Fuck... I knew she left.

One look at the emotion that swirled in Delilah's eyes when she retracted her questions about my sexual partners should have rooted me to the spot, until I fully spoke my mind to her.

She looked at me like the fact I was with other girls pained her and that pained me more than I expected. Delilah obviously has, or at least had, previous relationships based on that tool Jonah who apparently can't take a hint. And her sexual... skill level I'll call it, was beyond anyone else's I'd ever been with. I knew without asking that she was very experienced.

She also handed me fucking face cream for my nipples, like I didn't know what it was.

I barely knew her but the way she knew my body was unbelievable. It reacted under her control, one tug on the clamps at a time. Never before had I felt such strained, manipulated, and uncontrolled pleasure. If I hadn't already been on my knees then I would've fallen onto them.

Delilah was right, the clamps hurt like a bitch the more she tugged on them, and the blood surge at the end sprung tears into my eyes. Pressure from her small fist around my cock built up until I couldn't take it anymore and the words that I begged her for relief were on the tip of my tongue when she released the clamps...

As if she knew. She fucking knows my body better than me.

The heat chaser that followed my orgasm glowed through me, well past the point when I shot my load everywhere. I felt like I hadn't come all week when really, I came twice earlier with Audrey.

My respect level for Delilah soared after tonight's second round, where only I came. She wasn't derogatory or disrespectful, spoke quietly but firmly, and checked on me at what felt like every step of my new experience. But she'd gone from willingly taking whatever I gave her and turned me into a kneeling and sweating, almost drooling and begging, heap at her feet. My legs still wobbled as I walked down the hallway to our shared bathroom.

With the heat that lingered in my body, I needed a cooler than normal temperature shower afterwards. Before I stepped inside, I glanced at the mirror and frowned at my nearly purple and swollen nipples. A slight hiss escaped me when I gently poked the right one, followed by a flush of sensitivity that surged through my veins.

The streams of water that ran over my body offered little relief. My mind swarmed with ideas of how I repaid the favor as I washed off my stomach and down my thighs.

I wasn't sure what Delilah had done to me but I'd felt that orgasm through every vein in my body. They throbbed with arousal, dizzied my brain, and left my limbs feeling weightless. An invisible energy surged through me, quickly followed by the need that I needed to return those good feelings to her.

No, more than that. I don't know what this is but, fuck, I need more.

She deserves more but I also want to know more about her.

After a quick shower, I wrapped my towel around my waist and stepped back to a completely empty and dark bedroom. Flicking on the lights confirmed what the weight in my chest already assumed, that she'd left, and I pounded my fist into my bedroom's door frame.

My feet moved as fast as possible, two steps down at a time, with my hand tightly gripped onto my towel so it stayed in place. Griff still watched a movie on the living room television, and smirked at my naked state.

"She left," he tossed out lazily.

"No shit," I grumbled to myself. "How long ago."

"About..." he checked his watchless wrist. "No fucking idea."

"Fucking useless." My feet bounded down the stairs and I flung open the door, to a completely empty neighborhood. Even with the street lights that highlighted the sidewalks, I saw absolutely no sign of her.

Fuck, I hope at least she caught a ride. She shouldn't be walking out by herself!

I raked my hands through my wet hair and stomped back up the stairs. Once in my bedroom, I sank onto my bed and cupped my forehead in my hands. A soft buzz from my phone next to me drew my attention to the obvious.

I'm so, so stupid.

My thumb moved over my locked screen, which showed three recent text messages from my usual girls Whitney, Sam, and Allie.

No wonder she asked me, then left the first chance she had.

Fuck... I have to - I have to...

I squeezed my eyes tightly shut and my brain fogged over with confusion. While my phone probably looked like I was a total player, I really only slept with the same girls on rotation. Wasn't that better than a bunch of one-night randoms? My girls were clean and, as far as I knew, monogamous with me. They knew our setup was only about sex.

Says the guy who wanted to punch Delilah's ex unconscious so he got the point that she's off-limits.

I have to set this right.

At the least, I wanted to know that Delilah was safe, so I threw on a pair of sweats, T-shirt, socks, and shoes. With my wallet and phone in my pockets, my feet bounded back down the stairs. Griff grinned widely at me, I slammed the door behind me, and jumped into my car.

