Chapter 20 - Delilah
“I can’t do this,” I murmured. My hands shook on my knees as I sat in Emmett’s passenger seat, staring at the dirt beneath me. The whoosh of a car passing us on the interstate came and went. My stomach twisted and I retched.
Emmett ran his hand along my back, his other hand holding my hair back. “You don’t have to. We can go back to your place. I’ll make you a bath and some snacks.”
I shook my head. I wiped my mouth with a napkin from the glove compartment. “I do. I don’t want this to be a secret anymore.” We’d been officially together for two days now, and I’d reached my limit.
I wanted everyone to know about us. I wanted it in the goddamn Whispers, plastered on every street corner, on billboards. I’d waited so long, thinking we’d never happen. That Emmett would never see me. I deserved to scream it to the world how happy I was—we both did.
“We’d better go then,” Emmett said, looking at his phone. “We were supposed to be at Savvy’s five minutes ago.”
I squeezed my eyes shut, ignoring the way my stomach nearly dropped out of my ass. “Okay.”
“It’s gonna be okay, sugar,” he said, as I stood. He fixed my hair. “They love you and want you to be happy. They want that for both of us.”
My nod was small. Of course, he clocked it. But that’s what I got for dating an ex-Ranger who could read body language. “What’s wrong?”
“Do you think I can make you happy? Long-term?” I hated this nagging insecurity I felt.
It was so unlike me, and that only made it worse.
In every other relationship I’d had, I’d been so confident and independent.
But not with Emmett. I guess after convincing myself that he’d never see me in a romantic way, the idea of it still lingered.
Emmett’s expression softened. “Lilah”—he cradled my face, stroking my cheeks—“I didn’t know I could be this happy. If I were any happier, I think I’d explode.”
I smiled, small but real. “I love you.”
It was so freeing to finally be able to say it whenever I wanted. And the best part of it all was when Emmett always responded, “I’m in love with you, too.”
He’d been perfect since the storm that luckily didn’t destroy the ranch.
He left no stone unturned, laying all his cards on the table.
He didn’t give me a reason to doubt him or us.
It had only been two days, so I knew there would be ups and downs.
Probably explosive fights too, because let’s face it, we were Emmett and Delilah, but I didn’t want to fight with anyone else.
I didn’t want to spend my life with anyone else.
He was it for me. Always had been. That’s why I was so nervous about telling the girls.
If they weren’t supportive, I didn’t know what I’d do.
Emmett took my hand and helped me back into his truck. He went as far as buckling me in and kissed my cheek as he did. When he was in the driver’s seat, he shot me a grin that made my stomach flutter. “Now let’s go traumatize my sisters.”
I’d asked them to meet at Savvy’s yesterday under the guise of a girls’ night. Just the Hayes girls with no boyfriends, fiancés, or husbands.
“What are you doing here?” Savannah blurted at Emmett as she opened the door, looking confused.
Emmett scoffed behind me. “And here I was, excited for girls’ night.”
Claire came up behind Savannah, confused.
“Uhhh, hi, Emmett?” Her gaze darted between the two of us.
I couldn’t do this. I took a step back, only to collide with Emmett’s front.
His hand went to my hip, steadying me, before moving quickly.
Claire, like the bloodhound she was, clocked it.
She looked outside before her eyes narrowed at me. “You two rode together?”
“Yep,” I squeaked. “He begged me to come. Wants a facial.”
Savannah didn’t look convinced. “Okay?” She stepped aside, letting us in.
Savannah and Weston lived in a cozy two-bedroom with dark hardwood floors and high ceilings that had matching wooden beams. Every space was decorated with a seamless blend of their personalities. Chic and…whatever you could call being obsessed with bull riding.
“Where’s Tessie?” Emmett asked, flopping down on the leather couch like this was any other Tuesday and not potentially the moment my most valuable friendships blew up.
I immediately went to the coffee table, snatching up a little bit of every snack Savvy had spread out. Kit Kats for Claire, sour gummy worms, pretzels, chips, a brownie.
“Bathroom,” Claire said, voice distracted. I looked up and found her watching me stuff my face. She arched a brow before glancing over at Savannah.
“What?” I said, mouth full.
“What’s going on with you?”
I nearly choked on a brownie. “Nothing.” I glanced at Emmett. “Why?”
“You look like you’re about to be taken out back to get shot ol’ yeller style for starters,” Savannah said with an amused chuckle.
“And you’re stress eating,” Claire added.
“Guys,” Emmett warned. Their heads snapped in his direction. He shook his head. “Lay off.”
Oh fuck. All the food I just shoved in my mouth was about to come back up.
