13. Delia
Thirteen
Delia
L angdon’s friends are nearly as hot as he is. Figures. The blonde one stares at me in a way that makes my stomach crawl. Like he’s on the hunt for a warm body to inhabit.
“Delia, huh. Hi. Campbell.” He holds out his hand but I don’t take it. I just stare at it.
“I’m Niko.” I swing my head toward the other friend. His black hair wet and dripping down his very tan, very muscled chest. “You vacationing?” he asks. His eyes linger on my cleavage.
I shake my head and glance at Langdon. He’s scowling at his friends . It makes no sense. “Nope. Just moved here,” I say.
Niko gives me a half smile and cocks his head. “How’d you meet Lang?”
The girls have made it out to us, two of them stand with the boys staring at me and one sidles up to Langdon.
“We work together,” Langdon interjects. “Just thought I’d show her where to cool off after work. We should probably get going.” Langdon reaches his hand out as if he’s going to take my hand in his and tow me to the shoreline but the black-haired, itty-bitty bikini-clad stunner giggles and wraps her arms around Langdon’s neck. He groans and furrows his brows.
“Please don’t go. We just got here,” she says with a little pout. The way she touches Langdon looks intimate and I wonder if they’re dating or have dated in the past. If her fingers and lips know his body.
“Get off, Hailie,” Langdon grumbles. He unwinds her arms from his neck and a tiny wave of satisfaction sweeps through me.
She’s one of those girls who’s used to getting what she wants and she scowls at me quickly before pressing her side against Langdon’s.
An athletic built, pretty brunette sticks out her hand. “Hey, don’t mind these jerks, I’m Lyra. What was your name?” she asks.
I shake her hand with a small smile. “Delia,” I say.
“So you’re starting school here next week?” The third girl says. She’s petite and blonde with wide pretty blue eyes.
“Yeah. I’ll be a senior.”
“That’s Hannah, and Campbell, Niko and Hailie,” Lyra says, then rolls her eyes, “since Langdon can’t be bothered to introduce you.”
I glance at Langdon quickly. He looks apologetic briefly but smooths his expression into something more neutral. Hailie is pressed against him and he keeps trying to take small steps away. What is up with that?
“Cool,” I say.
“So you’re working at Viv’s?” Niko asks. But he’s not looking at me, he’s staring at Hailie. Interesting . I want to tell him he doesn’t stand a chance in hell with Hailie judging by the way she’s shamelessly throwing herself at Langdon but I don’t. Not my monkey, not my circus. But then Hailie whispers something to Langdon that makes him smile and a pang of jealousy stabs my gut.
“Um, yeah,” I answer distractedly.
I want to keep an eye on Langdon, we were just starting to have fun when his friends showed up, but they’re all bombarding me with questions and looks.
“Where did you move to? What street?” Campbell asks.
I turn my gaze back to the small group before me. “Um, Lands End.”
Four faces wrinkle in unison. “The orchard?” Lyra asks.
“Huh? No, the road is called Lands End,” I state.
Hannah giggles. “Yeah, that’s the orchard. Or that’s what everyone in town calls it.”
“Why?” I ask. Why are small towns so weird and incestuous? Why does everyone know everyone? I miss bigger towns where you can blend into the background.
“Because Maeve and Heath had so many fruit trees and they used to let people come and pick whatever, whenever. But uh, Heath didn’t sell, did he? No. I’d know. My mom’s one of three realtors in town,” Hannah rambles .
Again, small towns are weird and I have an overwhelming desire to walk home. They’re all staring at me like I’m some alien object they’ve never encountered before.
“Delia is Heath’s granddaughter.” Langdon’s voice snaps me from my thoughts. “And Heath wants her home. So we should probably go. Sorry guys.”
“Heath has a granddaughter?” Campbell asks.
“Uh, yeah. Me,” I say and shrug.
Hailie pouts and tries to wrap her arms around Langdon again but he slips his way out of them and I notice Lyra roll her eyes in their direction.
“I’m gonna run to the truck and grab you a towel,” Langdon says to me. A flood of relief rushes me.
I’d forgotten that I’m in my underwear while everyone else is wearing bathing suits. His eyes are locked on to mine so intensely that I feel like I’m starting to burn. I nod in agreement.
Langdon swims halfway to the riverbank before striding the rest of the way. He doesn’t bother pulling his clothes on and goes straight for the truck. His boxers are soaking wet and cling to him and although I can only see his backside, it’s glorious, an obnoxiously glorious backside, muscled and tan from the summer sun.
“Do you do any sports or anything?” Hannah asks.
I tear my eyes from Langdon’s ass to face Hannah. “Um, yeah, I swim.”
“Hey! Me too. What events?” Niko asks. He’s attractive, in a tall dark, and handsome way that almost rivals Langdon’s looks.
I smile at him. I could talk about swimming all day. “200 IM and usually a relay. What about you?”
Niko groans. “Ugh, the fly. I hate butterfly, but coach says these shoulders were meant to swim it. He flexes his shoulder and arm muscles. He jabs a thumb in Lyra’s direction. “And Lyra swims too. She’s butterfly and the 500.”
I swing my gaze to Lyra. “Ophh, the 500 is brutal,” I grumble.
