“You can go into a sex shop, of course,” Selena said. “But…you need to be prepared to see some things in there that could be triggering. There’ll be restraints. Things like handcuffs. They’ll mostly be the pink fluffy variety, but there could also be the real deal. There might be ropes and chains. That kind of thing.”

“Oh.”

Della absently rubbed at the faint scar on her right wrist. She hadn’t thought about that possibility. It’d been well over a year since anything physical had triggered Della. She’d stopped flinching when people touched her or quaking if someone stepped a little close. The dark, however, still held way too much power over her.

“At least online you can curate your search.”

“Thank you.” Della nodded, grateful for the heads-up. “I wouldn’t have been prepared for that.”

“You shouldn’t let it put you off going to one, though. It can be a fun experience. Just maybe take someone else with you. Not your brother.”

Della laughed and then winced internally at how she’d asked Tucker to take her to Frieda’s. Sweet baby Jesus. What had she been thinking? The man had looked like he wanted to leap from the moving car, and she couldn’t blame him. She’d been so caught up in her sudden, desperate curiosity, she’d forgotten that Tucker was not only a man but a friend of her brother’s.

She was so used to him being there on the other side of the bar that she’d grown accustomed to his silent, nonjudgmental company. On a superficial level, he’d become a neutral kind of sounding board. A friend. No agenda. Hell, no gender. Just someone who always had her back. Who was firmly team Della.

Unfortunately, on a very deep, very personal level—he was all man. Something she’d forgotten when she’d asked him to take her into a sex shop…this man she had the hots for who did not reciprocate. Whose most risqué act so far had been to fix her a third piña colada.

Way to go, Della.

“A girlfriend,” Selena continued, ignorant to her client’s internal flagellation, “or two. That way you can all have a laugh together and there’ll be people who you know and trust if things get on top of you.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” Della reined in her errant thoughts. “Maybe I’ll do just that. One day. When I’m feeling brave enough.”

“Of course. At your own pace. Always. Now…have you thought about what you’re going to say to Cody tonight?”