Finding Delaware (State of Us #1)

by Bree Wiley

I did that. I made those lips swell. I made those dark eyes water. I left my mark on him. Me.

While I may get violent with Huckslee because I’m forced to, the thought of anyone else touching him pisses me off. He’s mine to torment. No one else’s.

“That glare is reserved for me. You’re giving it to everyone else, and I’m jealous.”

This can be like neutral ground or something. A fake place. Like…Delaware.”

“You’re fucking cute when you’re flustered,” I blurt out, cutting off his rant, and my smile grows when his lips part at my words. His dark eyes widen, twinkling like a starry night sky as he flounders like a fish for something to say.

“But I want to talk to you, and you don’t trust me right now. So we’re going to Delaware.”

“God, I’m so fucking stupid.” I laugh humorlessly as I turn on my heel, heading back toward the house. “Despite all the shit you’ve done to me, I pined after you for years. Years. You really couldn’t care less about anyone but yourself, Taylor.”

“You weren’t there,” I accuse softly, gripping the handlebars. He must not have heard me because he tilts his head and steps closer. “I don’t know what we are, Huckslee. Maybe at one point, I did, but all of that changed. And I know I can’t undo everything I’ve done, but I almost fucking died, and you weren’t there.”

Huckslee Davis, jersey number twenty, currently in his fourth and final season playing for the California Golden Bears at CU Berkeley.

I know there will never be a ‘normal’ anymore. At least, not an old one. But a new normal.

Fuck, even sad, he’s adorable. Makes me want to make him hot chocolate and shit. Tuck a blanket around him. Sit on his face.

“Really? I destroy your shirt, so you destroy mine?” “Give and take, baby.”

Baby. I’m baby.

It’s give and take, not give or take.”

Turning to study his back, my gaze drops to where the strong muscles of his bubble ass flex in his jeans. I bite my lip, fingers twitching to reach out and squeeze, but I refrain. He glances over his shoulder suddenly, brow quirked, and I turn away quickly, covering my mouth to hide the grin on my lips at being caught checking him out.

I feel for the first time in years that everything is going right. Like maybe I deserve to be happy, after all.

I feel like I’m addicted to him, intoxicated by his presence. I just want to breathe him in, hold him inside my lungs and never exhale, as if his very existence could give me life.

“I love you, Taylor.” Those words light me up, spreading warmth from my head to my toes. I’ll never get tired of hearing them. “I love you too, Huck.” With every atom and every breath. Whatever happens in August, nothing else matters. Just him, me, and whatever life we can carve out for ourselves.