Chapter Twelve
“Can I talk to you?”
“Fuck off, Dodger,” Nathan growled, refusing to take his eyes off the phone screen as he texted his brother.
Grant is here. He’s in with him now. He thinks we can get Liam out of it because of the history of stalking and the attempted restraining order.
Plus Liam got stabbed to begin with. He’s going for self-defense. Send.
“Nate,” Dodger gritted out.
“What?” Nathan asked, opening the text thread for Delta, like he had a dozen times since he’d come to the precinct. He’d thought she would update him on the interview. Maybe it had gone badly.
“Nate!”
“What?” he barked. “What, what, what, Dodger? What do you need?” Nathan stood and jammed a finger in his chest, pushing Dodger back.
“I know Vic got you to go pick Delta up, and I know whatever you have to say is going to bait me into a fight, but I can’t fucking do it right now, Dodger.
I’m handling this,” he barked, gesturing around the waiting room.
Nory had been crying and had her knees curled to her chest in a chair against the farthest wall. The rest of the Pack were sitting loosely around the room, none next to each other.
“I’m not baiting you,” Dodger said softly. “It’s about Delta.”
Nathan clenched his jaw and wanted to knock him out. Dodger had been poking at him since he’d been notified that his Arrangement had been voided.
“Seriously,” Dodger said quietly. “Not in front of these guys.”
Well, he had his curiosity piqued now.
Dodger made his way to the hallway near the entrance of the precinct and leaned against the wall. With his back to the doors, Nathan crossed his arms and glared at Dodger. “You have five seconds.”
“She smells sad.”
Nathan closed his eyes to hide the hurt that caused in his chest. “I know.”
“You’re messing with her.”
“I’m taking care of her.”
“But for the wrong reasons. What’s the plan, Second? You going to pull her in again? Burn her up? Throw her away again?”
“I’m…” Nathan shook his head and stared at a picture across the hallway of the sheriff of this county.
“I brought her here. I can’t just leave her alone.
” No, it wasn’t the whole reason he was taking care of her, but he would rather take a swift kick to the dick than talk to Dodger about any of this. He’d been acting so weird about Delta.
“That’s it?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Only it is my business. She’s acting so differently, and where I’m from, we call that spinning out. She’s wearing see through tops to busy bars?” Dodger asked. “I’ve never even seen her wear a shirt with the top button undone.”
“What’s your point.”
“She’s hurt, man. She’s obviously hurting and you’re still messing with her head.”
“I’m making sure she’s okay! She’s my responsibility. I know that’s a foreign concept to you, Dodger, but I have responsibilities. Liam’s locked up, we’re new to building this thing, all of you are my responsibility right now.”
“Even Delta.”
“What the hell are you talking about? What do you want from me?”
“I want you to admit you’re fucking with her head because you don’t like losing.”
Nathan felt sick. “Fuck you, man,” he said, brushing past him.
“Cut her loose!” Dodger barked. “Stop fucking with her. Cut her loose before things get too hard for you again. Cut her loose before you throw her away again.”
“Sure, Dodger. I will,” he gritted out, throwing up a middle finger for the asshole. Whatever he wanted to hear, he could have it. Nathan was busy.
Nory had appeared in the mouth of the hallway, but she wasn’t looking at Nathan. She was looking past him. Nathan glanced over his shoulder and froze.
Delta was standing there in the mouth of the entrance, illuminated by the evening light. Dodger pushed off the wall between them and strode outside without a word to Delta.
“I heard that,” Delta said softly. Her pretty green eyes were filled with moisture, and she was clutching her purse to her chest like a little shield.
Shhhhit. “I didn’t mean—”
“Save it, friend. At least you’re being honest.” Delta turned, shoved the door open and left.
He was going to kill Dodger. Motherfucker had set him up.
Nathan kicked up to a jog and followed her out. She’d disappeared, so he made his way to the middle of the parking lot and searched desperately for her.
An engine roared to life, but it was a black 4Runner. When he looked into the window, he could see her silhouette. It was Delta. She was gripping the steering wheel and resting her head against it.
Whose car was that? He jogged toward her and pulled the door handle of the passenger side. She would drive off if he tried to talk through the driver’s side.
