James
"Oh, fuck no, D-doll." The words tumble out silently. How is Delilah here? Hell, I finally decide to take Jana on another attempt at a date and... Wait. Who the hell is she sitting with? Why is he touching her?
"What's going on JD?" Jana's nice, sweet voice echoes on the periphery of my conscience. I can't look at her, I can only stare at Delilah and the asshole she's with, as a million questions stampede through my brain. Is this a date? Of course it is, what else would it be? How could she do this to me? No, not to me, to John. No, John's gone. Me. To me. She looks upset. Why the hell is she upset if she's doing the same thing as I am? Suave Stud runs a finger down her arm and I want to break it off. She pushes him away and grabs her purse, running out of the club as fast as the crowd will let her. The movement unlocks me from my stupor.
I glance at Jana who's confused by my behavior. Hell. I need to get out of here, but I'm stuck here with Jana. I glance back at the table Delilah was at, and see Meghan appear with another guy. The three of them chat for a minute. The first dude points in my direction. As soon as Meghan sees me she shakes her head and covers her eyes with both hands. The two men take off, leaving Meghan alternately texting and sneaking glances over here. Most likely texting Delilah.
"JD?" Jana is exasperated with me. I turn to her and take her hand. I'm sure I'm scowling. There has to be some kind of divine intervention happening here to continue spoiling dates with this woman. "What's going on?"
"Delilah saw me, us. She's upset and ran out."
Jana's expression is confused for a moment as she stares at me. Then, her mouth forms a tight little O, and she yanks her hand from mine. "Wow. You and Delilah."
"What? No?" I'm a shit for denying the truth. At least on my part.
She shakes her head. "You want Delilah. That's what all this wishy-washy dating behavior is. I'm just a stand-in for what you can't have."
"No, that's not it, honestly." Liar. That's exactly it. "You're the first woman I've dated since I got back."
"And you're not that interested. I'm an experiment. A diversion." Jana's lips draw into a thin, angry line. "I'm out. I'll call an Uber or a cab. Lose my number JD." She stands and grabs her purse. "And do yourself a favor. Figure your shit out before you mess around with anyone else."
"Jana..." She spins and weaves through the crowd, leaving me to watch yet another woman run off on account of me tonight.
"Well, that sucked, didn't it big guy?"
"Meghan. What just happened here? Other than Delilah's mad and hurt, and my date is furious and gone."
She offers a wry laugh. Yeah, nothing funny about anything tonight. "I finally talked Del into going out tonight. To take her mind off of you and John, and the load of crap she's been dealt. Things were going pretty good..."
I'm relieved there was no real date, but I'm still pissed. "Who was the asshole who had his hands all over her? She came here with a date you set up?"
Meghan studies me for a beat or two, letting me stew in my own juices. "It wasn't a date. Two guys joined us, bought us drinks. Delilah barely spoke to the guy. I'm sure she wanted them to get lost, but I figure she's gotta put herself out there..."
I stand and firmly grab Meghan by the shoulders, my gut roiling, harshly spoken words spilling out faster than I can monitor them. "No. She doesn't. She...just no. Delilah is mine, and no one else touches her or talks to her. Got it? No other assholes need to come sniffing around her. No dates. No other men. None. Ever."
Meghan's brows lift and she literally smirks at me. "Yours? Are you sure about that big guy?"
"What?" Fuck. Did I say that? I did. I stare at Meghan. "Christ." Extracting a wad of cash from my pocket I snag a passing waitress. "For my bill. Keep the change." Then I stalk out, Meghan hot on my heels as I slam through the club doors into the humid night air. She grabs my arm and I turn on her.
"JD, Del is a mess. Whatever you think you're doing, it isn't doing her any favors."
I want to punch someone. Lots of someones. Instead I poke a finger at Meghan. "You have no idea what the hell you're talking about. Keep her out of clubs and away from assholes. Do anything else on girls' night out."
"Right. Keep away from assholes. You included?" Her hands are on her hips now, as I glare back at her.
"Probably." I stomp off to my car and peel out of the parking lot.
****
Back at my bare-bones, boring, Delilah-less apartment I slam open a cabinet and pull out a bottle of whiskey, which I then pour a generous amount of into a water glass. Why waste time refilling? I'm gonna drink more than I should anyway.
Jesus, I wish John were here. He's the only one I could talk to about this mess. That makes me laugh. Right. If John were here there'd be no mess. He'd be home fucking his gorgeous wife, and I'd be out happily hooking up with chicks like Jana. Hell, I've gotten more action from my hand in the last two years than any actual pussy.
How the hell did this happen? I finally decided to give the thing with Jana another try. I'd even talked myself into the possibility of hitting the sheets with her if she was game. In fact, the date was going quite well. I was about to kiss her and work on that seduction plan when the hairs on the back of my neck went haywire. The same sensation I'd get just before action on a mission.
The second I laid eyes on Delilah across the room was a gut-punch. I was stunned by how fucking beautiful she looked in that moment. Screwed. I am so screwed.
My phone rings. A quick glance tells me it's barely ten-thirty. I hesitate to answer, wondering what I'll say if it's Delilah. It isn't.
"Yeah, Neil?"
"Nice greeting. Having a spectacular night? Did I interrupt any good headboard banging?" He snickers. Good thing he's not here or I'd punch his face.
"The furthest thing from it. What's up?"
"We got a client we gotta roll on. Need you here at five."
"As in a.m.?"
"The very same. Bring your go-bag. Dress for fun and bring extra panties. You might be out for a day or three."
"Hell, Neil. Not now. I'm dealing with a situation." I hate to turn him down.
