Invisible Strings

Chapter Twelve

Delaney's POV:

My mind was reeling as I pulled my SUV out of the parking lot, pointing it towards my parents house. I knew I needed to go back and spend time with Chloe and Colton, but part of me wanted to share a few more stolen moments with Brantley. And who could blame me. I mean my God, the man could kiss the pants right off a girl if he wanted; almost had.

The chiming of my phone through the car's speakers pulled me from my thoughts of Brantley's lips and how I would have gladly shed my clothes if he so much as insinuated that he wanted me to do so. Again, who would blame me?

Glancing at the display, I smiled when I saw one of my best friend's name on the screen. I connected the call as I continued to drive through town. "Hey girl."

"How's it feel to officially be back in the great state of Georgia?" said Amanda, obvious joy in her tone. In the background, I could hear her kids playing, making me miss when my babies were as young as Gannon and Maisie. At three and four, they were your typical wide open, balls-to-the-wall kids. But that was probably because their dad, Chase, made a living driving in circles going nearly two-hundred miles an hour for part of the year. At least that's what Amanda liked to blame it on and not the fact that she herself was high-strung and suffered from undiagnosed ADHD. Not that either was a bad thing but she was definitely one of my wilder friends and her wildness balanced out when Chase was around since he knew how to mellow her out.

In fact, it had been during one of her wilder moments that she and I had even met.

The kids and I had joined Alex at Charlotte for the Coke 600 a few years back and it was a night that I would never forget. Amanda and Chase had been dating for a while, and were well on the way to becoming husband and wife. Because Chase was teammates with William, we spent the entire race hanging out. That's when she had spilled the secret that she was pregnant with Gannon, her four-year-old. She hadn't told Chase yet but had a plan for how she was going to do so. That plan involved the signage that marked his pit box being changed to the picture of an ultrasound with the words "go daddy" written on it, her standing on the pitwall holding the sign when he came in for the last scheduled pitstop of the day.

Of course, because NASCAR sometimes had a stick up their ass and hated for people to experience any kind of joy, Chase and the team had been fined because she was on the pitwall and not part of the pit crew. Amanda was very vocal about how it was hypocritical that they fined her man and his team for celebrating such a joyous moment when other teams had done much worse that particular day.

Long story short, she became known as the wife that had a smart mouth and wasn't afraid to challenge the sport when she felt it needed to be done. And by de facto, she became one of my best friends despite the age gap between us.

"Bet you never thought you would hear me say this but it feels amazing. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed this place."

"Glad to hear it." she said. "Even gladder that you are closer to me now. We need to plan a girls night. Chase can babysit."

"Chase agreed to that?" I asked, knowing that he hadn't. That man barely survived keeping his own kids on the one time she and I spent the day in Nashville on Broadway. Add in my two, and that man would pull his hair out.

"Hell no." she laughed. "But he will. All I have to do is–"

"Nope, I don't wanna know." I laughed, cutting her off. I knew enough about her sex life as it was. I didn't need her to add to it.

"Oh come on..." she teased.

"Nope. I already can't look at the man and not think about you telling me about the elephant thong he wears under his firesuit. Some things just need to be left unsaid."