But he’d been missing Del, trying to fill her void with anyone he possibly could. He knew now that no one else would do. And he couldn’t keep from releasing the need boiling inside him.
Del held him tightly, her pu**y gloving him perfectly, squeezing and pulling him in. Pleasure suspended him seemingly in midair. The tension reached its zenith until he didn’t breathe, didn’t hear, didn’t think. He simply felt Del—then released everything he had inside her in an outpouring that exploded through him, damn near overwhelming him. Tears stung the back of his eyes, and his throat closed up. He clutched Del tighter.
Under him, she clung to him, sobbing softly. He brushed the dark strands from her rosy cheeks and dried her tears. “I’m here.”
She nodded but closed her eyes against him. “Don’t do this to me. Just . . . go.”
Fuck, her dismissal was frustrating, but not surprising. She’d known him for years as a player. Her first impression of his life in Lafayette wouldn’t have changed that. He’d gotten her pregnant and left before she could tell him. She’d been through a messy divorce and birth all by herself. And now he’d worked his way right back into her panties. Naturally, she was cautious and questioning how long he’d be here for her.
Withdrawing from the warm clasp of her body, Tyler disposed of the condom and grabbed his towel. “Del . . .”
She shook her head and rose, clutching the sheet against her. “I’m going to shower.”
Before he could reply, she’d darted across the room and closed the door. Shit. How ironic was this? All the times he’d f**ked and run, leaving some female most likely wondering how he felt about her. Tyler winced. Now he knew that feeling. And it sucked.
He sat on the bed with a sigh. What the hell did he do now? Go with his gut and pursue her? Did he have more staying power than his old man, or had his mom been right all along?
Tyler could still hear his mother and the bitterness that dripped from her every word. She would get drunk and tell him how much like his father he was. After a while, it had become the background noise that filled his childhood, but Del was bringing it all back. Was he like the old man? Destined to ruin everyone around him?
He had no clue, and he certainly didn’t have time to deal with his past boo-boos now. He’d call his mom at some point, tell her about Seth . . . but not today. Now, he had to focus on Del and what was happening between then. He wasn’t calling the old bitch and letting her crawl in his head now.
With a sigh, he picked up his phone and dialed.
Jack answered on the first ring. “You okay there?”
Define okay. “Since we got out of New Orleans, it’s been pretty smooth sailing. Xander’s contacts, while scantily clad, have been helpful. But the ass**le trying to kill Del is about to be named DA.” Tyler filled Jack in. “See if you can dig up any dirt on him.”
“Will do.”
“And Del’s got this friend, Lisa. I didn’t get a last name. Here’s her phone number.” Tyler prowled through Del’s phone until he found her last call and repeated the digits to Jack. “Del says this is a friend who’s been helping her. I just want to make sure she checks out. If not, we might have a very unwelcoming party once we hit L.A. tomorrow.”
“I’ll look into her and get back with you in a few hours.”
“Thanks, man.”
“You sound tired.”
Tyler sighed, rubbing at gritty eyes. “Fucking exhausted.”
“You’ve trekked across half the country in two days, been shot at . . .”
“Yeah.” But that wasn’t really the problem. Tyler tapped nervously on the phone with his thumb, then decided to go for broke. “How did you convince Morgan that you were the right one for her?”
“Whoa, that’s out of left field.”
“Sorry.”
“That’s okay. To be honest, I was relentless about getting Morgan into bed. But then I f**ked up, and I had to grovel a lot. Ultimately, I had to put the decision in her hands. I couldn’t force her to trust me a second time.”
Tyler squeezed his eyes shut. Jack was right, but that was the last goddamn thing he wanted to hear. Del wasn’t ready to believe that he was into her for the long haul. Hell, despite the way he felt, he wasn’t even sure. She had too much on her plate for him to expect her to sort it out now.
“You in love with Del?” Jack asked.
How the hell could he answer that? “Never really been in love. I don’t know.”
“What about Alyssa?”
“A very beautiful crutch.”