Cheating The Deck [boyxboy]

Cheating The Deck {25}

                I chained my bike up outside of the café and went in. I looked around, but Delaney wasn't there yet.

                Going up to the counter, I ordered the cheapest food and drink on the menu. When the man working the register handed it all to me on a tray, I holed myself up at a table in the corner and scanned the parking lot for Delaney's car.

                What if he didn't show up? What if he was so mad and hurt that he decided not to come? If I couldn't fix things with him, I'd never fix things with Jack.

                Jack was so damn stubborn, though. I didn't even know if this would help. But it was better than nothing, so I might as well give it a try.

                Although it'd be pretty hard to even try if Delaney never even showed up.

                I nibbled on the sandwich I'd bought, never peeling my eyes from the parking lot. It was pretty quiet here, but with just enough low hum of conversation to mask what was being said. The words around me were mixed enough to blur into dismissible white noise.

                I set the sandwich down as a familiar car finally pulled into the parking lot. Delaney emerged from it a moment later, keeping his eyes on the ground as he walked towards the café's entrance.

                He came inside and finally picked his head up, looking around. He spotted me and lifted his hand in a motionless wave before walking up to the counter to order.

                Leaning back, I went over everything in my mind again. It wasn't Delaney I was after, so I could tell him the truth without feeling bad about the way it might hurt him or shape his opinion of me. I didn't care if he liked me or not. I just needed him to be on good terms with Jack again.

                Delaney came over with a tray and sat down across from me. He looked tired and uncomfortable.

                "Hi, Ace," he said.

                Without preamble, I simply said, "I lied."

                Delaney looked surprised. "What?"

                "I lied to you. Mostly. Jack and I were kissing, but he put an end to it so he wouldn't hurt you. He gave me the CDs to be nice, not because he wanted to get in my pants. He only started doing it in hopes that I wouldn't hurt you. Jesus, I think every time we kissed he just pissed and moaned about how he didn't want to hurt you." I leaned my elbow against the table and looked out of the window again. "He was trying to protect you, I guess. I don't really get it. I didn't really care. I just kept kissing him."

                But I did get it. Jack was doing what my friends and I did. We protected each other in weird, silent ways. Jack had been trying to tame me before I hurt Delaney. That was all.

                "Jack should've told me," Delaney said after a moment of silence.

                "He probably knew you'd overreact. Just because you saw me first, it doesn't mean I'm yours. In case you forgot, I get a say in this." I turned my gaze back to him, watching as he shifted guiltily.

                "I know that. I'm sorry. I just...I wish he told me you two were..." He sighed. "I just wish he told me. So I didn't get my hopes up or anything. So when I asked you to be my boyfriend...?"

                "I was already tonguing Jack," I said, shrugging. "He tried to stop it several times. He actually did stop it. I got pissed." I gave him a sharp grin. "I don't like it when I don't get my way. You probably dodged a bullet."