She laughs in agreement. “Yeah, pacing is key. I actually don’t mind it after the first two hundred, then I get in the groove.” She grins at me and I have an instantaneous feeling that Lyra and I could be friends. Hopefully, we’ll have some classes together.
“Ugh! Boring,” Hailie sings out. “Do anything else? Theater? Chorus? Cheer?”
Hannah snickers.
“Shut up Hannah, you literally don’t do anything.” Hailie spears Hannah with a glare and Hannah seems to shrink into herself a little. I hate bullies.
I match Hailie’s gaze directly so she knows she can’t bulldoze me. “No theater. No cheer. But I play the guitar and sing, although not usually at school.”
Hailie frowns at me. “You should do more, it looks better on college applications.”
I do my best not to wrinkle my nose at her. “I’ll keep that in mind. I uh, it looks like Langdon has my towel. Nice to meet you all. Guess I’ll see you at school.”
Campbell holds his palm out to me waiting on a high five which is cringe-worthy but I allow it. “See you around,” he says flashing me a handsome smile .
Lyra also says goodbye, but Hannah, Hailie, and Niko just give halfhearted waves as I head back to the river bank.
I walk as quickly as possible out of the water and into Langdon’s open arms. He waited at the water’s edge, holding the towel open for me to step into and I nearly die at how sweet it is. He closes his arms around me and before he lets go, he rubs my arms for a second. Little fissures of pleasure shoot through my body at the contact. He steps away and begins dressing himself and I have a moment of longing for his hands to be on my body again.
He glances out to the river and lifts his chin at his friends. “Sorry about them.”
I cock my head and use a corner of the towel to squeeze the water from my hair. “Why? They didn’t do anything. Although I think Hailie wants to murder me.”
Langdon chuckles. “She’s…annoying. Because they can’t play it cool when there’s a new person. You know, staring and a million questions.”
I tuck the corner of the towel I was using back into itself so I can pick up my clothes. “I think Hailie wants to eat you alive. And honestly, Lyra seems pretty chill.”
Langdon laughs and nods. “She is. She doesn’t usually hang out with us though. Not sure why she’s here today. Campbell’s probably trying to get in her pants.”
I snort. “You don’t seem to love them all that much. Why are they your friends?” I slip my feet into my flip-flops.
Langdon waits for me to head up to the truck. “Niko and I have been best friends since elementary school. He’s fun and deep inside…like really deep, he’s got a big heart…but is kinda girl crazy too,” he shrugs, “I don’t know. He generally mean s well. Campbell’s a good shit. Funny and the king of pranks. Big ego.”
“And the girls?” I ask as we walk up the small hill to the truck.
“Hannah’s ok. She used to be super sweet and shy when we were kids, but then Hailie took her under her wing to make her into a little mini-me and now she just does whatever Hailie says.” Langdon’s muscles contract and release with each step he takes. His jaw ticks and then, “Hailie has been the most popular girl in school for as long as I can remember. She has minions and isn’t always nice. But Lyra’s cool shit. Runs with a different group generally, but friendly to everyone.”
This time, Langdon opens the truck door for me and I can’t help but wonder if Hailie is watching us. I’m most certainly not ugly, but I don’t really compare next to girls like Hailie. Flawless skin. Perfect hair. Makeup so good that it almost looks natural. I’m more of a the-girl-next-door kind of pretty. Subtle not overstated.
“Um, do you want me in the seat? I’m wet.”
Langdon makes a choking sound. “It’s fine. I don’t care if the seats get wet. But you should probably put your clothes on before I drop you off. Don’t need Heath freaking out on me.”
“I don’t live at the house you know. You won’t even see him. But yes, Langdon, I don’t plan on walking around the property in my underwear.”
The drive to the house is short. Langdon plays Death Cab For Cutie on the way home and it fits the mood. The sunshine. The warm breeze. The lazy, languid summer moment. I feel sun-kissed and free with my hair blowing in the wind from the open window. We bump our way down the dirt drive and I instruct Langdon to pass the house and drop me at the campervan.
“Wait? This is where you live?” he asks.
“Umm, yeah. Why?”
“I mean, Heath has that whole house to himself, there’s plenty of room for you both.”
I scrunch up my nose. “I don’t even know the man and my mom, well, I don’t think my mom and Heath get along all that well.”
“But he’s family,” Langdon says.
I turn to face him while I pull my tank top on without losing the towel and inadvertently give him a show. “Langdon, before we drove into this town…I had no idea I had any family members besides my mom. This is all kinda a big deal for me. We’ve lived in the van plenty of times over the years. It’s comfortable and homey. I don’t even know how long we’re staying. Maybe the school year, maybe not. Maybe we stay in Heath’s house or maybe my mom finds an apartment. Nothing is solid in my life. Everything is fluid.”
Langdon’s eyes soften. “That sounds hard,” he says quietly.
“Don’t worry about me. It’s normal for me.” I climb out of the truck and toss his towel back in the seat before closing the door.
“Delia,” he calls through the open window as Mom sticks her head out the campervan door.
“Yeah?”
“Do you need a ride to work tomorrow?” His expression is hopeful, eyes wide and a cocky smile appears on his lips.
I grin at him. “Nope. Bye.” I turn knowing my mom is watching, toss an arm up into the air as a goodbye, and push past her into the van. I desperately want to look back to see if he’s watching me walk away, but I play it cool.