The place was packed. I scanned the crowd for Della.
“Woods, about damn time you showed up,” Tripp called out over the music that was pumping through the condo’s built in speaker system. He was sitting at the bar with Jace, Bethy, Thad, and some unknown female who was sitting in Thad’s lap. Della wasn’t anywhere in the room. Dammit.
“And he’s back,” I said, forcing a smile.
“Just for a visit. Can’t stay long. Dad will try and get a monkey suit on me if I do,” he joked. But the words were too close for comfort. I knew what it felt like to have your father’s claws imbedded deep.
“I’m trying to get him to stay. But he has it in his head he’s only visiting before his next adventure,” Jace said. I knew he was trying to ease my mind about Tripp being here. I could tell by his tone of voice. Right now, I just wanted to find Della.
“Where’s Della?” I asked, unable to pretend like I wasn’t here for her.
Tripp’s eyebrows shot up and his gaze narrowed. I ignored it and looked directly at Jace.
Jace rolled his eyes and shook his head at me.
“She’s in her room. Why?” Tripp replied.
“Why is she in her room? Is she okay?” I asked looking back at the hall that led to the two bedrooms in the condo. Both doors were shut. Which one was she staying in?
“She had a phone call and went in there so she could hear. Again, why do you care?” Tripp asked.
I wasn’t going to answer him. This wasn’t his business. He was stopping through. He said so himself.
“Woods and Della met when she passed through a few months back. They uh… they uh… hooked up. They’re friends now. He’s a little protective,” Jace explained.
“You’re engaged,” Tripp said as if I needed reminding.
I leveled my gaze on him. “I wasn’t when Della and I met. And it doesn’t stop me from caring about her. I need to make sure she’s okay,” I said, before moving across the room toward the hallway.
I opened the first door and the lights were off. I closed the door and opened the next one. Della was sitting on the bed with her legs crossed and a phone pressed to her ear. Her eyes lifted to meet mine and they widened with surprise.
She was okay and I should close the door and walk away. But I didn’t. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me.
“Uh, yeah. I need to go. I’ll call you later,” Della said into the phone as she watched me warily. “I’m fine. I just had company walk in and I don’t want to be rude. Okay. Yeah. I love you too. Bye.”
She pressed the end button on her phone and slowly lowered it to her lap. “Woods?” The rest of her question was left open.
“You weren’t out there.” I nodded my head toward the door. “I wanted to check on you.”
Understanding dawned on her face and she gave me a small smile that made my chest feel tight. “Thank you but you know you don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine. Really I am.”
She wasn’t fine. I wasn’t sure she’d ever been fine. I walked across the room and sat down beside her on the bed.
“I’ve wanted to come check on you since Friday night. You know you can call me if you ever need me.”
She turned her head just an inch so that she could meet my gaze. “You were busy with your fiancée this weekend. You don’t have time to worry about me.”
I had only been with Angelina today at lunch. “I’ve hardly seen Angelina this weekend,” I replied, hating saying her name to Della. It seemed wrong.
Della dropped her eyes to stare down at her hands. “I saw the two of you when I got off work today.” She didn’t say more. I thought back to the disaster of a lunch we’d had with our parents and the fight we’d had on the ride over to the club. Then I’d apologized because Angelina had been right. I was torturing us both by being an ass.
“We had lunch together,” I explained. I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to explain but I did.
“You fought and you made up. I don’t understand how you can ever be happy, Woods.” Her honest reply caused the tightness in my chest to ache.
“Me either.”
“I can’t let myself care about you anymore. I’m afraid of how I feel about you and I don’t want to get hurt.”