The number of emotions that whooshed through me while I searched for Delilah felt humanly impossible. My teeth gritted as tight as my hands clenched on the steering wheel. Loud squeals erupted until my tires as I stomped my foot down on the accelerator and tore down the driveway.

With a hard yank, I turned onto the neighborhood street. The darkness that surrounded my car flushed a sense of urgency through me.

I need to find her.

What the fuck is she thinking? It's dark, late, and she might not know where the fuck she's going.

Fuck, when I find her, I swear I will tie her down and...

The possibilities that flooded through my mind stirred my cock with interest. Just the mental image of her black hair sprawled over my pillows and creamy white skin over my gray sheets as she sweated and writhed stiffened me right back up.

"Not the time!" I yelled down at the main culprit in this shitty situation. "It's your fault I'm in this mess... And now I'm talking to my dick."

A loud groan vibrated my throat. I turned right onto a side street, which wasn't any more well lit than ours.

Oh fuck, what if she's mugged, or... worse?

What can she do, club someone off with a spreader bar? She's like one-ten, one-twenty at most. And don't get me started on those flimsy arms.

The idea that girl stubbornly walked herself into harm because of my fuckery practically incinerated my ego into a pile of carbon dust.

By the fifth street I drove down, my eyes darted around so quickly that I gave myself a headache. Sweat built up in my palms and my heart hammered inside my chest walls until they practically rattled.

"The fuck are you..." I muttered on repeat.

I followed the reverse directions to her apartment building, slowly and carefully, but saw no signs of her. Parked in a parking spot, my fingers tapped on the wheel as I debated whether she'd gotten back already or not. Right when I was going to back up and try an alternative street, Delilah's small frame rounded the corner of her apartment's entrance.

Relief flooded through me and my shoulders relaxed at the sight of her. The strain in my wrists dissolved as I loosened my death grip on the wheel and even my cock... Yeah, that wasn't relaxed. Fucker practically waved hello and offered a belated thanks for the earlier orgasm.

My eyebrows squeezed together when I took in how her feet moved quickly, her arms hugged her stomach, and she kept her chin dipped down. With one lift of a small, pale hand, her fingers flicked over her cheek and I realized she was crying softly.

Oh fuck. That's... She's hurt? No, she's just crying.

The realization felt like I'd been punched in the gut.

No no no. Not tears. I can't do tears. Maybe she just stubbed her toe? Hit her head on a low-lying tree branch?

My younger sister Callie was extremely sensitive. She wore every damn emotion on her sleeve, tears being the worst, and I was surprised I'd never been arrested for how many assholes I'd threatened after they'd hurt her.

But I was the asshole here. I was the reason for Dee's tears. Even though I barely knew her, the sobering sight tore into me.

My hands dropped off the wheel into my lap and I drew in a ragged breath. I'd never dealt well with crying girls but Delilah looked...

I have to fix this.

I moved before the slam of my door shut registered in my brain. Her eyes down and chin tucked, she must not have noticed me because she jolted and squealed as I wrapped my arms around her. My heart pounded hard as I probably choked her into my chest.

"Dee, I'm so sorry," I rushed out and hugged her small body like a kid who'd found their lost toy because, fuck, I had. "You scared me, leaving like that."

"I'm fine..." She palmed my chest and shoved us apart. Her red-rimmed eyes flashed and corners of her mouth drew down. "And you played me."

Dryness coated my tongue at her accusation, the pain that clipped her tone short and sharp. In probably the worst reaction I could've possibly had, I pointed out the obvious with an index finger wagged between my still-sore nipples, "Technically you played with me, Dee."

"Ugh!" She threw her hands up, one of them very close to smacking me in the cheek, which I probably deserved.

Right when she turned up the stairs, my hand squeezed around her slim wrist. "Wait, Delilah. I'm sorry. I'm... really fucking sorry."

"I seriously doubt that," the dryness in her voice mirrored the dullness in her eyes. She reminded me of the cold, distant version that brushed me off when we first met. "I'm just another belt notch, I get that Evan."

"You're not. And I am sorry," I assured her with a rising sense of desperation when she just shook her head. "What? You want me to beg? Fine."

