My Lucky Catch (University Park #6) (21 page)

“Shhh.” He held me close, refusing to let me go. “Don’t cry, baby.”

I glanced at him, expecting to see a face that didn’t care, but instead I saw the opposite. Luke had huge tears that hung on his lower lashes. “I love you, Delaney, and no deaths are going to stop me from giving you what you deserve in life.”

“Oh, Luke.” I caught a tear with the tips of my fingers. “I love you, too. I’ve just been afraid to admit it.”

“I know.” His lips lowered to mine, and we exchanged a soft, but heartfelt kiss that showed me just how much we’d been holding back. He loved me more than I deserved, but I was still scared to love him fully. God knows I didn’t deserve his love. Not one ounce of it. At that moment, I also realized why I had never gotten that close to Veronica and Martin. I was scared to love them because I was afraid they’d be taken away from me, too. I couldn’t lose them. They were all I knew when it came to family.

Tears released at full speed, and the pain unraveled inside of me, like a string pulled tight that was waiting for the chance to be set free. I had to tap into the faith I never had. I had to believe that there was a better life for me, and that life included Luke Thompson.

Chapter 14

One year and six months later

Luke

I glanced at Delaney as she messed with her camera. “I’m proud of you.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, not bothering to look at me.

“You didn’t get stupid drunk.” I gripped the steering wheel, hoping that comment wouldn’t piss her off.

“Ugh.” Her fingers stopped fumbling against the equipment. “It was your sister’s wedding. Did you really think I’d do that?” She tucked her long strands behind her ear and shook her head, apparently put off by my comment.

I shrugged. “You usually get drunk at celebrations.”

“Um, if you’re talking about your graduation party—you got drunk, too. Remember?”

She was right. We got wasted after my parents left and had sex in one of my sister’s guest rooms. It was freakin’ great. Especially since we didn’t get in an argument or a fight, which usually happened when she was drinking.

“How could I forget?” I reached for her hand, clasping my fingers around hers. It felt good to have her next to me. Our worlds had collided, and our relationship was growing stronger every day. I was glad I had fought for her and that she had chosen to be with me.

“Was that the last time I got drunk?” She glanced me with a perplexed expression. “No, that couldn’t be.”

“You got a buzz that night we went out with Jordan and Forbes.”

And some night that was!
“I don’t think we made it out of the parking lot.”

“Oh, that’s right,” a giggle escaped from her lips, “but I didn’t get drunk.” Her fingers slipped from mine, and she pointed at me. “I guess you can say I’m finally growing up.”

“Is that what you call it?” I joked. She pinned me with a harsh stare, and I raised a hand, keeping the other one on the wheel. “Sorry, I am just messing with you.”

“I know you are.” Her eyes sparkled in the darkness. “Besides, I like remembering what we do to each other.”

“Oh, do you now?” I cocked a brow.

“I do.” Her hand stroked my leg. “In fact, I can’t wait until we get home.”

“You’re not tired?” I glanced at the clock on the dash. “It’s after midnight, and it’s been a long day.”

With a slightly raised shoulder, she said, “I’m never too tired for you.”

I pressed on the gas pedal, demanding the engine of my car to go faster. “In that case.”

With a pat on my thigh, she said, “No need to rush, we have
all
night.”

“I like the sound of that.” I smiled. Her hand left my leg, and she picked up her camera. “How did the photos turn out?”

“Good, from what I can tell.” She tried to show me, but I didn’t want to look away from the road for too long. “I’m glad Lexi hired another photographer. As it was, I had trouble taking photos and making sure all my maid of honor duties were done.”

“Me, too.” I released a sigh. The past few weeks had been hectic for Delaney since it was June, and she was booked back-to-back with weddings. It wasn’t fun being the brunt of her stress on top of my hectic schedule.

“The photos of Jonah and Nevara are breathtaking.” She sighed, pressing the camera to her chest. “These babies are so darn cute! I just want to squeeze and hold them.”

