Page 2 of Unstoppable You (Sapph in the City #6)

Chapter Two

James

I hadn’t noticed her at all when I’d walked in. I’d been concerned with finding a spot and not being late. Pilates had been my favorite workout lately and I’d been pleased that there were classes at the gym. At least one thing had gone right lately.

The class had absolutely kicked my ass, so I’d been completely focused until the end when I started packing up and heard someone curse nearby.

There she was. Delaney Budreau. What were the chances? I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t considered that I might run into her now that I was back, but I hadn’t expected that it would be so soon. I’d only moved into my new apartment two days ago and had decided to take a break from work and unpacking for a workout class.

The universe decided to throw Delaney in my path today.

It had taken me a second to recognize her. At first, I’d just seen a gorgeous woman, but then I’d gotten a look at her face and it was like the past and the present folded onto themselves. I was both here in this moment and in the past with a pretty girl from my seventh-grade class.

The second she realized it was me, however, she bolted. Just absolutely ran from me like her hair was on fire.

Could I blame her? Not really. But I was still going to chase after her and at least see if we could have a cup of coffee or a few minutes of civil conversation so I could explain myself. Apologize.

Over the years I’d thought so often about her. About the things I’d said when we were kids that made me nauseated to remember. About how she deserved better than Connor—I would know. I’d had to live with him for most of my life.

She wasn’t ready to hear from me yet. I let her go after I caught up, because I didn’t want to end up with a restraining order. Sighing at the absurdity of life, I went back to the gym where I’d abandoned all my stuff.

I drove back to my new apartment and shut the door, leaning against it and dropping my gym bag and mat on the floor. This place was nearly twice the size of my old place in Boston and only about two-thirds of the price. It was wild how much you could get in a smaller city.

The building was older, but the apartment itself was updated with shiny new everything and included a washer and dryer in my linen closet. I’d almost cried at how beautiful it was when I’d had my first tour. No more hauling my laundry down to the basement. No more quarters and dryers burning up my clothes.

I’d even had to buy more furniture to fill the space. I was still getting used to it. Maybe I’d get some plants or a pet or something. Not a dog or a cat, but some kind of creature to talk to.

I hoped Delaney had made it home okay. What was her place like? I pictured her having a big window with a chair in front of it. She’d loved reading when we’d been kids. She’d always have a book or two in her bag that wasn’t just for school. I’d probably made fun of her for that. So much of my youth was a blur, but I could remember a few things, and a lot of them involved Delaney. As if my brain had decided she was worth remembering.

Sighing, I headed to the shower, stripping off my Pilates outfit. The class had been intense, and my muscles were going to be sore for a while.

After my shower, I was ravenous, so I made a quick turkey sandwich with some avocado, Havarti, bacon, and arugula and ate it in the kitchen before gulping down some water and peeling an orange to eat while I wandered around and thought about Delaney.

She’d grown up really well. Really well. She still had that stunning blonde hair and eyes that were mostly brown but with those greenish flecks toward her pupil. I’d spent an awful lot of time trying to figure out the exact color of Delaney’s eyes in art class instead of drawing a still life or whatever we were supposed to be doing. No one had ever known.

I finished my orange and washed my hands, at a loss for what to do. I’d had a whole plan for today to be productive, but Delaney had derailed all of that. I couldn’t focus on much of anything.

Checking the time, I realized that the library was closed, so my hopes of visiting were dashed for today. Damn. I logged onto the app and browsed the ebook collection instead, which left much to be desired, so I switched to my old Boston card since it was still active. Jackpot.

Figuring the day was a bust, I decided reading was the best way to spend my time, so I opened the windows, put on some music, and grabbed one of the books I’d bought before I left Boston but hadn’t had a chance to read yet.

I’d just finally sunk into the story when my phone went off, shattering my concentration.

Hey, do you think I could stay with you? It was Connor. Shocking that now I was close enough to do things for him was the exact time he’d decided to be my brother again.

