Page 22 of Same Difference
“Oh hell no. To our new hot girl haircuts. I’m not toasting to boys.”
“We could toast to Liam. He’s a good one.”
“He’s the best,” she agreed. “To boys who do know what they want, and bombshell haircuts that will have all the boys asking if you are single.” Nory gave her a wink and atinkof her glass, and then they tossed the peach perfections back.
By the time the second round of drinks and the fried pickles arrived to the table, Delta had looked at Nate’s back a dozen times.
She was getting annoyed with herself, but she was so curious about him in the wild. He was out there living. He was hanging with Bridger, and though they weren’t laughing or joking, they seemed to be deep in conversation. She wondered what they were talking about.
“We can invite them over here,” Nory offered, watching Delta’s face.
Delta shook her head though. “I’m not ready for that. It’s all fresh and I haven’t sorted through all of my feelings yet.”
“You still like him.”
Delta sighed and swirled a fried pickle spear in the ranch. “I still feel hurt.” Yeah, she was avoiding deep conversations on her feelings for Nate. Truthfully, she’d fallen hard for a distant man, and she was feeling so dumb over how hard this all was. They didn’t feel the same about each other. Delta was pretty sure that would hurt for always.
The server came back with a sandwich and fries, and as Delta stared at the BLT, a wave of frustration took her.
“The Bridger guy said he knew what you would order, but he had no idea about you,” she said, pointing to Nory.
“I’m easy. Burger basket, sweet potato fries, and can I have a side of the potato salad?”
“Absolutely.”
The server left and Delta sat staring at the sandwich, her hands clenched in her lap. “Why is he doing this?”
“To be nice?” Nory guessed. “He seems to be carrying some guilt.”
“So, he paid attention to all the food I like, but you know what he actually did? Avoided going out to eat with me. Every hotel we stayed in, he would get away from me as soon as he could. He would leave me in the room with some excuse on why he needed to go out, but I knew what it was. He wanted to get away from me. He would go eat by himself somewhere and bring me food back. I would sit in the hotels wondering why the hell I wasn’t good enough, or interesting enough, or fun enough to be able to go eat with him. And now he does this?” she asked, shoving the sandwich away. “What is it? Showing me he knows me so well now? Now that it’s done?” Tears of anger burned her eyes, and she blinked hard. She was tired of being a crybaby. “Stupid boys. He’s just messing with me.”
“I don’t know that he has bad intentions,” Nory said sympathetically.
But Delta was already getting worked up. She pulled her phone out of her purse and texted Bridger.Tell Nate thank you for the drinks and for dropping off the furniture this morning, but I don’t need anything else from him. Not ever.Send.
She watched Bridger relay the message, and then watched Nate link his hands behind his head as they talked. His back was all tense again, and he shook his head with whatever Bridger was saying. Nate leaned over and gave Delta his profile again and then twisted around enough to lock eyes on right where she was sitting.
“Eeep!” she squeaked out as she ducked under the table.
“I don’t think they can see us,” Nory told her. “The window has really dark tint.”
“Oh. Right.” Delta scrambled back into her chair and when she looked out at Nate again, he was paying for their food. He stood, and without looking at her, shoved his hands into his pockets and walked down the street to his truck. Bridger was still sitting at the table, watching him go.
The roar of Nate’s engine was loud, and then he was gone, speeding down the road, exhaust fumes blasting behind him, and Delta felt empty again.
“I can’t wait until all of this is over,” she blurted out.
“Until what’s over?”
“Feeling betrayed. Feeling hurt. Feeling anything at all for that stupid man.”
Nory pursed her lips into an understanding smile. “I don’t think the heart works like that.”
“Well, I would cut my stupid heart out if I could,” she muttered dramatically.
Nory shrugged, unshocked. “You could probably grow it back with your werewolf healing.”
And just like that, the electricity of the moment dissipated. Delta huffed a small laugh and slumped forward, resting her face in her palms. “I’m a disaster.”
