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“We’re still working it out,” I replied. I thought I’d hate the intrusive question but found it a relief to address. Delaney and I didn’t fucking know and now they knew that.
“It’s complicated,” Delaney said quietly.
I nodded, hating the answer. Being with Delaney was simple. Figuring out where to be with her was starting to be the hard part.
Holden ran a finger down the condensation of his glass bottle. “If I didn’t know how complicated relationships were, I’d be in one.”
“It’s why I’m out of one,” Stetson said in a way that told me there was a hell of a story there.
Holden scoffed. “You’re out of one because she was batshit.”
“She wasn’t batshit when I started dating her,” Stetson shot back.
“Right.” How could one word hold so much sarcasm? “That’s why none of us warned you.”
Stetson’s jaw clenched, but he ignored Holden. “Whatever’s going on, don’t let our family fuck it up. Yours either, Delaney. I’m betting your mom wasn’t happy to learn you married him.”
“She was thrilled,” Delaney said sweetly. “Monogrammed towels are arriving next week.”
Stetson sputtered out a laugh. “I’ll bet your momma raced right out to engrave ‘Barron’ on everything.” His expression turned somber. “How’s Kane doing?”
Kane had to be close to Stetson’s age, maybe a couple years older. I doubted they were friends, but they’d been around each other their entire lives.
“Good,” Delaney answered in a way that told all of us she was fine talking about her brother. He really was doing well, and she didn’t mind sharing it. “He’s moving to Fargo.”
“He’s out completely, then?” Holden asked and Delaney nodded. He waited like she was going to tell him she was taking over Diamond UU. But that wasn’t going to happen—and I didn’t know if it ever would. Holden must’ve sensed the answer to his question was loaded. “He’ll do great in Fargo.”
“I think so too,” she said confidently. “And I’m glad others think so.”
Tonight had shown me how far out of her element Delaney had been in the city. From her marketing job where she designed campaigns for items like ketchup, then going home to a small apartment before she’d moved into the condo, to how she used to sit quietly at the table with me, Wilson, and Briony, as if she were afraid to speak.
But with my cousins, guys I knew hadn’t gone out of their way to include her, she tossed back drinks, teased them about the sizes of their pickups, and joked about how it was a good thing Holden was grilling chicken because her ma might smell Barron beef on her.
Getting her back to Dallas hadn’t been an easy prospect before. Right now, I was questioning whether it was something I should even be considering. I wanted what was best for her, but what if it meant leaving the stable future I’d worked so hard to build?