When I’d been in Boston I’d barely heard from him once a month. In the two days since I’d been back, he’d messaged me at least five times. As if I had some sort of responsibility to help him claw his way out of his bad choices. Connor had a lifetime of them piled up by now.

I ended up just calling him rather than go back and forth with messages for an hour.

“Hey, Connor, no, you cannot stay with me. You’d have a place to live if you hadn’t cheated on your girlfriend, who was too good for you, by the way,” I said as a greeting.

“Aw, come onnnnn, Jimmy. It wasn’t my fault.” He knew how much I fucking hated it when he called me “Jimmy.”

“How? How wasn’t this your fault, Connor? She walked in on you fucking someone else. Did your dick just happen to slip into her body?”

“That’s not what happened,” he said and then rambled out a long story of how he wasn’t to blame for anything. I’d heard it all before. He needed to get a new script.

Finally, he took a breath and I cut him off before he could keep going. “Connor. You are twenty-seven years old. It is time for you to grow the fuck up, get your shit together, and be a damn man. Do the work and maybe then we can talk. Until then. Bye.”

I hung up on him, shaking with anger.

My parents would be his next call. Dad first, and then Mom. One of them would help him after he talked them into it. That was what Connor had always done and it had always worked.

No wonder he thought he could cheat on his girlfriend and talk his way out of it. He’d talked his way out of anything from speeding tickets to vandalism to cheating. Delaney wasn’t the first girlfriend he’d fucked over.

One of these days I wasn’t going to answer his messages at all. That day hadn’t come yet, but it would, eventually. I simply didn’t want someone in my life who didn’t give a shit about anyone but himself. Yes, he was my brother, but that didn’t entitle him to a place in my life.

Frustrated and annoyed at having to deal with my manchild brother, I tried to go back to reading, but my mind wouldn’t settle. Instead, I threw on some shoes, turned on a podcast about a religious cult, and went outside. I was still all shaky and sore from Pilates, but I needed to move. Outwalk my family drama.

This shit was why I’d moved away in the first place. I had no doubt I was going to get messages from both of my parents about being a terrible sister for not letting Connor crash on my couch, eat my food, do zero chores, and pay for nothing. The rule was that I had responsibilities to him, but he didn’t have any to me. Ever.

“Fuck them, fuck them, fuck them,” I chanted as I stomped my way down the sidewalk. I was relatively close to the park, so I veered that way and tried to take in the trees and the fresh air and the ducks floating on the pond to give me some kind of peace, but it wasn’t working. I wanted to throw rocks in the water and scream and maybe break some shit.

I did a quick search but there were no rage rooms nearby. Of course. I’d never been to one before but now that I needed one, there wasn’t one to be had.

I paced around the park until I was hungry again and stopped to buy a brick oven pizza slice the size of my head at a nearby restaurant. That helped my mood somewhat and by the time I returned to my apartment, I was a lot calmer. Maybe I should start meditating or something. This stress probably wasn’t good for my blood pressure.

Raging about Connor inevitably made me think about Delaney. The two of them had been together for four years. I’d been floored when I’d found out from my parents that they were a couple. He hadn’t looked twice at her when we’d been in school and had even said some shitty things about her looks, but since I’d done the same thing, I didn’t feel like it was my place to give my two cents about her dating him.

And would she have listened to me anyway? Not likely.

Delaney, Delaney, Delaney.

When I’d kicked the dust of this state off my shoes and had started fresh in Boston, I’d put everything about my old life behind. My family, people I’d known in high school, everyone. Including Delaney.

Not that she’d wanted to see or talk to me anyway. The wounds I’d left from the slings and arrows of middle school were deep and they weren’t healing anytime soon. The guilt I carried had eaten away at me over the years, waking me up in the darkest hours of the night, sitting on my shoulder, whispering on my ear. I’d thought about reaching out to her so many times. Hundreds of times. Had written dozens of messages and even letters. I still had some of them somewhere, folded away and living in journals.

Now I had my chance to do this in person, so maybe there was a reason I’d never sent those letters or typed those messages. Maybe it was supposed to be like this all along.