Dating Delaney Read online

  “Yuww don't hafta yell,” he chuckles through fishy-face cheeks.

  I loosen my grip on his face and stare into his perfect eyes. His hands are on my ass, holding me to him, and he squeezes a little. I lean my head down and bring my lips to his. I run my tongue across his top lip and he lets out a tiny groan. Our tongues dance together as I squeeze my thighs tighter around his waist. He walks us back a few steps until I’m pressed against the wall. His mouth moves from mine, left to my ear, and then travels south, down my neck. I tilt my head, giving him better access, as he moves to my collarbone. Goose bumps break out across my chest as his tongue and lips barely make contact with my skin, tracing tiny circles. When he reaches the tops of my breasts, I think I might explode. There are too many pieces of clothing between us. Why are we clothed? Before I can make a move for the hem of my tank top, his mouth is back on mine. I think he’s literally kissing me stupid because I can't form a coherent thought. All I know is that if he stops now I will die.

  “You’re delicious,” he growls into my mouth and pushes his groin into mine, grinding slowly. It feels so good that I lose any control over my body that I might have been retaining up until this moment. “Too many clothes...stop talking…mother of god--you’re amazing,” I rasp between kisses. He grinds into me one more time before setting me down.

  “No!” I whine at the loss of him.

  “Laney, I’m not taking you here like this. Not the first time we’re together,” he pants at me. I groan and seriously consider kicking him in the shin. I feel a tantrum coming on.

  “I want to punch you in the face right now,” I blurt.

  He laughs at me then leans down and gives me a mind-numbing kiss to which I melt into.

  “You have the best lines, Delaney Peters,” he grins.

  “You have the best self-control…it’s annoying,” I return.

  “Hey, there’s a kid-free sleepover in two days. I want you just as badly as you want me. I just…I don't know, I want it to be right,” he explains and my heart turns to mush. He wants it to be right. I do too, but my willpower ceases to exist when his hands, mouth, or, well, anything are touching me. I sigh and rest my head on his chest. He gives me a kiss on the top of my head and wraps his arms around me.

  “Thanks for the closet. The rooms are amazing. You’re amazing. I love it all,” I tell him.

  His arms give me a little squeeze. The completion of the second floor, of my house, should bring me joy. Closure. Project done. Accomplishment. But I’m filled with a feeling a loss as it dawns on me that with the completion of my house comes the loss of Jake.

  * * * * *

  Molly’s text chirps at me. When I finally read it I can’t help but chuckle.:

  Is MagicMouth attending the fourth?

  Yup. EEEEE!!!!!

  Everyone’s excited to get to know him.

  Everyone better back off come bedtime ;)

  Ha!

  See you in 2 days!

  Later Babe.

  Today’s the last day I have with Claire before taking her to her dad’s for her week away. I decided to have an at-home spa day with her. We spared no expense. We had gotten manicures and pedicures during the morning and we were now home and onto the facial portion of our day. We change into ratty clothes so that it won't matter if we get any of our mud masks on our clothes.

  “Put the sliced cucumbers in that bowl over there for now, we’ll need those for our eyes,” I say and she does as she’s told while I mix up our mud masks. I pull both of our hair into messy ponytails and then apply her mask for her. When I’m done she does mine for me. She takes the cucumber bowl out to the deck while I put on the Mellow playlist and turn the volume up loud so we can hear it outside.

  “Okay, now you lie down and put the cucumbers on your eyes,” I instruct.

  “Now what?” she asks.

  “Now, baby, we lay here for a while, listen to the music, and relax,” I say. I lie down on the deck in the sun next to her and place the cucumbers on my eyes. We settle into silence together and bake in the sun. It feels glorious: warm sunshine beating down on us, the music blaring from inside, and momentary silence with a seven-year-old.

  Jake

  “Holy shit! Laney?! Laney, are you okay? Claire?!!” I scream, racing to where they lie motionless on the deck. There’s red splattered everywhere and something’s very wrong with their faces. They aren't moving. Why aren't they moving? Holy fuck. My heart skips a beat as the thought that something’s very, very wrong with them crosses my mind. I reach Laney first and lean down to shake her.

