my waist in a tight hug. “I’d make time for you, Theo. Always.”
I went rigid when I saw a couple walking past us with curious eyes, and the woman didn’t look particularly thrilled over the embrace Della had me in. Swallowing, I patted her back and drew away first with a small smile.
“What?” she asked, brows pinching. I began to shake my head and tell her nothing was wrong when she saw the same couple whispering, the man not-so-subtly looking at me before shrugging at the woman. Her hand found my waist. “Theo?”
“Nothing, Della. It’s just—”
“Them?” she guessed, nodding toward the couple who had passed us. My shoulders eased, giving me away. “Seriously?”
“No. Like I said, I had a shit day with somebody who got on my nerves and I’m just being cautious.”
“Cautious.” She blinked before laughing dryly at my bad choice of word. “You’re being cautious of what exactly?”
“Della—”
Her mood shifted drastically. “We had sex!” she hissed, yanking her hand from my body, eyes watering to a glazed glare directed toward me. “I didn’t imagine that. I didn’t beg for it. Did I make the first move? Sure. Did you have to go through with it? Touch me? Taste me? Bend me over? No. But you did anyway. So, unless it was that bad—”
“Stop,” I growled, stepping toward her. “I’m sorry for upsetting you. I didn’t mean anything by it. But after today, I realized that there are going to be a lot of obstacles that we need to get through, and I don’t expect you to understand my point of view.”
“Try to explain it to me then.”
“Things changed dramatically because of what happened between us and I wouldn’t change that. But you said yourself that you were being spontaneous. It could have been a moment where you let your walls down. I wanted to be the person you needed in that moment. That doesn’t mean that moments last. We both know not all of them do.”
Her eyes widened. “You…” Her lips parted and then closed promptly, like she was trying to collect her thoughts. Color drained from her cheeks until she was pale. “Wow. That’s how it’s going to be, huh? Yeah, I get it. Moments end.”
Cursing, I stepped in front of her when she gripped her bag tightly and tried sidestepping me. “I didn’t mean it like that. I’m trying here, Della. I want you to be happy, but you can’t honestly think this won’t change us. It has to.”
“You make it sound like such a bad thing. Enlighten me, Theo. What are you trying to say because I’m not a mind reader? I want things to change. I’ve wanted that for a long time. That doesn’t mean we have to be different people though, so why are you making such a big fuss out of it?”
“We can’t be who we were!” I yelled, cussing under my breath when a few people walked past us and turned in our direction. “Can we go inside and talk?”
“No.”
“Della—”
“I don’t want to be who we were. We’d be going two steps back. Do you think I’m stupid? Or are you worried that I’m going to start demanding more from you?”
“That isn’t it.”
“Then talk to me. Here and now.”
Hesitation held me back, which only made her come closer to her own conclusions based on the twitch of her lips. “We can’t be Theo and little Della, but in some respects, we’ll always be. There are going to be memories that remind me of where we started. And no matter how much time passes, what occurs between us, that will haunt me. Not because I’m ashamed. Not because I regret finally having you as mine, because I don’t and I would, will, do it again very soon. You’re mine Della. You always have been. You’re just mine in a way a lot of people will fight against.”
She scoffed. “We’re back to that?”
“People will threaten us.” They already have. Pratt’s face flashed in my mind, making my fists clench at my sides.
“They have no grounds!” she shot back.
“Don’t they?” I questioned, shaking my head in disbelief. How many times had the public seen me out with her when she was younger holding my hand, laughing, watching me carry her on my shoulders? They saw a man helping his best friend raise his daughter when his job kept him busy. They saw somebody who was doing good for a selfless cause, but it wasn’t selfless. I liked being there for Della. Watching her succeed.