With zero hesitation, faster than Delilah's lips parted, my knees sank down onto the concrete sidewalk. Even through my sweatpants, the rough texture scratched my knees and I resumed a similar position as I had earlier tonight.

Second time tonight. Third total for this girl... The fuck is wrong with me?

For a shit ton of reasons I didn't understand myself, I knelt down to her... again. Yet, unlike when Delilah stood over me earlier, dressed in black lace as she worked me over like her personal play toy, I knelt at her mercy in a different way. Instead of the brilliant heat that burned her eyes a deep sapphire color, horror flashed through her eyes as they stretched wide and her free hand clamped over her mouth.

"Evan." Her head shook back and forth, so quickly that her bangs fluttered up. "Don't, just... don't do this."

A flush of pink spread across her pale cheeks and she tugged her hand back, but I kept my tight grip. Delilah, however, couldn't have looked more embarrassed by my dramatic demonstrations. I didn't give a fuck who saw me, a 6ft2 guy on his knees for a 5ft5 vampire emo girl who'd hooked me straight through the dick.

"I'm sorry," I rasped out and dragged the pad of my thumb over each of her damp eyes. "I'm sorry, Dee."

"Don't be." She sniffled quietly. "I... should thank you, for the reminder of who you are."

"But you don't know me," I blurted out an awful choice of words. "I mean, you know parts of me. Fuck, better than I know them but what I mean is I want to know you, Delilah."

I mean those words, I'd determined that in my post-orgasm shower. And I wanted to know more than how the fuck she learned about the mix of pain and pleasure.

At the risk I wandered dick-first into uncharted territory, I wanted to know her as a person... her likes, dislikes, how she liked her fucking coffee, why she walked home from work, and why the fuck she lived in such a shitty-looking apartment building.

She blinked. Her only reaction was she fucking blinked those red-irritated eyes. "Is this the sex talking?"

An unfamiliar sense of desperation rose up inside me, which washed over the sensibility that came along with me using the same girls for months.

And yet... something's missing.

In just three rounds, Delilah had sparked an interest in me and challenged me with unknown possibilities. While I still had no fucking clue why, my body craved hers more than anyone else's, like a drug I'd sampled, gotten addicted to, and one, two, not even three hits were enough.

"You want proof that it's not just about the sex? Go out with me." I should have stopped there but my stupid fucking mouth rambled, "I'll fucking date you so hard that you'll fall in love with me."

Bad words, Evan.

"Woah." She flashed her free hand's palm at me, like a white flag. "Just... slow down here. I think we got off on the wrong start and it's best if we just -"

"Go out with me," I interrupted because, fuck, I didn't want to hear the end of that sentence. To a girl I barely knew, I bared myself with zero shame and fucking begged from on my knees, "Give me a chance, Dee."

"Evan," she groaned quietly and yanked at her hand. "Stand up, you're embarrassing -"

"I don't fucking care." My hand fished into my pocket and pulled out my phone. "You want those girls gone? Hang on."

"Evan, I don't -" she started when I held up my hand, pressed Whitney's number, and put her call on speaker phone.

"Hey Evan," Whitney's sweet voice burst through my phone.

Delilah's head shook and her mouth rounded into "No" after "No," but I ignored her. "Hey, Whit. I've been thinking and we... should move on. I've enjoyed our time together but we should -"

A loud sigh rushed static out of my phone. "Oh Evan, I'm so glad you said that. I've been thinking the exact same thing and I was going to tell you tonight."

Whelp, fuck... That's awkward.

At this cringe-worthy reveal, Delilah's blood-red lips rolled inward and she dropped her eyes sideways. My eyes closed for a moment, then I assured Whitney, "Completely fine. Thanks, Whitney."

"Take care of yourself, Evan," Whitney replied sweetly.

The silence that surrounded me and Delilah was thick and awkward as fuck. We were in LA, so not even crickets chirped out.

"Evan - " Delilah started quietly. "I did not ask-"

"No, but I offered to prove a fucking point." I sighed, rose up from my knees, and sat down on her apartment steps. "Sit."

"I... no." Her head shook but, to me at least, she looked like she convinced herself, not me. "No, Evan."