  “LANEY! Laney, are you okay?” I scream at her in terror. Then strangest thing happens. I notice Claire sit up and the cucumber slices on their faces.

  “What are you doing, Jake? We’re trying to relax,” Claire scolds.

  “What?”

  “Yeah, Jake, what are you doing?” Laney laughs, staring up at me with amusement.

  Relief washes over me and instead of answering, I pull both of them into a hug.

  “What the hell? I saw red splatter, lifeless skin, and no one moving,” I explain.

  “Awww, Claire, he was worried we were hurt,” Laney laughs. Claire starts giggling too. “We’re having a spa day. These are my old painting clothes…last room I painted was red, and these are mud masks.” She pulls a finger down her face, still laughing, creating a big dollop on her fingertip, then wipes it on my face. “I think you need to relax more than we do,” she says.

  I can't believe what a total idiot I have just made of myself. Both girls are laughing at me and I can't keep mine in anymore. A deep belly laugh blows out of me. I lie back on the deck between them and stare up at the cloudless sky, laughing.

  “I can't believe you were so upset,” Laney says, rolling her head toward me.

  “Well, no one wants to find dead people.” I kick myself for playing it down.

  “Right,” she deadpans.

  I grab her hand and kiss it. “Of course I was upset. I care about you.”

  Her eyes come to mine, searching for something. I hold her gaze until she finally rolls her head back to face the sky, unsure as to whether or not she found what she was searching for.

  “Do we take them off yet?” Claire asks.

  “Yeah, we can wash them off now.” Laney pushes up onto her elbows.

  “Please wash them off, you two are seriously freaking me out,” I joke. Claire’s mouth hangs open, slack, and she slowly gets to her feet and then starts chasing me in her best zombie impression. I can't be sure if it was my squeals ringing out through the yard or Laney’s laughing at us. But five minutes later both girls headed inside to wash off the terrible crap on their faces and I resumed what I came to do: breakdown scaffolding. I take my time doing so, wanting to stay as long as possible and prolong the inevitable. The job is finished. I won't be seeing Laney every week--hell, almost every day. My chest tightens at the thought. She’s really gotten under my skin.

  Delaney

  “Bye, Trent, bye, Claire! Have a good week,” I call to them as they climb into Trent’s car. I hop back in my own car, plug in my phone, and queue up my “oldskool” playlist. I laugh at myself every time I see it and the songs pump me up and bring back the best memories. "If You Were Here" from the Sixteen Candles soundtrack comes on. Instantly my mind conjures up thoughts of Jake. How ironic. Ha! If only I was a hot Molly Ringwald. That final scene when she comes out of the church and the cars pull away revealing that hottie Jake standing at his car waiting for her? Specifically the moment she checks behind her to make sure he’s actually looking at her and then mouths “me” to him? That’s how I feel every time my Jake smiles at me, any time he flirts with me. I can't help but wonder what the hell he sees in me that I’m not seeing in myself. “The Choice is Yours” comes on next, taking me back to 1991. By the time I pull into the driveway, I have the windows down, Bonnie & Shyne blaring, and I’m singing along while car dancing as best as a white middle class girl can to any hip-hop tune. I pull into
my spot while “Pour Some Sugar on Me” starts. After putting the car in park, I sit back enjoying the song, one of my favorites, for a moment. The second verse begins.

  “ANOTHER DIRTY SONG, EH?”

  I jump as far as my seatbelt allows and look out my open window to find Jake beaming at me. I turn the volume down and kill the engine.

  “You didn’t have to turn it off, I like that song, reminds me of eighth grade,” he reminisces. I burst out laughing.

  “I was eight when this song came out,” I inform him. He gives me an evil look. “Then why do you know it?”

  “Oh come on. Everyone knows it, but it reminds me of many fun drunken nights out in college,” I explain.

  “Oh? Do tell,” he prods. Fine, I’ll bite.

  “Well this one time, my girlfriend and I got up on the bar and danced to it while shaking our Coronas up and appropriately shaking them all over the boys lined up at the bar.” I giggle remembering how Anna and I had thought we were the shit, but were probably super annoying.

