It took everything in me not to waver a smile, which would have given away his sarcasm. He delivered it so smoothly, so carefully, most people wouldn’t know it at all. It was how he got away with so much in conversation. Unlike those people, I knew better.
“Our plans.” I shook my head, dropping my napkin on the table. “I can’t believe I forgot about them.” My eyes turned to my aunt, who was frowning. “I’m sorry, Sophie. I need to go.”
She stood when I did, her palms flattening her typical Sunday best. The attire was flashy and bold but fitting for her personality. “Don’t think I don’t know what you two are up to. I’m not stupid.”
For a split second, my mind took me back to the night Theo stumbled into my flat and pressed me against the wall. Heat gathered between my thighs just remembering how hard he was everywhere, especially where he’d ground against me with his hips like he was trying to prove how much he needed an escape.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I managed, feigning innocence.
Sophie’s eyes rolled as a small sigh escaped her lips. “I know I’m not your favorite, but you didn’t need to plan an escape route. You could have simply said you didn’t want to come.”
She knew I’d never do that though without a good reason.
Theo appeared beside me, a palm going to my lower back. It wasn’t unusual, but the flutters in my stomach were a new occurrence since the night my mind liked taking me back to. Maybe he didn’t realize it, but Theo found ways to touch me every time we saw each other now. Our hands would brush, our shoulders, some part of him always needed that contact and I never shied away from it because I’d all but beckoned him to make those moves. “We really do have plans, Sophie. She goes back to school tomorrow.”
My aunt’s eyes widened. “I forgot all about that. Are you sure—”
“I’m sure.” I didn’t mean to cut her off, but I didn’t want to discuss this further. Whatever her opinion was, it was probably going to upset me more than I already was.
“Fine. Just think about what I said, okay? I spoke to Judith and she’d love to have you back. They’d be fools not to know you were the reason people came to the recitals before.”
I could feel Theo tense next to me, but he remained silent until we said our goodbyes. I promised Sophie nothing, knowing I wouldn’t break a vow or lead her astray. My mind was set.
When we were safely outside, Theo chose to speak. “She was trying to get you to dance.” It wasn’t a question, so I considered not answering. I knew Theo wouldn’t relent though.
“Yes. I told her no.”
There was a stretch of silence. “You’re smart, Della. You know your limits. She may not say it, but I will. I’m proud of you. Your father would be too.”
Tears burned the back of my eyes, but I refused to let them fall. I simply said, “Thank you” and climbed into the car that Dallas usually drove us around in.
Once we were both buckled, he turned to me with a small smirk gracing his sculpted face. I knew by the glint in his eyes he was up to something. “Want to go to Denny’s?”
Part of me wanted to tell him no. It was rare I told him that though. I loved spending time with him, especially one-on-one. But that nagging feeling cemented in the bottom of my stomach, the one that made me want to curl up in bed and not come out for days, resurfaced.
It told me not to eat my favorite pancakes or be with my favorite person or do anything other than sulk until every one of my defenses I’d custom built had fallen again.
I wanted to tell him no so bad.
But I didn’t. “I’d love that.”
The warehouse was musty, but it was my favorite place to go to think, which wasn’t often. Usually I avoided my thoughts, but sometimes they were unavoidable, and I had to accept that. That was why I was sitting on an old crate in the middle of the empty room with a sketch pad on my lap of a new project I’d been wanting to draw ever since it popped into my head one night when I’d been too restless to sleep.
A pencil outline of two faceless people took up most of the white sheet. Running a finger over the lines, I traced the larger hand that raised to the much smaller face. I’d pictured it a gentle touch, one of longing. That was what my mind conjured in the middle of the night on repeat. I figured if I could draw it, paint it, something, it’d free my conscious of the taunting memory of what it felt like that night.
Sighing, I looked up when a flutter came from the rafters. Birds got in all the time and hung out with me while I wallowed. Sometimes I drew, sometimes I’d just sit around and listen to the silence. This side of the city didn’t have a lot of traffic. It felt forgotten, almost like it was mine and mine alone now that my father was gone. I’d seen pictures of it in better shape when my parents were younger. It’d made sense why they liked sneaking away, having parties, breaking the rules like two people in love.
Part of me had been jealous of their tale, like I wouldn’t get that feeling. Not as easily as they did. Both my mother and father came from wealthy backgrounds. My father’s family was always in politics, and my mother’s from law. It made sense that they’d meet considering the mutual events held for the two groups of people. I’d been to my fair share of black-tie formals where I watched my father mingle among the best the city had
