Delilah's Tears

Chapter Fifteen

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."