Secret Twins For My Ex’s SEAL Best Friend (Billionaire Silver Foxes’ Club)

5. Delia

five

Delia

The weekend after that first class, I arrived back to class with butterflies in my stomach. I pulled up to the local library and sat in my car for a moment longer than necessary, not really sure why I was there. I half hoped that Robert wouldn’t be there at all and half hoped that he would be.

I couldn’t understand why I was so tangled up about him, why I wanted him to see me and simultaneously wanted him to disappear. I hated him, but my body wanted him, that much was obvious.

Sighing, I got out of the car and walked to the door alone. Kassandra had decided to skip this class after giving herself a gnarly hangover at work when a group of guys came in and kept buying her shots. She had been reprimanded for the drawer being wrong at the end of the night.

I knew she felt hungover, but I also thought she might have just needed to recover emotionally from her fuck up.

When I walked in, I saw Robert setting up, putting the padding and the gloves on tables in the corners of the auditorium.

He saw me, and I thought I could see a brief moment of annoyance that I was there. It strengthened my resolve against him. He might not want me there, but I wanted to be there, so goddamnit, I would be.

“Oh, hi, Thor,” he called out, his voice echoing through the large, empty room.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, dropping my water bottle and bag into a corner of the room and sitting down.

“Oh, just talking about your hammer there,” he quipped, pointing to my knee. I nodded at him, rolling my eyes, and went to sit down.

“Do you want to help?” he asked, a tinge of annoyance in his voice, as though I should have offered.

“Not exactly,” I replied.

“Figures,” I heard him mutter under his breath.

“Hey, what’s your problem with me exactly?” I asked. “I have a reason to be mad at you. I can’t understand why you think you have a reason to be mad at me.”

He closed the distance between us, a stack of name tags in his hand. “Now, what reason is that? What have I done to you?”

“Are you kidding me? You were a dick when I was with Jeremy, and you’re a dick now. You ruined my relationship, and then, because that wasn’t enough, you’ve decided you should ruin this experience for me as well.”

He twisted his mouth, and my eyes flickered to it for a moment, remembering the way I had touched myself, picturing that mouth up against mine.

A brief flash of fire went through my body, lighting me up between my thighs, and I cleared my throat. “Anything to say for yourself?” I asked, looking up at him.

From where I was sitting, his crotch was eye-level with me, and I willed myself to keep my eyes focused on his green eyes, to not look at anything but his face, as hard as it was.

Robert’s look was hard, not gentle or caring, and his jaw tensed. I wondered what it was that he thought of me, even though I wished I didn’t care. “In that…situation, none of us were the best version of ourselves. I think we can all admit that.”

I laughed, looking away and focusing my eyes on a nearby wall. “I don’t admit that, actually.”

“Of course you don’t.” He nodded like he was done with the conversation and turned to walk away.

I wasn’t letting him get away that easily. I exploded, “Why do you think I wasn’t the best version of myself? What did I do that gave you that impression?”

“Well, for starters, I assume you don’t normally fuck your supervisors. Maybe I’m wrong about that, though,” he shot back, the words falling out of his mouth so easily.

He didn’t look apologetic or like it was out of character. He looked relieved, like he’d been wanting to say it for so long.

His eyes were lit up, shining, and his jaw was twitching. I assumed with the effort it took him not to say whatever it was he wanted to say. He was just like I remembered him. Judgmental, rude, and upon the highest horse in the room.

“Wow,” I scoffed quietly, shaking my head. “You’re really just going to keep going with that narrative that I was some succubus that led your friend astray. Newsflash,” I stood up and jabbed my finger into his chest, “Jeremy propositioned me . You can’t help who you fall in love with.”

“Was it love, Delia? Or did you think fucking the supervisor could get you ahead?”

I threw my head back and guffawed at the ceiling. “Ha!” I looked at him with a steely gaze.

My palms were sweating, and I felt like I wanted to hit him. He made me feel out of control with frustration, like a little kid that knocks another kid’s tower again. “You’re really something. I spent a long time mourning that relationship. Maybe you think that way because that’s how you are. Maybe you’re projecting your shitty views on people onto everyone else.”

“Maybe,” he relented, shrugging one shoulder. His bottom lip poked out a little as though he was deep in thought, and then he smirked at me.

That smallest of smiles, even a condescending one, brought a boyish charm to his angular face. “But I don’t think so.”

At that moment, I just imagined poking his eyes out and carrying them around on my fingers. He was doing such a good job at being the biggest asshole out there.

I was about to tell him just what I thought of him when I saw Jeremy walk in through the doors.

It was like the world stopped.

I saw Jeremy all the time, but having the two of them together in one room brought back some really painful memories.

I looked at Robert, and he lifted his eyebrows at me as if to say what now? Then he turned around and called out with a loud, happy voice, “Jer! So glad you’re here, dude! Here, take a name tag.”

I wanted to shove those name tags down Robert’s throat. I couldn’t believe that Jeremy was here, that he was going to take part in what felt like a ritual intended to hurt me.

I looked at him with utter shock, my mouth wide open, and didn’t move from my spot. My feet felt glued to the floor. I felt like I was speared in that place, like I might bleed out if I tried to move.

“Hi, Delia,” Jeremy said, with an easy smile. His red beard was trimmed nicely, and he looked refreshed and happy to be here.

“What are you doing here?” I blurted out, then shuffled my feet in embarrassment.

Having the two of them in one room not only brought back painful memories but also brought back a vivid daydream. Robert kissing me, Robert between my legs, Robert telling me he wanted me and always had…I felt a weird sense of guilt for thinking that way. I knew our breakup had hurt Jeremy, too. He was my mentor. He’d helped me through all my hours at the clinic, even afterward.

He’d be so upset if he knew what was on my mind as I looked at Robert.

But I just couldn’t deny how good Robert looked… despite how much I hated him.