There was silence for long moments while Della absorbed that information. Silence was one of Selena’s favorite tactics. In the beginning, Della used to hate the silences. They made her nervous, and she’d rush to fill them up. Now she was comfortable with letting them stretch.

“It’s just a crush,” she dismissed. “I wouldn’t be the first woman in the world to have a crush on her brother’s friend.”

“No.” Selena smiled. “You would not. But that’s okay. You’re allowed to have feelings for whoever you want. Actually, having romantic feelings toward this guy is something of a breakthrough.”

Della blinked. “It is?”

“Sure. You remember three years ago when all you felt was numb? When you couldn’t see yourself as feeling anything but numb?”

“Uh-huh.”

Selena smiled. “Breakthrough.”

“Yeah?” Her recovery had seemed so slow, like she was always going to feel frightened and wary. Used up and empty all at once. Coming back into the light had been such a crawl, and no one moment had felt that significant.

But with Selena smiling at her, this suddenly felt like a leap. Sure, she’d had a crush for a while now, but she hadn’t realized the significance.

“Yeah.” Selena laughed. “You’re not magically cured. It’s just another step in your recovery, but still…gold star for you.”

Della laughed, too. Gold star? She’d rather have Tucker wrapped in a bow. Her laughter ebbed. “It doesn’t really matter though, does it?” She searched Selena’s face. “It’s never going to get any further than that.”

“Because he doesn’t feel that way about you?”

“Yes.”

“And what if he’s not being honest with you?”

Della frowned. “He was pretty convincing.”

“What do your instincts say?”

Della looked deep inside, reliving that quick but definite lingering look at her mouth. Remembering the static charge in the air during that moment. “I think he felt something.” She let out a breath at the admission. But she knew Tucker too well. He was an honorable man, and he’d put her firmly in the friend zone. “It doesn’t matter, though. It’s not just about whether he has feelings for me or not. There’s other stuff complicating things.”

“Arlo?”

“Yes. And he thinks I should be playing with boys my own age.”

Selena shrugged. “He’s not wrong about either of those. Getting romantically involved with his friend’s sister could have major blowback on his relationship with Arlo if things don’t go well with the romance.”

Yeah…Della had already come to that conclusion. She wasn’t going to ruin a good thing for either Arlo or herself because her libido was getting bossy. She had a whole catalog of Tinder guys to fool around with—she wouldn’t ruin something good in the search for some quick thrills.