She keeps her back to me.
“Stop for a second, please.” She stills. “This is where you live?”
“Uh, yeah. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be about to walk inside.” She spins to face me. We’re just a few feet apart. “Listen, thank you for letting me join your family tonight and for the ride home. I really do appreciate it. I’ll see you at work. Don’t worry about my car. I’ll get that figured out tomorrow and out of the way.”
She pulls a bit, but not enough to even break my light hold. I let my eyes pass over the length of the trailer. It appears to be in decent shape, but there are some sections with significant wear and tear, causing me to worry about whether it would keep her safe in a severe storm. I return my gaze to hers.
“Delaney, why do you live here? Are we not paying you enough?” I realize the second the words slip off my tongue thatthey don’t come out as I mean them to, but I’m not fast enough to apologize.
“First of all, you’re being very pretentious. I live here because I choose to. I have my reasons. Second, you pay very well—that’s not what this is about. Can we please drop it and say goodnight?”
I catch myself stroking her upper arm with my thumb as I stare at her, searching her face for what I’m sure she’s not saying.
“I’m not meaning to be pretentious. I’m concerned.”
“There’s no need to be concerned. I’m fine here. I take care of myself, Harrison.”
A clinking sound coming from the right catches our attention. When my eyes focus on the objects surrounding the other trailer, I notice the shape of a man sitting in an Adirondack chair on a small deck off the other trailer.
“That’s just Brandon. He’s my landlord, and the noise was probably him throwing a beer can at the garbage and missing. He’s a horrible shot.” Her voice is hushed.
A sense of unease washes over me. I’m about to insist she come home with me tonight—not that I think she’d really listen—but I don’t get the chance to ask her.
“Goodnight, Harrison.” She lifts up on her toes, kisses me on the cheek, and disappears into her trailer.
I stand staring at her closed door for a few seconds, when a cackling laugh disrupts the peaceful summer air.
“You’re barking up the wrong tree with that one, buddy. Believe me, I’ve tried to get with her, too. That girl ain’t gonna put out willingly.”
“Fuck off,” I mutter. I want to go knock his teeth out for confessing he’s hit on Delaney, but that will piss her off for sure. So, I walk to my car, and a few seconds later, I’m driving back toward the main road.
When I’m about to turn onto the county road, Brandon’s words suddenly fly back into my consciousness.Willingly.He said she wasn’t going to ‘put out’willingly.Hell, there’s no way I am leaving her back there with that drunk scumbag tonight. Who knows what he’s capable of?
I get the car turned around and drive back down the dirt road as quickly as I safely can. It takes about three minutes, and when my headlights hit her trailer, fury fills my veins. Brandon is standing at Delaney’s door, alternating between pounding on it with his fist and shaking the door handle.
When I’m close enough, I slam the car into park and jump out, not even bothering to turn the engine off. In seconds, I’ve got him by the shirt, and I drag him down the few steps to the ground. He swipes at my face with a poorly aimed punch, and it grazes my chin and the left side of my mouth. I toss him several feet away onto the dirt.
“What the fuck, asshole,” he screams.
He scrambles to standing and comes at me, and I meet him with my fist. He flies backward and falls again. I dive forward and am on top of him with my arm cocked back, ready to deliver another blow, whenhervoice stops me from delivering it.
“Harrison, stop!” The anxiety in her tone pains me and keeps me from releasing the shaky hold I have on my arm. In the back of my racing mind, the pounding of her feet on her steps registers, and in seconds, she’s by my side. Her fingers wrap around my bicep, and her soft touch is in such contrast to the rage racing through me. “He’s not worth it.”
“Fuck off?—”
“Brandon! If you’ve got an ounce of self-preservation, you need to shut the hell up. You went too damn far tonight, and you’re more than a little outmatched.” Brandon wisely heeds Delaney’s words and shuts up.
The slight pressure she puts on my arm encourages me to lower it. She’s smart not to remove her hand, though.
“You’re not staying here tonight,” I growl.
“Okay. I’ll find somewhere?—”
“No. You’re coming with me.” I tighten my grip on Brandon and briefly glance over my shoulder at her.
Her mouth drops open, and her breathing picks up. Her pupils dilate.
“Okay. I’ll come with you. I promise. Just let him go.” Her voice is quiet, soothing.