Without a word, he climbed up into the passenger’s seat.
“Get out,” she demanded, and whoo there was a snarl to her tone. Her eyes were way too bright, and it smelled like fur in here.
“I was just saying whatever he wanted to hear,” he said. “You can hear the lie in my voice. I didn’t mean it.”
“What are we doing here?” she asked, eyes full of emotion. “Huh, Nathan? What are we doing?”
He shook his head, unsure of how to respond. This wasn’t him. He never had trouble with speaking or decisiveness. Delta just had this unsettling power over him.
“I set you free and it was exactly what you wanted. I did it fast. I didn’t beg you to take me back or try harder. You made the decision to leave, and I made it easy! But then you show up everywhere, and I think Dodger is right.”
“Dodger doesn’t know shit—”
“He’s right, Nathan! You are focused on me because you are dominant and don’t like to lose.
I’m not a game, Nathan! I’m real. I’m a person!
You will chase me until I give in. I know it.
I feel it. Every single instinct in my body is telling me that, but when you’re around me, I get drunk on you, and I don’t care about the hurt we are building up again.
You will be okay. You’ll always be okay, but I don’t want to do this.
I don’t want to build up an even bigger hurt than I’ve already been through.
I’m good on my own. Look, I got a truck all on my own with no help from anyone.
” She flashed her phone at him. “I got a job! They just called me on the way over here. I have a car and a job and a place to live and I don’t need you, Nathan!
I don’t need anyone! For me, it was building to love. For you, I’m a responsibility—”
“Delta—”
“No! I heard the truth in your words when you said that part. No hiding it or changing the truth. We are not the same and we never were. I have to exit this with some of my pride intact. Do you understand?”
But a little piece of paper in the cupholder had his attention now. It had unfolded and was open just enough for him to read the name, the number, and the message that had been written on it. Who the hell was Brian Young?
He picked up the paper and held it up. “What’s happening?”
A wave of anger emanated from Delta. “Of course I would be baring my soul to you, and you would focus on this.”
“You got a guy’s number? We have been split for thirty fucking seconds, Delta.”
She nodded, her eyes flashing brighter. “I’m not a game,” she repeated.
“I don’t see you like a game, but I do still see you as mine. I’m sorry. This has all happened very fast for me and I can’t catch up instantly. I want…”
“What do you want?” she yelled.
And he dropped his gaze, thinking. “I don’t know.”
“Can we do it my way now? Please? Can you leave me alone for a little while so we can get some space and figure out who we are? I can’t think straight when you are filling my head.
” Softer she said, “Please, just let me have a week to myself. And you take the week to figure out why you’re doing all this stuff for me. ”
But…if he gave her a week away from him, how would he show her he still cared? It felt like giving up, and he hadn’t done that yet. He was trying to build them to something bigger than friends.
“I’m asking for something I need,” Delta whispered.
It was the twin tears that streaked down her cheeks that made him nod his head and agree.
“Yeah?” she asked softly.
“Yeah,” he said gruffly. God, he hated when she cried. It was always because of him. His phone was going off, vibrating with text messages. He ran his hands over his face and stared out the window. “I’ll do anything you want.”
His phone started vibrating with a call.
He didn’t want Delta to see him hurt, so he got out.
He wanted to crumple up the number for Brian Young and burn it in front of her, but she was doing something he didn’t understand, and he couldn’t burn her on the way out.
She’d been kind to him. He had to pay her back.
So, Nathan placed the folded piece of paper back in the cupholder where he’d got it and pulled his phone out of his back pocket and answered his brother’s call. He forced himself not to look back at Delta as he walked away, and it felt like he was being gutted.
Fuck, his chest ached as he listened to the 4Runner driving off.
One week. What was he supposed to do? Not check up on her? Not fix up her den? Not hear her voice? Not kiss her? Not touch her? Not move them to where he wanted them to be?
Couldn’t she feel it? He wanted her. She had this issue with him calling her his responsibility, but she was. She was his. He hadn’t actually felt that way until she’d ended them, but that’s how it really was.
No, they couldn’t legally reinstate their Arrangement. They could never be officially paired again, but that didn’t matter to him.
He wanted her however he could have her.
He wanted her now, but Delta had already started moving on.