Invisible Strings

Chapter Twelve

"That man fills it out too, if you know what I mean." Amanda laughed hysterically then, making me laugh in turn, even if I was on the verge of gagging as he talked about his dick.

When she finally pulled herself together, she asked "How are things? And be honest. How are you holding up now that the house is for sale and the ink is dry in the divorce papers?"

"Surprisingly good." I said, pulling up to a stop light. "Mom and I had a talk last night that led to me crawling my ass into her lap and crying like a baby. But it made me feel like I was ready to really let things go and move on... whatever that might look like."

"I'm glad. You wasted enough time on that sack of shit." said Amanda. "Just means that it's time for you to get under another man. One that has more between his legs than that fucker does."

"Manda..." I groaned playfully.

"What? You thought I would forget about you drunkenly telling me that Alex had never given you an orgasm while inside you? Honey... Nooooo, Not gonna happen. I'm making it my life's mission to find you a man that is more than capable of–"

"I might have found one." I said, cutting her off as the light I was stopped at turned green. I hadnt meant to say the words but I had, and now she knew that I was interested in someone.

"OH MY GOD! TELL. ME. EVERYTHING!" she squealed. "Wait! I already have a guess. It's Brantley, ain't it?"

"Yes." I admitted, unable to keep the smile that spread across my face at the mention of his face at bay.

"Again, I want to know everything. How did you reconnect with him? Does he know that you are attracted to him? And if so, tell me how he knows."

Apparently, the same night that I had been drunk and told her about Alex's small package, I'd also admitted that when I was in high school that not only did I go to school with Brantley Gilbert, but that I had a crush on him; that I still did to this day even if I knew at the time that I would never act on it.

But now... Well that was an entirely different story!

"Well, the kids hit me with the 'we need a puppy' thing and Daddy heard it. So daddy called Brantley to ask if he still had puppies, but didnt tell me until we were literally in front of his house that he was who he'd called." I said as I made my way to the outskirts of town. In a matter of minutes, I would be back at my parents.

"He looked so good, Manda. Google images don't do him justice." I said, remembering the way his inked arms had looked as he pulled me tightly against him just before placing his lips over mine, the way that his green eyes danced with desire –yes, I knew desire when I saw it– as he had fought with himself about what his body wanted.

"That still doesn't tell me how he knows that you like him," said Amanda.

"Well, would the fact that he kissed me and I let him be sufficient enough?"

"Delaney Rose! How can you not lead with that?" she said loudly. "That's not something you slide into a conversation. That type of this is something that you should be answering my call with. Instead of saying 'hey' you should have said 'I kissed Brantley-freaking-Gilbert and it was amazing. Made my toes curl'."

"It did make my toes curl." I admitted just as I was pulling to the drive at my parents house.

"For the love of all that's holy, Laney, you better tell me that you have plans to see where things go with him. Things between you can't just end with a toe-curling kiss." Said Amanda. " I know that he's been through hell lately but he deserves to find happiness just as much as you do. But only if he's ready. Would hate to have to add him to my list of 'people-I-must-castrate-before-I-die."

"It was actually his idea to just kind of go with the flow, to see what happens." I said, switching off the engine of the car.

"Well, thank god for that." said amanda. "Anything else exciting happening? Not that the potential that you end up knocking boots with the hot bad boy you have been crushing on for forever, but..."

"I already found a job." I said, switching the call from the bluetooth in the car to the device itself. I climbed out of the car and was making my way to the house when I heard Chloe and Colton laughing from the backyard. I made my way in the direction of the sound while I gave Amanda the rundown on how Brantley had offered me one hell of a position at the school. I told her about what he wanted the place to be, why he was doing it, and explained the type of kids that would be enrolled.

"Gannon and Maisie will be enrolled as soon as I can get them in there." Amanda said. "I'm sure Layla and Ryan will enroll Rayna just as soon as they can too; even it is a while from now since that little sweetpea is only a few months old."

"I'm sure a lot of big names will have their kids enrolled once they find out the level of security that Brantley is promising. I know it won't be for everyone since he's made it clear that he wants it to be a faith-based place, and that's fine."

"As long as he aint planning on slipping the kids that Jim Jones kool-aid..."

"Absolutely not." I laughed. "Anyway, I just got back to my parents. Call you later?"

"You better!"