I think at this point her hand had also fallen asleep under my strangled grasp on her wrist because her fingers hung limply. Her nails brushed lightly over my wrist and just that contact sent tingles down the inside of my forearm.

"Sit," I repeated and pointed to the last step on her shitty apartment stairs, before a rat or cockroach took up my offer instead. "Please."

If Delilah's choice of ex's bothered me, then I was borderline enraged by the cracked and crumbling foundation and iron-barred up windows in her apartment building that was better off condemned.

Fuck, why isn't there more acceptable housing?

Doesn't have to be like Dad's place but still... Does she even have AC here?

"Sorry in advance for this," I muttered and pressed Sam's number. Of the two, she was the more reasonable -

"Evan!!" Allie's voice squealed out. "We thought you wouldn't call!"

Delilah's nose crinkled up at the word 'we,' so I found her closest hand and squeezed it. My other hand shifted the call to speakerphone and rested it flat on my knee.

"Evan?" Sam's voice cooed out in the background. "Please tell me we're on for tonight, I'm so fucking horny that it hurts."

When her words hit my ears, I pinched the insides of my eyes.

"We need you, Evan," Allie purred out. "We've been bad, bad girls and -"

"And it's over." I felt like a massive dick as I interrupted her and did this over the phone, but had a fucking point that was going to be proved. "I think we should end our... setup. I'm sorry, it's been great but you girls should move on."

Two loud screeches poured out of my phone, followed by loud giggles.

"Evan, is this... a joke?" Allie asked.

"No, I'm serious." I shook my head, even though she couldn't see me. "Thanks but fun's over."

Sam's voice shifted into a murderous tone as she hurled out, "You fucking asshole prick! I hope your dick catches every STD possible and-"

So much for being the reasonable one.

"I deserve that, I'm sorry." I hung up to the sound of a shit ton more expletives, reminders of how I'd never find anyone like them, and dick threats. "And... probably best if I just..." I muttered and blocked their numbers.

While my fingers worked over my phone, Delilah sat silent and, except for her nose twitch, completely still. I held up one index finger, then scrolled through my phone and deleted every hookup, past, present, or possible future not just from my contacts but my entire phone and text history.

With the way each second ticked by in silence, the amount of time I needed until I was finished was embarrassing. And once I thought I was done, I remembered my photos and went delete-happy on those albums too.

"Look." I put the wiped clean phone in her palm. "Family and friends only. Callie is my sister."

"What the fuck, Evan?" Those deep blue eyes blinked down at the phone, then up at me. "I didn't ask you to do that."

"No, I wanted to. Clean slate." My index finger tapped the top of my phone. "Now put your number in."

My chest puffed up at those words and a grin stretched across my face. If I was a dog then I would've laid between her feet, on my back, presented for a 'good boy' belly rub.

Delilah shook her head and handed the phone back. "No, Evan."

"No?" I croaked out because, fuck, my throat was as dry as a desert that evaporated up my grin. "Why not?"

"Because I..." Her lower lip rolled under and fuck, I needed to not appreciate how sexy that looked. She'd done that, maybe without realizing it, before she'd clamped my nipples and every time those small fingers tugged on the chain.

"Put your number in, Dee," I snapped out, more from urgency coupled with frustration but still sounded pissed off.

Her eyes hardened and her hand shoved my phone into my chest. "No."

"At least tell me why," I muttered and clenched my hand around my phone.

"Because you haven't fucking earned it." Her cheeks flushed at that admission, which must have surprised her since her eyes also shot wide.

My grin came right back. "So... you do like me," I teased and released her hand.

"I did not say that," she answered quickly but the pink rash on her cheeks said otherwise.

"Liar. I have a chance." I'd never worn such a face-splitting grin before. "I will earn your fucking number."

"I didn't say that. Look, this has been a long and confusing night, so..." Delilah groaned and stood up. "Good night, Evan."

My heart soared at good night, not goodbye, and my grin, yeah that got bigger too. "Good night, beautiful. Those digits are mine, Dee."

Two steps up, her soft giggle hit my ears like celebration music. "Take your best shot, fuck boy."

Even though I had no fucking idea how to win her over, I practically leapt up from my seated position, eager for the challenge.

She has no idea what my stubborn ass is capable of.