ChapterSix
Ethan’s eyes bore twin holes in her back all the way down the stairs. His slow and steady tread several seconds behind her told her he wasn’t following her too closely, for whatever reason. She found herself missing his presence at her back, even if he was just as pissed as everyone else. He was a known entity and too much of a gentleman to be rude publicly.
But they weren’t in public. They were with friends. All bets were off.
She paused just inside the kitchen, staring out the patio doors where Caroline and Matthew stood. Brigid and someone else had also arrived and were talking with the bridal couple. Delaney pressed the heel of her hand against her stomach to quell the sudden attack of nerves spreading like bad Chinese food. She had seen them less than two months ago at the bridal shower and, while they had put aside all irritation for the sake of the day, the other bridesmaids’ feelings were obvious. But the coolness in both Brigid and Anna had been clear when Delaney called to set up the bachelorette party. Actually, coolness was an understatement. Brigid was frigid and stiff, while Anna had basically ripped her a new one about her delay, selfishness, and complete disregard for the role. Then she’d hung up. Hence the reason they had never actually scheduled a bachelorette party.
Delaney couldn’t really argue the point. She had failed in her job as maid of honor. One week before the wedding and she was scrambling for a way out. She had been so wrapped up in trying to survive the week that she had almost completely abdicated her one job.
“Excuse me.” Wyatt slid past Delaney and paused in front of her, a sympathetic expression on his face. “How are you doing?”
Wyatt had always been relaxed and wonderful, even after those trying months. She hadn’t really been close to Wyatt—the football star had always been more Ethan’s friend—but he had been a nice, steadying influence and was unfailingly supportive whenever they saw each other, which was almost never. They didn’t run in the same circle—Wyatt in football and Delaney in society. After his injury, well, he seemed to disappear, coaching somewhere away from Houston.
Right now, he seemed to be the one person who didn’t hold on to any residual feelings of anger or anything, and for that, she was grateful. She softened her grimace into a smile of genuine happiness. Impulsively, she wrapped her arms around him. “Great to see you, Wyatt.”
He hugged her back, then took a step back, his eyes serious. “You doing okay?”
It really was too bad she couldn’t have fallen for Wyatt back in school. He was a nice guy, smart, handsome. Light green eyes always laughing and warm. Short, dark hair that bristled gently under her fingers. And a smokin’ hot body from his years of football that unfortunately did nothing for her, especially with Ethan around. A peal of laughter from the patio had them both turning.
She pasted on a bright smile. “I’m fine, Wyatt.”
His eyes crinkled. “Fake it until you make it?”
“Something like that.” She cocked her head. “What are you doing now?”
He rocked back on his heels, a gleam in his eyes. Before he could speak, Anna strode into the kitchen like a hurricane, disrupting everything in her path. Her gaze rested on Delaney and Wyatt, and her lips tightened and Delaney wondered if Ethan was right, if jealousy reared its ugly head.
“He’s coaching football now at our alma mater, UT. The quarterbacks. I would have thought you would have known that since you stayed here in Texas. Or is football beneath you, Delaney?” She tossed her long black hair and planted a hand on her hip.
Delaney sucked in a breath and turned to Wyatt, laying a hand tentatively on his right arm, feeling his muscles tense and jerk under her hand. “Coaching at UT? That’s great, Wyatt. I was sorry to hear about your injury.”
His face tightened, a muscle jumping in his jaw. Anna smirked at him, eyebrow cocked, waiting for his reply. The air was tense and Delaney searched her brain frantically for information, trying to recall what had happened after Wyatt’s injury.
Wyatt stared at her, an inscrutable expression on his face. “Well, you were going through a lot when I got hurt. After the incident, I had surgery and rehabbed the knee, but it was never stable enough for me to rely on it. I tried a few walk-on tryouts, but I never got picked up. UT hired me to work with the quarterbacks a couple of years ago.”
Delaney closed her eyes briefly, willing the sympathy to fade before opening them again, not wanting him to see her pity. “I’m so sorry, Wyatt. Your dreams.”
He shot an enigmatic glance at Anna, with an underlying burning resentment. “Well, not all of us are meant to follow our dreams, I suppose. But I’m still working in football and that’s all that matters.”
Anna narrowed her eyes at him, not willing to bend at all, despite Delaney’s sound of sympathy. “Well, that was your choice, wasn’t it? You chose to stay here in Texas.”
“I love Texas. It’s my home. I didn’t feel the need to run away like some people.”
Anna narrowed her eyes but turned to Delaney instead. “I think Delaney is the one who knows all about running away. Am I right?”
Wyatt wrapped an arm around Delaney’s shoulder. “Shove off, Anna. Maybe if you weren’t such a bitch all the time, and not just on television, people wouldn’t feel the need to run from you.” Wyatt’s voice was hard and rough like granite.
A flash of something, maybe hurt, flickered in Anna’s eyes before she masked it, pulling on her persona, Bianca St. John, from the evening drama, Passions. “Who would give a damn about Anna Costado?”
Ethan chose that moment to step up next to Anna, and she immediately dropped the aggressive pose, instead relaxing into a light flirtatious attitude. Ethan and Delaney exchanged a glance.
What the hell was going on between the two of them? Anna had always been prickly and difficult, but never this brittle or angry. She had been a drama major in college, determined to make it to Hollywood and stardom, to have a life beyond her family’s Mexican restaurant chain. She had come to college with a huge chip on her shoulder, and she and Delaney had squared off instantly with Caroline playing mediator. Delaney never quite knew how they had come to be friends, but by the end of that first summer, they were all roommates and the bitch factor had gone way down. There had been some jealousy and resentment, Anna wanting what Delaney had, but there had never been active hatred. In fact, Delaney often wondered how Anna had reacted when she heard the news about Delaney’s father. Anna had certainly never reached out, and Delaney remained focused on her family, not leaving much time for her friends. The arrest had happened around the same time as Wyatt’s injury, so Anna was probably occupied with that but, honestly, Delaney did not know. And clearly that was a problem that might not be solved with a conversation, if Anna even gave Delaney a chance.
Delaney took a small step back from Wyatt, putting some distance between her and the tense situation. As if the movement broke the ice, Wyatt turned to her, a muscle jumping in his jaw.
He exhaled, visibly relaxing his muscles, and held out his arm to her, ignoring the scowling Anna. “Shall we beard the lions together, milady?”
Delaney laughed. “My hero. Thank you.”