My phone rang, but I ignored it after pulling it out of my pocket and seeing Mia’s name flash across the screen. I was minutes from the house and could only assume that Mia would be there too. Whatever she was calling for, I’m sure could wait until then.
I gripped the steering wheel tightly and winced, before quickly loosening my right hand, which was covered with bruises in a mix of blue and purple. Maybe I was somewhat nervous about Della moving in. Just a little. But there was no way in hell I was telling her that. Things would be fine, but it would definitely be weird having her mess constantly at my house, maybe then I wouldn’t find it so cute. I guess only time would tell.
My hand hurt like hell, but at the same time, it felt good to know that I took care of that douchebag. Yeah, I promised Della I wasn’t going to go after Nash for being a complete dick to her. But sometimes when it came to someone that you loved, promises needed to be broken, and this was one of those times. I had been completely right when I told her he wanted to be more than friends. What a bunch of bullshit that was. But the thing that pissed me off the most was what he said to her about the abortion. Yeah, I wasn’t going to just sit by and let someone talk to my girl like that. Ever.
After dropping Della off the night before, I headed straight to his house. The little pussy didn’t even put up a fight when he opened his front door and saw me standing there, probably because he knew he deserved whatever was coming. So after introducing my fist to his face a few times, I finally felt a little bit better and told him to leave Della alone for good or next time I would do a whole lot worse. He didn’t say a word to me, but I had a feeling he would stay away.
I blew out a breath as I pulled into Della’s driveway, glad the time was finally here, and soon Della would be living with me, right where she belonged. I just needed to shake the fucking nerves that seemed intent to hang on. Why in the hell was I getting like this? I didn’t get nervous about anything.
The front door was open, even though I told all four of the girls repeatedly that they needed to keep it locked at all times. All they did was laugh at me, telling me to stop with the cop bullshit.
I headed straight for Della’s room, stopping short at the open door when I saw some guy holding her in his arms. Time ceased to exist as I did a double take to ensure that what I was seeing was actually happening. Yup, it was. Some guy had my girl in his arms. What in the hell was going on? I felt like going over there and ripping those arms off before shoving them up his ass. A white-hot fury broke through my chest, spreading all over my entire body, making me shake with anger as I stood there deciding what to do next. He was murmuring something to her that I couldn’t quite make out, and Della’s eyes were closed so she hadn’t seen me yet.
“What the fuck is going on here?” I snapped, not able to keep silent any longer. I was livid. No, livid wasn’t even the word. Della’s eyes popped open and she looked over the guy’s shoulder, stepping back a few feet once she realized I was standing there. And then I noticed she was in nothing but a fucking towel.
That fact alone about killed me on the spot.
Her eyes that were normally a clear, pale blue, were red-rimmed and still glistening with tears, confusing the hell out of me even more. Why the fuck was she crying on this guy’s shoulder? The only person who should be comforting her—or whatever he was doing—was me! Her eyes widened as she stared back at me, pressing both hands to her mouth, shaking her head back and forth.
The guy turned around and I about lost my shit when I realized it was the jackass that Della dated in high school, Chris. I swear to God, he had the fucking nerve to smirk at me before he moved back toward Della, trying to put an arm around her shoulder, but she quickly shrugged it off.
“Justin—” she began but I abruptly stopped her, holding up a hand before pulling it through my hair and bending over at the knees. I felt like someone sucker-punched me in the stomach, like all the wind had been knocked out of my lungs. Sure, I messed shit up before between us, but things were different, at least I thought they were.