Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 119548 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 598(@200wpm)___ 478(@250wpm)___ 398(@300wpm)
“You’re right. I know you are.” I reached over and gently patted her knee. “Thanks, Mel. When did my baby sister get so grown up?”
“When my big brother regressed into a melancholy teenage boy,” she retorted, flicking the side of my head as she got up. “You don’t need to do anything fancy, Fred. Just tell her how you feel.”
I smiled at her.
“Remember that time you two fought because you thought she ruined your chances with that girl you liked when you were fifteen?”
I tilted my head to the side. “She gave her a black eye, right? And I thought it was her being jealous.”
“Which was ridiculous, because she had a boyfriend,” Mel replied. “You fought for days about that because she just wouldn’t tell you the truth because she was afraid of hurting you. When she did, you sorted the whole thing out in about five minutes.”
A small laugh escaped me. How could I forget that? Deli had heard that girl talking about how I’d definitely buy her expensive gifts if we were dating and socked her one for it.
“She broke up with him after that, right?”
I nodded. “He accused her of having feelings for me, and she told him to fuck off because he wasn’t anywhere near as important as I was.”
“And he kissed like a squid.”
“How do you remember that? Were you even there?”
“Of course. Who do you think gave her the line?” She patted her chest and grinned at me. “See? You’ll be fine. You’ve always been the most important people to each other. The longer you stay silent because of your fear, the more likely you are to lose her.”
I pressed my lips together into a grim line and nodded before finally letting the corners of my lips curve upwards. “Yeah, I know. I’ll talk to her in the morning. Thanks, Mel.”
“Anytime.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket. “All right, that’ll be one hundred for the therapy session, please.”
“You’ll win enough money from the betting ring you’ve got going on.”
“Aw, man, how did you know about that?”
“Granny is as subtle as a herd of wildebeest,” I replied. “And I just had to pay up to Max and Will.”
She laughed, heading for the door. “Fair enough. I won’t charge you for now. I’ll be content with the fact that my big bro is a big ol’ scaredy-cat.”
“You do that,” I said, smiling as she walked through the door.
Mel looked back over her shoulder. “Don’t stay up too late. You’ll make her worry if she wakes up and you aren’t there.”
“Yeah, I know. Go back to bed now.”
“Yes, my lord.” She gave me a mock curtsey and disappeared down the hallway, leaving me alone with my whisky and my divorce papers.
I sipped the alcohol while staring at the papers, then slumped forwards and rested my forehead on my arms. I pushed the papers away from me and sighed, briefly closing my eyes.
The next time I opened them, it was to the sight of Deli sitting on the other side of my desk.
Holding the divorce papers in her hands.
“Deli?” I whispered.
“Well,” she said softly, tears blurring her eyes. “I didn’t take you for someone who’d fuck me then divorce me the next morning, Fred.”
36
* * *
DELILAH
Sunlight filtered over my face, and I groaned, smacking my arm out to the side. “Freeed. Shut the curtains.”
Nothing.
No movement, no reply, still the sun glaring at me offensively.
“Fred?” I shaded my eyes from the brightness with my hand and forced them open.
There was no Fred.
I was completely alone.
I frowned and looked at the clock. It was seven in the morning. Aside from the fact this was the literal middle of the night for me, even this wasn’t his usual wake-up time.
Where the heck was he?
Surely, he hadn’t been in his office all night. Even though he’d said nothing was more important than me…
My cheeks flushed at the memory, and I slapped my hands against my face just to make sure I wasn’t dreaming.
Last night had really happened.
I’d really had sex with Fred.
More than that, we’d bathed together, showered together, then I’d fallen asleep in his arms.
And heard those magical words I never thought I’d hear out of his lips.
“I love you, Delilah.”
I rolled onto my stomach and kicked my feet against the bed, squealing into the pillow.
Okay, this was ridiculous. He obviously only said it because he thought I was asleep, and here I was, kicking my feet like an excited little kid.
Because what did it mean?
I knew Fred loved me. Fred had loved me for our entire lives. Was that that kind of love, the best friend kind, or was it something else?
Was it the in-love kinda love?
I knew one thing for sure: He’d certainly touched me with that kind of love last night. I wasn’t stupid. I knew the difference between sex and love, and he’d touched me almost reverently, like I was something fragile and worth treasuring.