Was that too much of a compliment? I couldn’t let my crush on her bleed through into how I talked to her. Any whiff of me liking her was going to make her run for the hills.

“Thanks. That’s my goal,” she said, ducking her head as if she was hiding a blush, but it was too dark to tell.

“You’re really good at it.” Too much. I was doing too much.

“You don’t have to kiss my ass, I get it.”

“I’m not just saying that, Delaney. I don’t give compliments if they’re not sincere.”

She huffed. “Were your insults sincere?”

Well. Guess we were back to that.

“It’s okay to still be mad at me, you know. There’s no time limit on it.” If she wanted to hate me forever, that was her prerogative. It would probably destroy me, but I couldn’t make her forgive me no matter what I did. That was the thing with people: you couldn’t control anyone else’s actions but your own.

The ball was in her court and she could smash that ball with a hammer and set the court on fire if she wanted.

“ God , I don’t hate you, James. You act like I think about you all the time and I don’t.”

“Okayyyy.” I drew the word out, not really sure what she was getting at. Had she just said she didn’t hate me? That was definitely progress.

Delaney turned and pointed at me. “I’m not saying that I forgive you, because having to forgive everyone for everything is bullshit. But I don’t hate you. I don’t think I ever really hated you. Not even then.”

Oh.

She was so hot when she was putting me in my place. Focus, James. This woman is trying to tell you something.

“I’m not asking you to forgive me.”

She crossed her arms and both of us jumped as a nearby car honked. “Aren’t you?”

“No,” I said honestly. “I’m not.”

“Then what are you doing?”

I had to think about that for a minute. “Going to book club?”

“Fine, whatever. This is my car. You can go now.” She gestured to the candy-red sedan and hit her keychain to make her lights flash.

Shit. This was over.

“Mine’s back that way,” I said, gesturing with my thumb over my shoulder.

“Okay.” She stood beside the passenger door and then straightened her spine as if she was bracing herself. “Thank you for coming to book club. I hope you had a good time. Don’t forget to check your email to see what the next book club pick will be. Drive safe!” The whole speech was delivered with a false cheerfulness and the fakest smile I’d ever seen.

Vicious.

I bit back a smile and nodded. “You have a good night, Delaney.”

Stepping away from her, I walked backwards, keeping my eyes on her. It was dark, but she was standing right in the beam of a streetlight so I saw her fight a smile and lose before she threw her bag into the passenger seat and then got behind the wheel.

I watched her for as long as I could without tripping and cracking my head open on the pavement.

I could still feel her gaze on my back, though.