Page 21 of Embers of Torment

I was still chuckling as Adam walked me to the door. "Thanks for inviting me over. I had fun. Let me know when you have movie night again, and I'll be here."

"I plan on it since you're so adept at keeping Della calm. She's usually in severe panic mode by now. I think it helps to have someone she can latch onto during the bad parts. Hopefully, she didn't leave marks."

"I'm fine. No marks," I laughed, although, in a way, it was a lie. Della had marked me—with an irresistible urge to be near her again and touch her in the way I wanted to earlier tonight.

Adam escorted me out, and I headed down the corridor.

Sighing, I pushed the button for the elevator, reluctantly going home alone.

Chapter 7

Della

Ihurried down Pier 4 Boulevard along the waterfront toward Tillson's Café, where I was meeting my sister-in-law Kendra. It was her turn to come to my neighborhood for lunch. The two of us switched back and forth between the Seaport area where I lived and Back Bay, which was the community Kendra and my brother, Spencer, called home. Today's outing would have made for a comfortable stroll if I hadn't been running late.

I'd gotten sidetracked searching the internet for information on Jace. The man had me so freaking intrigued I wanted to know as much as I could about him, and once I'd started my research, I didn't want to stop. After the way he snuggled and took care of me at Adam's apartment Friday night, my interest had blossomed beyond friendly curiosity. But I didn't want to label it anything but that. Doing so would only lead to problems.

That hadn't stopped me from acting like some wannabe private eye. My efforts revealed that he was an infrequent social media user, and his addresses, education, and employment datareflected his years in North Carolina and Colorado and displayed nothing unusual. Although those tidbits gave me a glimpse into his life, they didn't tell me much or help to dispel my suspicion that I was missing something.

I only wished I knew what that something was.

Shrugging off my lingering skepticism, I entered the café and scanned the dining area for Kendra. I spotted her sitting in the corner. Happy to see her, I plopped onto the seat across from her and tossed my purse strap over the back of my chair. Noticing the numbered stand beside the condiment tray, I cocked my head at her. "You ordered already?"

"Well, hello to you too," Kendra laughed, tucking a wayward strand of chestnut hair behind her ear. "And, yes, I did. You mentioned on the phone last night that you were craving a turkey and avocado sandwich, so I went ahead and ordered you one, along with an iced tea. I can run to the counter and change it if that isn't what you want."

"No, no. That's perfect. It's what I was getting." Although I appreciated her taking the initiative to get my lunch, doing so made it feel like I was exploiting her generosity by being late. That wasn't my game plan, and I was sure Kendra didn't see it that way. Besides her motherly nature, she and my brother were overly protective. So, I attributed my odd take on the situation to my hypersensitivity, which was a trait I usually kept hidden since most of society viewed it as a negative.

Growing up, I was an "oops baby," having come into this world after my parents assumed they would have no more children. Although I was unplanned, they deeply loved me, and as the youngest, I became coddled by my parents and older siblings. Beverly was fourteen years older than me and lived in Seattle with her husband and children. Spencer and I had a twelve-year age gap. Now grown up and at the whopping age of thirty-four, Istill found my brother and sister suffocating at times, but I knew they meant well.

The years spent protecting me—most notably by my parents when the boy from school bullied me—produced an unwanted consequence. Independence came with some difficulty, and it took a long time to understand myself and develop an identity. Worse still was my internal anguish, created by the two competing sides. I had my bully telling me I was an ugly and worthless subhuman in one ear. At the same time, my parents tried to counter the rhetoric and name-calling in the other. It was like flailing in a bubble of anxiety and depression, and even though it all happened years ago, the bullying left lasting scars.

"Della?" Kendra nudged my arm. "I just asked you a question."

I gave her a blank stare, her voice drawing me from my musings. "I'm sorry. I was thinking about something. Ask me again."

"I said, I assume you were with Adam Friday night. What did you two end up doing?"

"Oh, umm… Adam had a friend come over, and the three of us watched a flick."

"Who was the friend?"

"Just some guy Adam's known for a long time." I brushed a non-existent piece of lint from my jeans and straightened the hem of my blouse.

Kendra pursed her lips as she studied me. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing. Why?"

"Come on, Della. I know you and your habits better than you think. You're fidgeting, which means you're either leaving something out or trying to brush past the subject. So who is this guy?" Kendra eyeballed me, then broke into a wide grin. "You're blushing. It has to be because of the friend. Well? Tell me about him."

"Fine." I rolled my eyes and groaned. Kendra was relentless when she wanted information, which meant she wouldn't stop pressing until I fessed up. And, yeah, she knew me far too well, spotting a lie a mile away if I tried to get one by her. "The guy's name is Jace, and he recently moved here from Boulder, Colorado. He and Adam met in their teens and became best buddies when they attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill together. He's also super cute."

"And you like him."

"I… Yeah, I guess I do. But it doesn't matter. All we'll ever be is friends."

"Why would you say that if you like the guy?"

"Because it would be detrimental to let anything happen. Adam has been acting all giddy now that Jace has moved to Boston. There's no way I'm going to screw that up."

---