“I still can’t believe my sister has twins.” I shook my head.

“I can’t believe she married Raven!” She lowered the camera, but didn’t take her eyes off the screen.

“Yeah.” I rubbed the back of my neck and then pulled the undone bowtie from my collar and dropped it on the seat. “If you think about it . . . it is crazy. So much has happened since we’ve graduated. She was with Collin, then she called off the wedding, only to hook up with Raven and get pregnant.” My head was swarming just thinking of everything. “Shit.”

“I hope when we have kids, our son looks like you and our daughter favors me.”

“What?” I swerved, nearly hitting the curb. “Y-ou want kids?”

“Uh . . . well, yeah. I mean, one day. Not like tomorrow, though. You know, in the future.”

Hearing this was a freakin’ breakthrough for our relationship. I never thought I’d hear Delaney say she wanted kids. “So, we have a future together?”

“Yes.” That comment earned me a punch on the forearm. “Unless you don’t want to be with me.” Her tone quickly turned bleak.

“Of course, I want to be with you.” I reached for her hand. “I wasn’t sure if you wanted to marry me.”

The car was silent for at least half a minute before she finally said something. “I do want to marry you.”

“Yeah?” I couldn’t hide the smile emerging from me.

“Yes, I do.” She bit her lip, but a smile came through, just like mine. “I figured you’d ask me when it was the right time.”

“Oh.” I nodded, taking note that she was placing the ball in my hands. Little did she know that I had already bought a ring a few months ago. All I needed to do what ask Martin’s permission to marry her. “Okay.” Then it occurred to me. Was she being faithful to me? “You’re not screwing around on me, are you?”

“What?” Her smile vanished. “I can’t believe you just asked me that.” Her arms folded over her chest, and she rubbed her bare arms.

“I’m gone at least two days a week. How do I know what you’re doing while I’m traveling with the team?”

She glared at me. “I’ve been faithful since the day I revealed everything to you about my past.”

“Okay.” I breathed a sigh of relief. “Wait a minute. What about Matt?”

“Matt, who?”

“Seriously? Matt Russell, that’s who. The guy you hooked up with at the Kappa Sig party you went to with Raven and Lexi.”

“Oh, God, that was so long ago.” Delaney moaned. I wasn’t sure if it was an
I
forgot
moan or a
hell no
moan. “I told you I didn’t mess around with him.”

“You swear . . . on your parents’ graves?”

Her mouth fell open, like she couldn’t believe I had asked her that. “Yes. We didn’t even kiss. All we did was dance and grind on each other.”

“Are you sure? I recall you being drunk off your ass and throwing up all night.”

The lids of her eyes shut, and she inhaled deeply. “I might have been wasted, but I promise you, nothing happened.”

“And you’ve not been seeing anyone on the side?”

“No, Luke. When you’re gone, all I can think about is you coming home to me.”

“Good. Then we don’t have to move out of the apartment and burn the furniture.” The last thing I wanted to hear was that she had screwed some guy or a few guys at our place.

She released a half laugh. “It’s safe. Trust me.”

“Good.” I picked up her hand and kissed the top of it. “Then let’s go mark our territory.”

“I think we already have, but I’m game for doing it again.” She winked, and I sped down the road before pulling into the apartment complex, ready to baptize every room with her.

***

Delaney

“Tilt your head to the right, just a little,” I instructed the bride-to-be as I worked to finish up her photo shoot.

With each take, I saw myself instead of her. Off-white ruffles and sheer material surrounding me. My hair twisted in some fancy braid Jordan conjured up. My face made up to look porcelain smooth. A smile emerged from deep within, but I had to ask myself: Was I really ready for Luke to ask me? I loved him, no doubt, but I was just a little apprehensive when it came to marriage. Maybe I was still worried that something would happen to him. That he’d be killed in a car accident, and I’d be another bride left standing at the altar alone.

