Page 43 of Electric Touch

I open the door and step out. Adrestia smiles, but her eyes move past me. She sees Riley and her brows pinch. I shut the door before she can see any more. She hesitates for a moment before walking down the hallway. What the hell do I say to her? I’d been having a good time, finally, for the first time in ages, I was enjoying myself.

Riley has to come along and fuck everything up.

We make our way out into reception. I hurry to open the door for Adrestia, but she’s already got it. She keeps it propped open so I can fit through with the guitar cases.

“She was crying.”

“Huh?” I look up, but I know what she is talking about.

“You don’t need to hide anything from me. I mean, it’s your personal business and if you don’t want to talk about it, that is cool. I know when to butt out. You don’t seem upset.”

“I’m not,” I say, surprising myself. “It’s not my job to make her feel better.”

She lifts a brow. “At the risk of sounding nosey, which I am, what did she say?”

I glance up and down the street, realising she doesn’t have a ride home. I borrowed Ciro’s car to get here. “Do you need a ride?”

A look of disappointment crosses her face. It makes me want to laugh.

“To tell me she misses me,” I say truthfully. “You want a ride?”

Adrestia snorts, then ducks her head. “Sorry. And yes, a ride would be great.”

“It’s fine,” I laugh. “She’s delusional.”

I point to Ciro’s Toyota Camry. It’s beat up to hell, but it’s been a solid car for about eight years now. We all borrow it when the need arises. Ciro can be an asshole, but he’s never been tight about loaning his car.

“It’s a perfectly natural response,” Adrestia points out. “Right about now, she’ll be questioning her choices. Don’t be surprised if she tries it again. She’s going to be looking back and seeing what she is missing out on. Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener. People who cheat tend not to remain in the relationship they moved on to.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes.” She shakes her head. “Then you have people like my mama, who moves from one relationship to the next and her exes all still adore her.”

“Your mom is not with that guy you mentioned, your stepdad?”

“No, unfortunately not. She married someone else in Vegas last year. I’ve only met him once. He’s younger than her but it won’t last. It will be her who moves on, that’s just my mama, she’s always been flighty. I don’t know how she does it, but there is never any animosity when things end. She’s an anomaly, that is for sure. Despite being married to someone else, Hank is family, and she treats him that way. They have Ariella tying them together, and always will.”

“That’s your sister?” I ask as I unlock the car. I set the guitars on the back seat, then get in as Adrestia pulls on her seat belt.

“Yes,” she smiles.

I start the car and pull away from the parking lot. Adrestia gives me her address. Traffic is a nightmare, it’s after rush hour, but the streets in New York are never easy to navigate.

“Tell me about her,” I say.

She clears her throat. “She’s beautiful,” she tells me, her face softening. “She’s six years younger than me. I told you about my dad and not knowing who or where he is, so we have different fathers. Hank treated me as his own daughter since the day we met.”

I love the sound of her voice and wonder if she can sing? I’ve never asked her that.

“She is nothing like me,” she laughs. “We’re complete opposites of each other. She’s somewhere in between my serious logical ass and Mama’s dreamer ways. Here.” Adrestia takes out her phone, scrolls for a moment, then passes it to me when we stop at a red light.

It's a photograph of the two of them together. Her little sister is gorgeous. She has the same features as Adrestia, though she’s not as curvy, and her hair is straight. They must both take after their mom. She also doesn’t have the vivid green eyes. I can’t help but compare the two of them and find my eyes going back to Adrestia in the photograph.

On a whim, and even though I’d decided not to bring it up before, I ask her what plans she has tonight.

“My lesson plans are all up to date, so I was going to do some reading tonight.”

“Come on, you’re not that boring.”

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