Invisible Strings

Chapter Twenty-Four

Delaney's POV:

"I don't know what to wear tonight." I said to Amanda as I sorted through my closet looking for the perfect outfit.

"Does it really matter when Brantley is just going to peel it off you anyway?" asked Amanda, her voice coming from the earbud in my ear. I'd learned long ago that she was the 'never-put-on-speakerphone friend' since there was no telling what would come out of her mouth. I let her words sink in and I had to squeeze my thighs together in an effort to alleviate the pressure building between my thighs as the hours passed by. With each minute that passed, I was brought closer and closer to having a night of promised ecstasy, a night of rolling around naked in the sheets with a man that I had been crushing on for as long as I could remember.

"Earth to Laney!"

Amanda's shouted words pulled me from my daydream, and back to the here and now.

"Shit, sorry."

"No worries girl. I would be daydreaming that man too if I wasn't so happy with Chase." said Amanda, with a laugh. "I swear, it's the tattoos."

"They definitely add to it." I said, pulling a grayish blue dress from the closet. It had thin straps, little peek-a-boo cutouts on the bodice, and hit me about mid-thigh. If I was any taller, it would be inappropriate. With the dress in my hand, I walked into the bedroom and lifted my phone, switching the call to facetime.

"What about this one?" I said, propping the phone up and holding the dress up for Amanda to see.

"Didn't I buy you that dress for your birthday?" she asked. "And is that a tag still on it?"

"Yes and yes." I said with a sigh. "I haven't had an excuse to wear it before now."

"Well, Brantley will love it. I just hate that after tonight, there will be nothing left of it because there is no doubt in my mind that it will be in tatters before the sun ever sets tonight."

"You act like he has no self control." I replied. For the first time, it dawned on me how easy it was to talk about Brantley with Amanda. It was sure a whole lot easier since she knew him, even if I I was still a little upset that she had kept that fact a secret from me. But when I'd asked her about it she just glossed over it, saying that it was fate that she never mentioned him or the friendship between Brantley and Chase.

"Because he doesn't." Laughed Amanda. "You said yourself that y'all were about to get it on on the kitchen counter the other night while the kids watched a movie. And then there was the teasing you told me about when the kids were just a few feet away."

"You've got a point." I said, blushing at the memory of his hands on me, his words, and how close I had been to falling apart.

"I know I do," said Amanda.

"So, go with the dress or no?"

"Absolutely. I'll just buy you another one when I go back to Nashville since we both know that it will be ruined after tonight."

"You don't have to do that."

"Yes, I do." Amanda replied. "Mostly because I'm going to go ahead and manifest this even if you don't wanna hear it but I just know that that dress is going to lead to me being Aunt Manda all over again. I can already see how cute those babies would be..."

"Amanda Marie Elliott!" I squealed. I couldn't wipe the smile off my face as the memory of the conversation Brantley and I'd had about kids came to mind. Now that Amanda had brought it up, I could picture a kid with Brantley's smile and eyes with my nose and lips. One that would be the best of both of us, a blessing and a gift to Brantley and I in every way possible.