  “You? You danced on a bar?” Jake asks, taken aback.

  “Yes, me. I know I’m a mom now, but I was kinda wild in college…well, compared to now, anyways.”

  Jake laughs and his perfect dimples appear. “I just can't picture it, Laney.”

  “Well you can ask around if you must,” I joke. “Hey, why are you here? The job’s done, right?”

  “Yeah, it is. I’m just collecting the last of my stuff. I start a new job after we get back from the Fourth.”

  All of a sudden I’m not smiling anymore. I’ve really enjoyed seeing him around the house and I realize I don't want him to go. I don't want to not see him almost every day. He seems to sense my change in mood before even I do.

  “Hey. We can still see each other, Laney. I’d still like to see where this goes,” he says, gesturing between our bodies.

  “Yeah, of course,” I nod. He leans in through the open window and sweeps a gentle kiss across my lips, instantly quelling any negative thoughts in my brain.

  Jake

  “This is it, you can park right there,” she says and points to the side of the road behind another car. The house we’ve pulled up to is no small lake camp. It’s a gorgeous house right on the lake. I put the truck in park and move to unbuckle my seatbelt as Laney does the same. She looks amazing today. Her eyes are full of excitement. Her long brown hair is braided to the side, hanging over one shoulder and she’s wearing a little black sundress showing her perfectly tanned skin, and black and tan stitched cowboy boots. I hop out of the truck and make my way around the hood to get her door for her.

  “Why, thank you,” she teases.

  “Anything for a pretty lady,” I return and she snorts. I grab our bags out of the bed, swinging them over my shoulder, and as I turn I catch her heated gaze drifting over my body. Her bottom lip slides between her teeth, attracting my attention to her mouth and the temperature suddenly spikes between us.

  “See something you like?” I tease. A blush creeps up to her face and her eyes dart to the ground before snapping out of it and smiling up at me.

  “Yeah, I do,” she shrugs and turns on her heel, heading to the door. I try to wipe the smirk off my face before following her in.

  The radio is going and four couples are milling about, putting things away in the kitchen and bedrooms.

  “Okay, so everyone, this is Jake,” Laney introduces. Four men come over to shake my hand.

  “Ryan. Nice to meet you.”

  “Brent,” the next one says.

  “Miller. Pleasure.”

  “Adam, Ellie’s better half,” Adam jokes. Ellie swats him with a towel and laughs.

  “You remember the girls, right?” Laney asks and I nod.

  “Nice to see you all again. Thanks for having me,” I tell them.

  “Pleasure’s all ours. Now Laney won’t be bugging us all night to ‘get a room,’” Ryan laughs.

  “Hey!” Laney cries. “I don't do that. You guys are mean,” she pouts and I think it’s the most adorable pout I’ve ever seen.

  “You’re right, usually you just get tanked and provide the entertainment,” Brent chimes in.

  “I have to do something to prolong bedtime. It’s pretty annoying listening to Miller scream out- oh yea mama give it to me you dirty slut! all night long.”

  Everyone chortles as Miller quickly ducks out of the room, flushed. Once the razzing dies down, Laney gives me a tour of the house. She claims a room downstairs and after we put our bags away she leads me out the back door. There is a small green lawn with lots of chairs around a fire pit. Twenty feet from the fire pit is a small sandy beach and to the left is a long dock where a pontoon boat sits tied up. The water looks clear and cool.

  I get called over to the screened-in tent where the guys are selecting beers and opening bags of chips. I join the guys and watch Laney as she heads down to the chairs and spreads her towel over one before sitting down and joining her friends. I grab a beer for myself and her and head to where she’s sitting.

  “Thirsty?” I whisper into her left ear. I reach my arm around to her front with the beer in it. She tips her head back to look up at me. The sun shines on her hair revealing natural red highlights here and there.

  “Parched. Thanks,” she says as she takes the beer from my hand.

