Fractured Freedom(26)
It was true, but it still hurt to hear it from my own mother.
Over the years, I’d learned a thing or two about being a different woman. I knew what I wanted now, and I was going to put my foot down when it came to it. I was going to live a different life here.
And no one was going to stop me.
8
Make Things Difficult
Dante
It took me two seconds to make the decision that Delilah was going home. Whatever plan she had here was over and done with. She’d have to figure it out somewhere else.
I couldn’t focus with her ass here, and I knew the mission was in jeopardy with her gallivanting around the island.
Plus, her hotel room was in no way, shape, or form safe for her now.
And I knew she was used to seeing a side of me that appeased her, that went with the flow, but that wasn’t an option anymore.
“Delilah, you’re not telling your mom anything, and you’re getting your ass on that plane.”
She dropped the clothes she’d been putting away. “Excuse me?”
“You’re not staying here. You need to go home to—”
“To what, Dante?” Her arm flew out with her shout. “There’s nothing for me there. I’ll get lost in …” She drifted off and glanced away. She was keeping something from me; I just had to figure out what. “Boredom. I’m so bored, I could die back home. Do you think I enjoy being the forgettable sister? The one that people literally don’t remember. I mean, my sister used me as a fucking decoy probably for that very reason.”
“I don’t think that’s the case.” Izzy wanted this as badly as I did, but I didn’t think she would have done that to her sister.
“Why not? You think she was inviting me back home while smuggling drugs for funsies? She and I both know that she’s prettier, louder, and crazier than me. No one ever forgets her. And I know I sound stupid and petty and bitter about it. I’m trying to grow from that and learn who I am here. That’s fair, right?”
Why was there sudden pain in my chest? Was this girl about to cause me a heart attack? “This isn’t about fair—”
“Maybe not for you. But for me, it’s what I have to do. Because if I’m there, I’ll just fall back into what I was and I can’t. I can’t. I wasn’t happy, and I thought so much about— I just need to be away from that place. And let’s be honest, no one misses me there. They have Izzy to worry about. I can go to the supermarket and literally five people stop to ask how she is, what she’s up to, and when she’s coming home. You dated her for God’s sake, and I would have died to date you back then.”
“Delilah,” I started, trying not to get whiplash from her confession. She’d pushed me away long ago. She’d left me high and dry in that bathroom and told me not to call her. I took a breath, trying to leave the past in the past because we were spiraling out of control before we even figured out the next step in this operation. “If you want me to apologize for—”
“Oh, God. I don’t care now.” She shuddered like suddenly I was repulsive to her. Me, the guy who made her come when her mom was right outside her bathroom door. Me, the guy who’d taken her virginity and had her orgasming numerous times that same night. Me, the guy whom she’d promised a relationship to, only to snatch it back weeks later.
I couldn’t stop the words that came from my mouth. “You don’t care? Well, I still get to say my piece. You hopped off that counter at Christmas and told me we were better off family friends. You said you didn’t want me, even while the taste of your pussy was in both our mouths. So if I fucked half the country—including your sister—since then, you definitely shouldn’t care.” There went all the meditation I’d done to get over her.
Her jaw dropped like she couldn’t believe I’d go there. “The taste of my … You cannot say things like that to me.”
“I’ll say whatever I want to you. I’m not sugarcoating anything with you anymore. We’re adults.” What Delilah didn’t understand was that my go-with-the-flow attitude that charmed most of our small town was long gone. I’d been subjected to too much for too long since then. And I’d embraced the other side of myself.
“Oh. Well, I’m glad I graduated from kid sister to adult. In that case, I’ll say that we obviously did the right thing by stopping our sexual relationship in that bathroom that night. We are very different people now. I, for one, would not lie to my family the way you both have. Nor do I ever want to be with someone who throws the taste of my pussy in my face.”
I should have gone to my car and meditated or some shit. This woman had the ability to drive me to insanity within seconds. “You sure about that?” I stepped close to her, and her breath hitched. “I seem to remember you liking me talking dirty to you about it with your legs spread.”
She licked her lips and fisted her hands. I saw her gaze drop to my mouth. It was fast, but it was there, right before she took a large step back. “Just because we fucked a few times, Dante, doesn’t mean I enjoyed you any more than the others. I wanted to date you before. Not now.”
Her confession gutted me. Didn’t she know she had been it for me at one time? The thought deflated my anger. So I met her truth with my own. “I would have dated you then, Lilah. I tried.”