Damaged Souls (Broken Man) by Christopher Scott Page B

not about anything. It’s just awkward, Delaney thought to herself as she tried to understand what Greg was feeling as she remembered their aborted conversations of the last couple weeks. Can it be that hard to talk to me, she wondered. Maybe we just aren’t meant to be together.
    Maybe I should tell him how I feel, Delaney considered the alternatives. But that would be difficult, especially since I’m not even sure what it is I am feeling. I thought I did before that night, but now everything is so complicated, especially after what happened with Mitch.
    I wonder why Greg doesn’t like him, Delaney remembered her date with Mitch on Friday night. He was a total gentleman, she had noticed the way he held the door for her and how he laughed at her silly stories. I think Jack and Amanda also like him, Delaney smiled as she remembered Jack giving him the not so subtle once over.
    And he’s a good kisser. She had not planned to kiss him during that first date, but Delaney had surprised herself by returning his kiss after he walked her to the door. Yes, she definitely had felt something during that moment on the porch, and she was still a little mad a Jack for embarrassing her by flashing the porch light.
    Maybe Greg and I are just meant to be friends, she tried to explain away her feelings for him. Yes, I love him and I know he loves me, but we might be confusing our friendship and feelings for one another with something that really isn’t there. I wish this was easier, Delaney decided as she tried to go back to watching the movie.
    I wish Greg would just tell me how he feels.
    * * *
    Greg felt nothing but exhaustion as he let the hot water soothe his tired body. Nothing is going right these days, he thought about how much it was going to cost to fix his old beat up truck. Maybe I can get it started again and it can make it through another week..
    I’m not sure I’m going to make it though, he doubted himself as he lathered up. No, he didn’t mind the work, that wasn’t the problem. He could work all day and night if he needed to. No, the problem was Delaney and his inability to control his thoughts for her.
    Why did I even go there, he remembered that night as he rinsed the soap from his body. I shouldn’t have forced the issue and everything would still be fine between us. I am so stupid, he condemned himself as he washed his hair.
    “Mitch Caldwell,” Greg sneered the name of his conqueror. Why does it have to be him, he figured it was just another one of their long lost competitions carried over from grade school. He wouldn’t even know how to handle a girl like Delaney.
    Delaney was way too complex for a shallow moron like Mitch. What appeared simple, innocent, and beautiful on the surface was much more complicated as you got to know her and sorted through the many layers of her personality. But, Mitch wasn’t interested in her complexity or personality. He just wanted to go out with her because she was the prettiest girl in school, a shiny trophy awarded for his athletic prowess.
    Greg had tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but now, it simply wasn’t happening. Sure his pedigree looked good. Star quarterback, decent student, Division One football scholarship, good looking in the eyes of all the girls. But, Greg knew the reality behind the image.
    It was just a carefully orchestrated front. He was like the entitled star athlete on television who said all the right things on camera and then was totally different once the lights were turned off. Yeah, Mitch was smooth and polished at first glance, but Greg had access to the dirty work behind the scenes.
    Yeah, Mitch and his posse, primarily the offensive lineman who protected his ass on and off the field. Just a group of bullies who had first formed way back in middle school, hoping to ride the coattails of this quarterbacking phenom. They left Greg alone, mainly out of deference to his past friendship with Mitch, but they could be brutal on the weaker