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I lower my arm, gently tapping the end of her nose with the chocolate bar. She nips playfully at it and laughing, I give it to her. “Yes, Laney, that is right,” I tell her. “No one but me.”
“You do realize other guys have seen me naked before,” she says, tearing the wrapper of the chocolate bar open.
A weird growl rumbles in my chest as I tighten my hold on her. “I need to hunt these people down,” I grumble.
She smiles, taking a bite of the chocolate before offering it to me. “Kind of an overreaction, don’t you think? Especially considering how many girls have seen you naked.”
I take a bite, scowling a little as I chew on the chocolate. “Definitely not,” I tell her. “None of those girls count. And for the record, I’m starting with that dickhead ex of yours in Vermont.”
Delaney rolls her eyes as she lets out an exaggerated groan. “Ugh, okay, that you can do,” she says, taking another bite of chocolate.
I watch as she chews, her eyes now avoiding mine. I brush the hair back from her face, slipping my feet between her legs again just to get her to look at me. When she finally does, I lean in and press a soft kiss to her lips, tasting the chocolate she’s just eaten.
“Will you tell me about what happened with him?” I ask, all joking gone now.
16
DELANEY
Idon’t want him to think I’m avoiding his question, but I’m avoiding his question. I hate talking about my ex or Vermont or anything that has to do with how wrong everything went. And while it’s not exactly a secret, it is definitely something I’ve been hiding from. I don’t think anyone really knows the truth except me. Most of what was said was like a bad game of telephone, getting more salacious with every change of the story.
But I lived it and at the time it felt like my life was ending. I had never felt so stupid and gullible in my life. It was like everyone knew but me and they were all whispering behind my back. No one had the decency to tell me, preferring to watch the drama play out like my life was some kind of reality TV show.
“I’ll make a deal with you,” I say, scooting closer to Alex, turning so I’m now sitting between his legs, my back resting against his chest. It feels like it will be easier to tell him all of this if we’re not looking at each other.
“And what’s that?” he asks, wrapping his arms around me, the warmth of his body against mine feels like home. He’s the reason I’m still alive out here. He’s the reason I want to keep going and I hope when we leave here that I don’t lose him. I fear it more than anything.
We’re alone out here with nothing to distract us, and as shitty as it is out here, it’s not reality. The stress is different. We don’t have jobs or families or friends to put pressure on us. It’s just us and this weirdly happy little bubble we’ve found ourselves in.
“I want you to tell me about your dad.”
Alex lets out a slow exhale, his breath ruffling my hair as he breathes out. It’s something he doesn’t want to talk about, just like I don’t want to talk about Vermont. But it’s also something we both need to do. It’s what we’ve been hiding, it’s what’s keeping us from moving forward, not only in a relationship together, but with our own lives too. We’re stuck hiding from something that we need to learn to let go of.
“There’s not really anything to tell. He’s a dick. End of story,” Alex mutters with a tone that screams there’s more to it than that. Just like there’s more to my asshole ex story.
“It feels like there’s more there or you wouldn’t get so upset every time he calls or whenever someone mentions him,” I reply, not trying to make him angry, but knowing I’m feeling the same way. “If you want my story, then I get yours,” I now say, shifting so I can turn to kiss him.
“Fine,” he concedes, rolling his eyes as I kiss him again. “You’re lucky I like your kisses and you use them well.”
“You’re lucky I like you, because there was a time when I didn’t,” I tease.
“Oh, trust me, I remember and there was something so damn hot about trying to get you to like me. I pretty much made it my goal in life.”
“You’ve already achieved your goal at twenty-three, so now what are you going to do with your life?” I ask, pushing him for even more honesty. Being trapped out here together has made us both sort of reevaluate what we want and who we want to be with. I can wholeheartedly say, I want to spend every day with Alex, but I have no idea what’s going to happen when we are rescued.
“To get you to marry me,” he replies with complete sincerity.
“Alex,” I say, a shocked tone slipping through that I don’t expect. “You’re being a shithead.”
“I’m not. I’m being completely honest. I’ve never felt this way about anyone in my life and given neither of us has killed the other out here, I’m pretty sure that means something. At least to me it does.”
“You just don’t have any other options,” I now say, suddenly feeling my heart race at his words. “When we get home, you’ll toss me to the curb.”
It’s like I’m trying to prepare myself for the inevitable even if I’m already so far gone, it’s not even funny.
“I don’t need any other option. Just you,” he says, tightening his arms around me. “And just so you know, it feels like you’re avoiding answering my original question. You hijacked this by making me admit I’m totally falling for you as a distraction.”
“You’re falling for me?” I seriously am not trying to avoid answering his question. He just has me shocked with everything he’s admitting. I never expected this.
