“I do, but you seem pretty confident about that fact too. Have you been taking peeks, Delilah?” I tease, wanting to keep the conversation on my faults.

“I might not have seen it, but I know enough to . . .” She falters and blows out a breath. “What I mean is, my lie was a made-up exaggeration. Yours, unfortunately, wasn’t. I had a complex about the shape of my boobs, and your asshat comment made it worse.”

“You think I was disparaging your tits?”

“Kind of hard to think otherwise.” Her tone is so pained everything in me stills.

For the first time, it fully hits me what I’m facing when it comes to Delilah. Yes, we’ve said evil shit to each other over the years. Yes, we were both accountable for our shared bad behavior. But I unknowingly did damage that has left wounds that still haven’t healed. While she was disparaging of my character, I picked apart her looks. Like an asshole. It’s clearly shaped the way she thinks I saw her—see her still.

Some might say she should have gotten over it already. But I know damn well how negative words can dig into your soul with sharp claws. I’ve spent a decade avoiding my father, hating him, and all he had to do was throw a few well-placed words my way, and I was that hurt, bewildered boy once more. Is it any different for Delilah? Somehow I doubt it.

Shaking my head, I lower my voice so she’ll be forced to hear it. “No way. Not for a fucking second.”

She blushes. “Oh, for the love of—”

“Tot, please believe me when I say that the sight of your tits in that thin top was the erotic highlight of my young life.” She has to know what she does to me. How can she not know?

Delilah sucks in a breath as though I’ve shocked her, but her gaze slides away. “Stop saying ‘tits.’ It’s crude.”

“Fine. Breasts. Happy?”

“Hardly.”

I duck my head so I can catch her gaze with mine. “I was into them. Really into them. Okay?”

She bites her bottom lip, clearly struggling to believe me. “And yet you had to tease me about them.”

“It was shitty, yes. But a necessary diversionary tactic to my thirteen-year-old lizard brain.” I take a small step closer. “I didn’t want anyone to notice that I had a raging hard-on. And forgive me for panicking, but it was my first public sight-induced erection.”

Her snort is sheer disbelief. “Your first?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Bullshit.”