  “It’s a gorgeous day out, nice and hot,” Ginny comments from a chair. I sit in the available chair to Laney’s right and twist the cap off my beer. “Do you mind?” Laney asks, holding her beer out to me.

  “Not at all.” I take the beer, twist the cap off, and go to hand it back to her, but stop short.

  She’s standing, stripping her sundress off over her head, revealing a perfectly rounded butt and muscled legs. She tosses her dress on the chair behind her. She’s wearing a simple black one piece that shows off a lot of boob and I can’t tear my eyes away. From the leg of the suit there is a tree trunk showing on her thigh and as she turns I see the tattoo I noticed from the bar that first day I met her.

  It’s a Japanese cherry blossom tree. It looks as though the trunk of the tree starts at her thigh and works its way up her side, leading to the blossoming branch that spreads over her shoulder blade. It’s intricate and large and sexy as hell. She pulls her hair tie out and runs her hands through the braid to help it come out.

  “See something you like?” she laughs. My head snaps up to her face, embarrassed at being caught ogling her in front of her friends.

  “What?” I choke out, causing her to laugh harder.

  “You know what,” she winks. I think she’s going to sit down to tan but instead she walks towards the dock. When she gets to the wooden slats she sprints to the end and cannonballs into the water. Hoots and hollers ring out from the beer tent from the guys while her friends mutter about her being crazy. I think she’s amazing. I watch her head pop out of the water with an ear-to-ear grin on her face.

  “Come in, Jake! It’s so warm!” she shouts as she swims toward shore.

  I stand up, kick off my flip flops, and pull my shirt over my head to join her.

  Delaney

  Holy hell. I think I’m going to fall in love with this man. He strips his shirt off, revealing the peaks and ripples of his perfectly sculpted chest and abdomen and suddenly I forget how to breathe.

  His suit hangs low off his hips, taunting me. Electricity streams through my body as I take in the thin line of dark hair trailing down his torso, disappearing into his shorts. His muscles flex with every step he takes as he jogs to the end of the dock and jumps into the water. His entrance into the lake splashes my face, jarring me from my dirty thoughts. His head pops up and he swims in my direction, smiling. When he gets to me I’m still treading water even though I can touch the bottom. He stands, the water lapping at his chest.

  “You can stand up, you know,” he says.

  “I don't like to touch the bottom.” My nose wrinkles. His arm cuts through the water, wraps around my waist, and pulls me into him, my inner
thighs hugging his hips as I wrap my legs around his waist. I bring my hand up and place it on his pec and when I do, it flexes. I like that his muscles twitch when I touch them. His thumb toys with my bottom lip while his other arm is wrapped around my midsection. I adjust myself slightly and hear his breath hitch. It’s not hard to feel his arousal with his hips snug between my thighs. His eyes lock on mine as his thumb leaves my lips, replacing it with his mouth. It’s a short kiss but it’s so passionate that it sucks the air out of my lungs, leaving me panting when he finally pulls away. If there weren't four couples sitting on the beach right now watching our every move I would drag him out of the water and to our bedroom. Screw that, I’d take him right here in the water. But, I can't, because there are four couples sitting fifty feet away, all taking great pleasure in watching our little show and I know I’ll never hear the end of this later on. Jake smiles down at me and starts moving us toward the beach. “Uh, Laney, I need you to hop down,” he says and grins at me.

  I pout. “Why?”

  “Because if I move any farther with you grinding into me, I won't be able to get out of the water for a while,” he says. I laugh at his honesty, roll my hips into his one last time--I hope seductively--and unwrap myself from his waist. He reaches down, adjusting himself before we keep going. This day will not end soon enough. I could care less about the food, my friends, or the fireworks at this point. All I want is Jake. We exit the water and reclaim our seats in the yard.

  “How’s Claire liking camp?” Ellie asks.

  “She loves it. It’s mostly the same kids from school so she knows a lot of them already. What about yours?”

  “Ana likes it a lot but Billy…he’s just so shy,” she says, shaking her head.

  “Enough about kids!” Ginny chastises us. “We actually have a whole twenty-four hours kid-free, let’s attempt to pretend we are wild twenty-somethings again, yeah?”