Damaged Souls (Broken Man) - By Christopher Scott Page 0,5

to herself as she straightened up the pool area from the party. Nothing against her Dad or even Wendy for that matter, but she had always felt like a third wheel in their household. Dad had his new wife, Bailey had Wendy’s daughter, and Delaney more or less had nobody. Her dad even seemed to understand and hadn’t really resisted the move once she turned eighteen.

It was different with Jack and Amanda, Delaney thought as she caught a glance of a shirtless Greg lifting a table into the back of his truck. He looks pretty good, her mind drifted as she admired the muscles of his chest and his wavy dark hair as he manhandled the table. That would make a nice picture, Delaney smiled as she contrasted him with the small, awkward boy she had met six years earlier and took a snapshot in her mind.

He is also like a brother to me or at the very least my best friend, Delaney quickly dismissed her thoughts as she remembered growing up with Greg. They had so much pain in common, it would have been impossible for them not to have been drawn to one another. But, there was so much more to it than just that.

Greg was just different than the other boys and had always been. There was simply nothing frivolous about him. He took his studies seriously, he took his work seriously, and he took his relationships seriously. He wasn’t anything like all the shallow, immature boys at school.

Sometimes, Delaney wished he wouldn’t take everything so seriously, but that just wasn’t in his makeup and she understood. He couldn’t afford not to be serious, especially with regard to his troubles at home and the pressure on him to provide and succeed. No, she appreciated his dedication to his mother despite her problems, and she appreciated his commitment to her.

Greg had always been there for her. Other boys came and went, other girls pretended to be her friend for a short while, but Greg was one of the few friends who always stuck around. He really was like a dog with a bone, and Delaney knew he would always be there to look after her.

“Are you going to help me out here or am I going to have to do everything as usual,” Delaney blushed as he caught her staring at him and teased her about her lack of progress.

“It looks like you have everything under control,” she answered before turning away shyly. “Do you want some lemonade or something.”

“No, I’ve got a coke right here,” he responded as his muscles dripped with sweat and she tried not to look at him. “Are you okay, Delaney. You are acting kind of weird.”

“I’m fine,” she tried to act normal as she looked up at his pale blue eyes. “Just a little tired, that’s all.”

“We can skip the movie if you want.”

“No, that’s okay. Logan is looking forward to it, and Jack and Amanda need their nap time,” she responded slyly and made pretend quotation marks in the air.

“You’re awful,” he replied and smiled although Delaney could tell he wasn’t comfortable talking about anything involving sex with her. “I’ll get a shower in a few minutes and then we’ll get going, okay.”

“Sounds good,” she answered as she tried not to think about him in the shower and instead returned to her work.

* * *

“Jack,” Amanda enjoyed finally being alone with him as she tickled him with her tongue. “Do you think Greg is going to ask Delaney to the prom.”

“You want to talk about that now,” he asked incredulously as she kissed his stomach and looked up at him.

“Of course I want to talk about it now,” Amanda replied as she worked her way up his stomach to his chest. “You know me, this is the best time to talk.”

“You weren’t talking so much a couple minutes ago,” Jack teased her about her bedroom noises. “Except to say ‘Oh, right there, Jack, don’t stop, don’t stop.”

“I don’t sound like that,” she laughed at his imitation. “But, if you keep teasing me, I may not let you do that to me anymore.”

“I don’t think that’s going to happen,” he replied as his mouth found her breast and she almost forgot about their conversation.

“One second, Jack,” she moved her body so they were again face to face. “I’m serious now, do you think Greg is going to ask Delaney to the prom.”

“I don’t know,” he laughed, accustomed to her bedroom interrogations after