Damaged Souls (Broken Man) Read Free Page A

arms. “You’re staying for dinner, right.”
    “Yeah, Amanda invited me,” he sensed an opportunity that probably wasn’t there. “Maybe we can catch a movie this afternoon.”
    “That sounds great,” Delaney quickly lifted his hopes before just as quickly deflating them. “Logan has been wanting to see that new Disney movie, we can take him to see that.”
    “Sounds good,” Greg replied as he quietly slid back into that dreaded friend zone.
    * * *
    “Delaney, Delaney, throw me in the pool one more time.”
    “Okay, Logan, one more time,” Delaney agreed as she picked him up. “But then we have to help Greg clean up.”
    “Okay, Delaney,” he responded excitedly as she knew he was ignoring her.
    “Are you ready.”
    “I’m ready,” she heard his r’s come out like w’s and started to swing him behind her.
    “One, two, three,” they counted down together.
    Logan splashed into the pool for what must have been the tenth time that afternoon. He certainly doesn’t need any more sugar, Delaney smiled as she watched him bubble to the surface, his cute little floaties aiding the process.
    “That was your best one yet, bud,” she complimented him as he looked at her for approval.
    “Thanks, Delaney,” she could tell how proud he was as he paddled to the edge of the pool. “Can we do it one more time.”
    “Greg needs our help, honey,” Delaney let him down easily as she helped him out of the pool and wrapped a towel around him. “Don’t forget, we are going to the movies in a little while. Why don’t you run inside and have Mommy help you get ready.”
    “Okay, Delaney,” he obeyed as he dropped his towel to the patio and turned to run inside.
    Delaney smiled as she watched Logan run towards the screen door. He really is the little brother I always wanted. It’s nice spending so much time with him now that I live with Jack and Amanda.
    It really just makes sense for me to live here, Delaney thought 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