He grunts and takes a deep breath. "I thought you swore you were unencumbered. Do you need to amend that? Cuz I got a stack of papers in need of stapling and filing."
"Jesus. The worst fucking timing," I grumble. "Okay, fine. Five."
"See you in a few hours honey buns. Rest up." He sing-songs before abruptly ending the call.
I swallow the rest of the whiskey in one gulp, and slam the glass onto the table. I have to talk to Delilah before I leave. I'm sure she's not asleep given what went down tonight. I hit her contact info and it rings several times until it connects. I start talking before she answers.
"Delilah, I..."
"Hey, it's Delilah. I'm busy arranging flowers, ordering flowers, or doing laundry. Leave a message and I'll check in with ya later. Ciao!"
Voicemail.
I can't leave this on a message. Not that I even have clue of what I'm gonna say. I'll try again in the morning on the way to Neil's. Maybe after a night of rest she'll have calmed down enough to listen. Listen to what? What in God's name can I say to her that won't either break her heart or have her running for the hills?
Five o'clock does not arrive quickly. In fact I spend most of the night tossing and turning. When I do sleep Delilah is in every damned dream. John's there too, grinning and laughing like he does when he's playing a massive practical joke on me.
"First one to the raft and back and fully dressed gets to pick who's buying at Geno's!" John makes the announcement at the edge of the lake as he's peeling off his board shorts, the T-shirt already strewn in the damp night sand. Of course we all follow his lead. We always do. I snigger though, because John and I are the fastest every time, Zann and Ryan a close third and fourth, leaving Dylan in the dust. Poor fucker always ends up paying. John, being John, slips the guy some cash when no one's looking. I do too. I suspect the others do as well. He probably ends up making out in the deal. "I'll even give you bastards a twenty-count head start." He winks at me. John's up to no good. Who's the sucker is this time? It might seem a generous offer, but we really do kick ass in water, as we're both on the swim team. Maybe I'll take it a little slower and let Ryan or Zann touch back on the sand first this time.
Everyone peels off their clothes and lines up at the water's edge. Fortunately it's too dark to really measure dicks, but we've sorta grown out of that childish habit anyway. Mostly.
"Ready? On your mark, get set, go!" John makes the "bam" sound of an imaginary starting pistol, then launches into a slow countdown. We all hit the water like penguins or seals and haul ass to the raft about twenty yards into the glassy, cool lake. "Eighteen, nineteen, twenty! Here I come assholes!" The splash resonates as he hits the water, ripping through it like an Olympic gold medal swimmer, catching up to us in no time flat. I hear the slap of the first hand on the top of the raft and see Ryan do a flip-turn, heading back to shore. I'm seconds behind him, and the others after that.
"Gotcha, bro," John hisses as he flips at the same time as I do. Damn he's fast. We both take off, closing in on and passing the other three with ease. So much for letting one of them win. We slosh onto the shore, panting and taking a couple seconds to catch our breath. "This is gonna be epic, man. Just wait." What the hell is he up to? The other three tumble ashore, and we run up the sand to where we left our board shorts and T-shirts.
"Where the heck is my stuff?" That's weird. I left my pile next to John's. I glance at him as he pulls on his shirt with a shit-eating grin. "Everyone in the truck!" The other guys are all dressed and I'm still buck-ass naked.
"You fucker," I shout, as John laughs like a hyena. "What'd you do with my clothes?"
"Oh, hell, JC nailed JD. This oughta be great." Zann speaks for the other three who haul butt to JC's truck. There's only room for four inside. The fifth-wheel always get the bed. That's gonna be a bare-ass me.
"Hey, teeny-weeny," my brother shouts as he revs the truck. He won't leave me stranded, but I can't even guess what else he has up his sleeve. "Your clothes," he leans out the window and air-quotes the word clothes, "are in the bed. Snap to it or you be walking, baby." He howls again.
"I'm gonna mess you up, JC." He starts a slow roll of the truck, just enough to give me a warning to get to it. Dripping wet, I hoist myself into the bed, and JC picks up speed.
"Goddamn you. This is not funny, JC."
"Aw, sit down and put your frock on Little Bo Peep." I glance around and...
"You asshole. You stark raving, maniac asshole." I lift up the nearly sheer ladies' nightgown he left for me. He picks up speed as we near the exit of the park, which dumps us right onto Main Street. On a Saturday night. Filled with kids cruising in their cars. I'm gonna kill him.
With a choice between waving hi to the masses with my shriveled up dick or pulling on the nearly see-through white gown, I opt for the gown. I pray no one will notice me as he turns onto Main. But, no. Not good enough for JC. He slows the truck to a virtual crawl and lays on his horn in a never-ending series of beeps, waving gaily at a good chunk of the South Reed student body. The other three jerks in the cab are laughing so hard they're crying and holding their aching sides.
Fuck this. If I can't beat him—now at least—I'm gonna ham it up.
I stand, getting a firm grip on the roll bar and do my best impression of a New Year's Day float queen passing through town, complete with "the wave" and all. "Yoo-hoo! Which one of you lovely ladies wants to go to prom with me? I've picked out my dress and everything!"
The whole scene is nuts. Kids hollering and honking and laughing. Cars stop mid-street and clog traffic. Until we hear the familiar "whoop-whoop" of Sheriff Doheny's squad car and the party breaks up, every one fleeing the scene, including us. John whips a right onto Bellevedere Drive and high-tails it through a tangle of side streets. Ryan tosses my real clothes to me and I swiftly pull them on as we make our way home.
JC is gonna die tonight.
****
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***I'd like to thank James from www.goonwrite.com for the cover to "Delilah's Tears."