Light flooded the hallway, and Tess came down the hall, a hand on her small baby bump.She smiled when she saw Emmett. “Hey, Em. What are you doing here?”
All four of them were sitting on the couch, looking like the picture-perfect little sibling quad.
I couldn’t take it anymore. My lungs burned with all the words I’d swallowed for weeks—decades, really.
If I didn’t say it now, I never would. So I did.
“We’ve been seeing each other for nearly two months,” I blurted all in one breath.
Emmett’s eyes went wide. Claire choked, wine dripping down her chin and into her hand. Savannah’s jaw went slack. Tess gasped.
“That’s how you decide to tell them?” Emmett balked.
“What?” Savannah screeched. Her face was a perfect mix of disgust and horror combined. My heart flew to my throat, pounding so hard I could hardly breathe.
“Emmett’s the guy you told me about? He’s our brother, Delilah!” Claire grimaced. “God, I think I’m gonna be sick.” My stomach churned, ready to race her to the toilet.
My whole body shook, my skin prickling with a cold sweat. Tess glanced between Emmett and me. “What do you mean, seeing each other?”
Everything bubbled up inside me. The panic, the fear of losing them, the adrenaline. I burst into tears, all the snacks falling out of my hands onto the floor. “I love him,” I sobbed.
Emmett shot off the couch, rushing to my side.
“Hey, hey, hey,” he whispered, brushing my tears away.
“Everything’s okay, sugar.” I couldn’t stop crying, shaking my head against his chest while he pulled me into his arms. Nothing was okay.
I went and just dropped a bomb on his sisters in the worst way imaginable.
The only thing worse would’ve been them walking in on us.
His voice rumbled in his chest as he said, “Delilah’s the love of my life.
” I buried my head further into him when I heard his sisters’ gasps.
“I couldn’t really care what you guys think about it, but she does—obviously.
So it’d mean a lot if you could get on board because I’m not giving her up, and I’d hate for things to be awkward. ”
My hands curled in his shirt, touched by his devotion, but I didn’t expect it to be that easy. Emmett’s sisters were strong-willed with big personalities. Well, Claire and Savannah were anyway. I’d always known Tess would be the easiest to win over.
“I should’ve known something was going on between you two with the way you tore into me at Beau’s,” Claire said, sounding closer. I pulled away from Emmett, blinking away my tears. Her eyes met mine. “As long as you never tell me details again, then I’m one hundred percent on board with this.”
I let out a watery laugh. I wiped my face. “Deal.”
Emmett cleared his throat, scratching the back of his head. “Um, what kind of details, exactly?”
“You don’t wanna know.” Claire shivered. “I can’t even look at you right now,” she said and went into the kitchen.
I glanced up at Emmett, biting my lip. “Nothing crazy,” I assured him.
Tess suddenly hugged both of us, reaching up on her tippy toes. “This makes me so happy,” she cried. “Sorry”—she wiped her eyes—“pregnancy hormones.” She jumped up and down, her hands clasped together. “I’m just so happy y’all are happy. That we’re all happy.”
I looked over her shoulder, finding Savannah watching Emmett and me. Specifically, where his hand was resting on my waist. I left Emmett and Tess, going over to her. “Do you hate me?”
Her lips pressed into a flat line, eyes softening. “Of course I don’t hate you.” She pulled me into a hug. “I just wish you had told me.”
My eyes squeezed shut. “I know. There were so many times I wanted to, but then as more time went by, the more scared I got that you’d react badly.”
We broke the hug, hands clasped together. “How long has this been going on?”
“We’ve been hooking up for about six weeks, but…”
“But what?”
I swallowed roughly. “I’ve had feelings for him practically the whole time.”
Her brows furrowed. “The whole time you were hooking up? That’s not like you. But then again, none of this is.” She chuckled.
“No. The whole time I’ve known you—your family.”
Savannah’s eyes went wide. “Are you serious?”
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. “Yeah. It was just a crush at first when I was nine, but”—I shrugged, and looked over at Emmett talking to Claire and Tess—“but then it became more.”
Her mouth curved into a smile. “Looks like we were both keeping secrets, huh?” I’d felt nearly just as blindsided when she announced she had secretly dated Weston for two years when we were in high school. But I knew my secret was harder to digest; Weston wasn’t my brother.
“Let’s not do that anymore.”
“Deal.” Savannah looked over my shoulder before pulling me in close. “I think Beau is proposing soon,” she whispered.
I grinned. “Me too. I was stalking everyone and saw he was at the jewelry store when he told us he had a dentist appointment.”