I shook my head, forcing the bad thoughts away, and continued snapping pics. “Perfect.” I captured several photos and then showed her.

“Oh, that’s a good one.” She smiled. “Can you scroll back to the previous one?”

“Sure.” I pressed the button, showing her the last few poses. “Are you happy with these?” I refrained from telling her we could take more. We had already gone over our scheduled time frame by forty-five minutes. I casually glanced at my watch, worried that I wouldn’t make it to PHU’s baseball playoff game. I had been contracted by Coach Summers to take photos of an alumnus being inducted into PHU’s Hall of Fame. Luckily, I was already on campus, and it wouldn’t take me long to get there.

“No, I think we’ve got plenty to choose from.”

“Okay. I’ll upload these, do some light editing, and then I’ll send them to you for review.”

With her hands pressed together, she said, “I can’t wait.”

“We really look forward to seeing them,” her mom said.

“Thank you, again.” I shook both their hands, and then picked up my camera bag from the ground. Holding my camera close to me, I jogged to Trinity, my assistant. “I’m so late.”

“Do shoots usually last this long?”

“No.” I shook my head as we scrambled to gather my equipment. “She was an exception.”

“If we had stayed out here any longer, you would’ve been taking photos in the dark.”

“She could’ve always asked me to go inside.”

“True.” Trinity wrapped her hand around the pole of the umbrella. “Didn’t think of that.”

“Do you know what inning it is?”

“The fifth  inning just started a few minutes ago.”

“Damn.” I released a stressed breath. “We have to hurry. Luke said they’re presenting that award to the alumnus during the seventh inning stretch.”

“Relax. We’ll make it.”

“I hope so. I think it’s odd that they couldn’t find a photographer to take the photos. I mean, why didn’t they use someone from PHU’s media?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “But I think it’s cool that we get to be on the field.”

“Me, too. Would you like some water?” She handed me an ice-cold bottle.

“Thanks. I’m practically dying of thirst.” I took the nearly frozen water from her.

“You’re welcome. I thought I should bring a few with me.”

“You’re awesome, Trinity.” I gulped down the water as we tracked across the Commons area. I sighed silently as I passed my former dorm. I made a note to call Lexi and see how they were doing since returning from their Caribbean honeymoon. I also couldn’t wait to hear what she thought about the photos I’d sent her this morning. Hopefully, she had a chance to see them.

“So, do you like working with me? I’m not too demanding, am I?” I squeezed the water bottle, hoping she wouldn’t say
no
.

“I love working with you. This is the best internship ever.” She squealed and then giggled. “If all goes well, I can probably keep working with you through my junior year.”

“That would be awesome. We’ll see how this summer goes.” I smiled at her.

“Next year is going to be epic!” Trinity did a little skip, and she reminded me of myself when I was entering my junior year—ready to conquer the world. “If I stay on this track, I’ll be able to graduate early.”

“That’s great. Hey, I really liked what you did with the photos from the last shoot. Do you think you can work some of your magic again?”

“I can sure try.” Her voice lilted. “I hope this isn’t too much to ask, but will you let me take photos occasionally?”

“Oh, yeah, every time.” I waved off her silly request. “This is an internship, remember? The more experience you get, the better. Besides, when we have weddings, it’s helpful to have another person taking photos.”

“I really appreciate you.” A look of gratitude crossed her face. Her light brown eyes gleamed with the hint of tears. “You have no idea how much this has helped me. My parents haven’t been able to give me any money, and I’m already maxed out on financial aid until the fall semester starts.”

“Of course.” I gave her a little hug. “I’m so darn busy, I’m struggling to keep it all together.”

“I’m here to help you with whatever you need.”

“Awesome!” I popped the trunk, and we loaded the equipment in the back. “Let’s go.” Getting in the car, I drove a few blocks to the stadium. Cars lined the streets, and every parking lot said
full.