CHAPTER9
NOVA
“Jesus,”I say, studying the girl with full lips and dominating features who stands in the doorway of the apartment, phone pressed to her ear. Her eyes are huge and silvery gray, her drawn-on brows sharply angled. She has a hauntingly beautiful face.
The first thing she asked me when she burst into the apartment was, “Why are you here?” Her intense, high-pitched tone had sent Figgy scrambling across the hardwood to hide under the couch, and I wished I could join him.
Now, I brace myself on the counter and wait for her to freak out on me—to demand I get out. Instead, she holds the phone away from her ear. I’m sure my face betrays me; Zeke was right in wanting to be a buffer.
“Did he say you couldn’t meet us without him here?” she challenges, and I nod. “What a jerk.”
His sister notices Figgy quivering beneath the couch, and she buzzes past. She drops to her hands and knees in front of the couch.
“I’m sorry, kitty,” she coos. “Did I scare you, buddy?”
I rub my chest and fight lingering nausea. “You scaredme,” I say, and she peeks back over her shoulder with a smile. This one is unpredictable. She gives off that vibe, not to mention she’s oscillated through four different emotions in less than a few minutes.
She dusts off her tight jeans as she stands then extends her hand. “I’m Delilah. You can call me Del. I’m Zeke’s big sister. One of them, anyway.”
Del is the second of Zeke’s sisters I’ve met, and she and Tabitha have very different energies and appearances. Del looks a little biker-chick, a little country, and very small town. There’s a sort of Groupie aesthetic to her style with lots of denim and leather and attitude.
“Nova,” I say. She gave me her name; it would be weird if I didn’t give her mine. But judging from the way Tabitha and Jet reacted when Zeke told them who I was, I’m pretty sure of the reaction I’m going to get.
“What?” Her voice pitches up, and Figgy scoots completely out of view. “Nova? LiketheNova?”
“Everyone keeps reacting like this.” Shifting in my stance, the weirdness around this family bubbles up. My sister is always in my business, and I hate it. The first time I ever had sex, Dru found out from someone else. She came at me with all sorts of education and resources. I ended up with a drawer full of pamphlets and shame.
I was enraged, but I never said anything. Dru isn’t the kind of person you argue with.
“Wow, this is mind-blowing. Man, you messed him up.” Del crosses her arms, and a smirk quirks at the edge of her mouth.
For God’s sake, do these people have any idea what boundaries are?
“I don’t know how I messed him up.” It was one quickie on a desk for me. Sure, it was the best sex I’ve ever had, but as cocky as he was, I’m sure he’s had plenty of office sex. I couldn’t possibly be that memorable.
It’s intriguing and confusing, and I make a mental note to ask him about it when we’re alone.
“To be honest,” Del continues. “I have no idea. Zeke never talks about what happens in that thick head of his. All he lets out are smart-ass remarks and dumbass questions.”
He does ask a lot of questions. I didn’t notice before, probably because I keep forgetting to stop gawking at him.
Del shrugs. “All I know is he was one way before you showed up, and totally another way after you stood him up.”
“I feel bad about that.” If I had realized what kind of effect I would have on him, I wouldn’t have initiated sex in the first place.
But that’s kind of a lie. Because the only reason I hit on him was because I felt his insecurities, sensed his loneliness.
“So, where are you heading, anyway?” he asked, leaning on the desk, making his broad shoulders seem wider.
“Alaska,” I answered, moving nearer to inhale his scent. The working-man smell intoxicated me, especially right then. Especially on him. Anything that was a polar opposite of what I was used to.
His eyes went unfocused for a moment, and a wave of sadness passed across his features. He snapped back to me, his lips settling in a cocky grin. “Cool. I’d love to get out and travel more.”
“Why don’t you?” I asked, and he shifted his gaze. I needed it on me, like a blanket on a cold night.
“Stuck here.” The words carried a lot of weight, and I felt every bit of it. Stuck in more than one way. Job, family, status, life. Stuck.
“A great way to get unstuck is to get moving, I guess.”