This was the first time Delaney had sort of let loose and seemed totally relaxed.
Note to self: good food helped Delaney relax.
“I gotta agree with you one that, ba—Del?”
“Ba-Del?” she laughed. “Drop the Ba and just call me Del if you have to have a nickname for me, Jay.”
I could work with that. “Del it is, then.”
“Now it’s my turn to ask questions about you.” She shoved the last bite of pizza into her mouth. “First, I had to finish that.”
“Gotta love a woman who isn’t afraid to eat.”
She rolled her eyes and grabbed another piece of pizza. “It’s the baby-making me eat like ten hungry linemen. Though, I will say, I did love pizza before.”
“So everything has been good with the pregnancy?” I know she had said it was her turn to ask questions, but whenever I saw an opportunity to find out more about her, I was going to take it.
“Better now. I had crazy morning sickness the first four weeks. Now, I’m just hungry all of the time.” She took a quick bite of her pizza. “But we’re talking about you right now.” She took a sip of her cider and laughed.
“What? You don’t like sparkling cider?”
She brushed her hand across her nose. “It's actually pretty good. The bubbles just tickled my nose.”
“That’s how you know it’s a good year.” I winked and took a sip of my glass. The shit was totally bubbly and sweet as hell. I would have loved to have had a beer with my pizza, but I didn’t want to be an ass and drink when she couldn’t.
“I’m more of a glass of milk with my pizza girl than a glass of wine.” She pushed back her stool and walked to the fridge. “You want a beer or something?”
Well, hot damn. “Uh, if you’ve got one.” I didn’t want milk, though. That did not sound like a good combination with pizza. “You really gonna drink milk? Is that one of those weird pregnancy cravings?”
She laughed and shook her head. “No. I’ve drank milk with pizza forever. You should try it.” She grabbed a gallon of milk from the fridge and set it down on front of me. “It cuts through the acidity of the sauce.”
“I’ll take your word on it, Del.”
She smiled wide. “Definitely like that better than babe, and you’re going to try the milk.” She turned to the cabinet and grabbed two glasses. “You don’t get a beer until you try the milk.”
“I’ve had milk before,” I chuckled.
She filled one glass to the brim, and the other, she splashed two fingers worth in it. “Take a bite then take a drink.” She stared expectantly at me.
“You’re really not going to give this up, are you?”
She shook her head. “Nope. This is science right here.”
“Science,” I mumbled. “I barely passed that class in high school. I’m going to have to take your word on this being good.” I took a huge bite of pizza, chewed a bit, then drank the milk.
“So?” she asked excitedly.
Who knew drinking milk would excite Delaney? “Not bad. A little weird, but okay.”
She pointed her finger at me. “Told ya.” She lifted the gallon to fill my glass again.
“Uh, no.” I put my hand over the top of the glass. “You promised me a beer if I tried the milk and pizza. Pay up, Del.”
“But you said it was good,” she insisted.
“Nah, I said it was okay.”
She rolled her eyes and twisted the cap back on the milk. “Milk is way better than beer with pizza.”
“You drink the milk, Del, and I’ll stick to beer.”
She set the milk back in the fridge and grabbed a bottle of beer. “Fine, you win,” she huffed. She set the beer in front of me and sat back down. “Now back to you.”
“Hit me with your questions.” It was only fair since I planned on finding out everything possible about Delaney.
She took another large bite of pizza. “Hmm,” she pondered. “I know about college and your friends. What about your sister? Any other family besides her?”
“She’s my only blood family I claim. She’s married to Kurt and owns a speed shop back home.”
“And where is home?” she asked.
“Up by Chicago. Born and raised there. Mostly raised by Leelee, though. My parents got into drugs and took off when I was twelve.”
“Say what?” she gasped. “Your parents just left you?”
I nodded and peeled a pepperoni off the pizza. “Sure did. Though it was probably the best thing they could have done. Leelee ended up marrying Kurt so she could keep me and the rest is history from there.”
“Hold up. Your sister married her husband so she could get custody of you?”
“Sure did. Worked out in the end, though. They fell in love, and I had a good place to live finally.”
“Well, dang,” she laughed. “I was not expecting you to say that.”
“You never really know someone's story unless you ask them.” I looked at the beer and cringed. “You, by chance, wouldn’t have a bottle opener, would you?”
“Third drawer on the left.”
I grabbed the bottle opener form the drawer and leaned against the counter. “What other secrets are you looking to uncover?”
“Not secrets. Just looking to find more out about you.”
I popped open the top on the beer and tossed the cap on the counter. “So you know my parents took off, my sister is a saint, and I went to college with Frankie and Remy.”
“Did you and Frankie ever date?”
It was a justifiable question. “I tried once, but only ‘cause I didn’t know her.”
“You’re gonna have to explain that answer a little bit more.”
I sat back down and took a swig off my beer. “She was good-looking and knew how to turn a wrench. My teenage brain didn’t realize with all of that she had one hell of a chip on her shoulder from being brushed aside for being a girl.” That was an understatement when it came to Frankie, but there it was in a nutshell.
“Please tell me she put you in your place.”
I laughed and nodded. “She sure as hell did. Almost kicked me in the nuts, but I was able to duck out of the way before her foot made contact.”
“I think I might like Frankie,” she laughed.
“Most people do. Just don’t get on that woman’s wrong side. She’s constantly giving me shit at work.”
“About what?” Delaney asked.
I took another drink of beer. “Just that she thinks she’s the only one working around there.”
“But is that true?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Some of the time?”
Delaney laughed. “That is a yes to all of the time, then.”
It wasn’t true, but I didn’t want to look like a dick trying to prove my point. Frankie was a hard worker and so was I, just in different ways. “Next question, Del.”
“I don’t know what else to ask.” She tapped her finger on her shin. “Do you talk to your sister often?”
“She calls to pester me every couple of days. Her husband has two brothers that are into car building and drag racing so they’ve been out to a couple of the races this year. I probably won’t see them for a bit.”