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The thought of hurting the one person Ira loved with his whole heart fills me with a pain I can’t ignore. And like Ira, Iknow what Delaney deserves. This girl is sunshine personified. She’s a lover at heart, and a part of me fears that I’ll never be able to give that love back to her.
I’ve never known how to love someone like this. The only real love has always been between me and this sport that’s consumed my life. There’s never been room for more…I’ve never made room for more. Is there any room even left?
“Warren?” Delaney’s eyes fill with disarray and a slight hint of disappointment as I snap back to reality. I can’t tell if she’s mad or confused. A part of me hopes it’s the former. Her being mad at me is the simplest way to forget that this ever happened, part ways, and move forward.
“I’m sorry.” I back down the hallway, leaving her dumbfounded. “I’m sorry.”
TWENTY
D E L A N E Y
48 hours.
It’s been 48 hours, and the same word continues to loop in my mind.
Why?
Why did he just…stop?
No one has walked out on me.Ever. Little did I think that Warren would be the first one.
I mean, up until that spectacle the other night, I’d been convinced that Warren was sending me signals. That the way he was looking at me...the way he was kissing me meant…something.
Apparently, it hadn’t, and those delusions had left me standing in my hallway alone, surrounded by materialistic things, as I watched theonereal thing I’ve ever properly wanted walk away from me.
The season break is over today, which can only mean one thing: we’re all meant to go back to business as usual. For the team, that’s a simple ask—but they didn’t just make out with Warren Park, did they?
God, nothing tasted quite like the way his lips did as they pressed against mine. Nothing excited me quite like the way he’dgrabbed me and pulled me in against himself without an ounce of hesitation. Nothing felt quite like the way he’d effortlessly lifted me into his arms as his teeth sank into my lips.
Nothing will ever compare to Warren Park.
I’ll be the first to admit that I’d been tempting him with all my might. Seriously, I was pulling out all the stops, and boy…was it worth it. I don’t think I’ve ever been so desperate to get someone behind a closed door like I had been with?—
I need to stop.
I’ve been torturing myself for days. I mean, even the sight of that spot outside my apartment makes my heart leap into my throat, which is why I’ve refused to leave ever since.
“Ugh,” I audibly groan as I attempt to sit up on my bed, rubbing my head. My temples pound against my fingertips as I drag myself over to the mirror, examining every square inch of my face.
I’m almost unrecognizable. And it’s not just from the visible bags under my eyes from the lack of sleep I’ve been getting as I’ve tossed and turned thinking about Warren. It’s the fact that I know that this reflection isn’t me. Delaney Matthews doesn’t pine. But after Warren, this has to be a new personality trait.
In the past, Gramps said that my superpower was my ability to move onwards and upwards. If I’m being honest, I always thought that it was my superpower to get hot guys to chase after me effortlessly. But every now and then, when my abilities would falter, Gramps would speak his words of wisdom.
“When you want something, you chase it. You show people what they’re missing out on.”
As the words process through my mind, I notice that my hands comfortably rest above my dresser, and that’s when it hits me.
With a devious curl of my lips, I stare back up into the mirror with a newfound sense of encouragement, breaking my gaze fora split second as I pull out my top drawer, exactly the bait I need to catch my prey.
Maybe I do recognize this Delaney after all.
I’m late.So late that I’m confident that at any second, practice is going to be called, and all this would’ve been for nothing.
Thankfully, Warren has no leg to stand on when it comes to my tardiness. What’s he gonna do? Get mad at me for showing up late when he didn’t show up for me at all? Yeah…that’s what I thought.
I sneak in through the side entrance, doing my best to stay undercover as the team continues a play just ahead.
“Delaney! Is that you?” A voice calls out.
