Bringing Delaney Home (Cates Brothers #1) Read Online Free PDF

told, that plan hadn’t been working for her so far.
    Be nice . She could be nice for the five minutes it would take her to finish talking to Barbara and then leave. Right?
    “Hey, Barbara, how about we forget the past? Let’s put high school behind us and agree to get along.” Delaney looked toward the front entrance, trying to judge the distance to the door. She couldn’t see past Quinn Cates and his friends. How long had they been standing there? Focused on her promise to Greer, she’d just wanted to get through the workout and leave. “We haven’t seen each other in eight years. Surely we’ve moved on.”
    Barbara pursed her lips as if considering. “You know what? I don’t think so. I can’t tell you how much I’ve enjoyed not hearing your pitiful life being trotted out by the Grapevine for the last eight years.”
    “That makes two of us. Honest, Barbara, I’m planning to leave town as soon as I can, and you’ll have all the attention you want.”
    “I hate how you say that like you’re the star and I’m the understudy. Just like you made sure it was in high school too.”
    “Barbara, I don’t control the gossip around here any more than I control the tides of the ocean.”
    “Yet it always seems to revolve around you. Hmm. Maybe you coming home isn’t such a bad thing after all; people can finally see I’m more successful than you are. Lord knows I’ve kept up with my looks better than you have. You just want to quit now that I’m finally winning.”
    Delaney closed her eyes and counted to ten. She bent over and shoved her towel and water bottle into her gym bag. When she straightened up to throw her gym bag over her shoulder, Barbara was still standing there. “You’re right, Barbara. You won. You’ve got the golden ticket. I bow to your greatness. Now can we bury the hatchet? I don’t have the energy for this.”
    “Ha! You’re afraid of walking in my shadow. Or should I say limping? Well, get used to it, since you made me do it all those years in high school. Eat. My. Dust.”
    Delaney looked at Barbara, watching all that pink Lycra quivering in indignation and excitement. She had been so close to letting this go, making Greer proud by walking away. But then Barbara had to go and throw her injury in her face. She looked into Barbara’s smug face, then over at Quinn and his gang, who moved ten feet closer every time she looked toward them. Damn rubberneckers.
    She stepped up as close as she could to Barbara and stared into her pretty hazel eyes until Barbara started fidgeting. Leaning in, she moved her head until she could talk directly into Barbara’s ear so no one else could hear. “Since you’re dragging up the past, you and I both know how you won homecoming and prom queen, don’t we? I saw the whole thing. Now, I never said anything back then because I didn’t care, but now I’m wondering if I’ll feel better coming clean, you know?”
    Barbara swiftly inhaled a breath and stepped back, glancing around furtively. “Looks like the kitten’s grown some claws. What do you want?”
    “I’ll be in here regularly for the next few weeks, and I want you to stay away from me. You can even ignore me, for all I care. But do not get in my face again. Deal?” Delaney raised an eyebrow at her.
    “Fine.” Barbara stuck out her chin and then smoothed her hands down her curvaceous hips. “No great loss. I was just trying to be polite.”
    “Really? Okay, then here’s your chance to be polite. In a loud, clear voice, I want you to say, ‘I have always admired you, Delaney Lyons, and I live for the day when you consider me your BFF.’ ”
    If Barbara’s eyes could shoot lasers, Delaney would be a pile of ashes. Her lips formed a straight, tense line and her face flushed before she ground out the words in a loud, monotone voice. “I have always admired you, Delaney Lyons, and I live for the day when you consider me your BFF.”
    That brought every head in the gym around.
    “Why