Dancing On The Edge Of A Knife

29. Blocked

The rest of the week was going great. Devon was as nice and polite as never before and Ester started to get to know him even better.

When they had dance, Sierra would always scowl at them for talking and laughing while practicing. And after dance, Devon mostly volunteered to take Ester home. Which by now wasn't such a big deal anymore.

Then in the mornings, Devon would pick her up and they'd actually jog for half an hour. The woods were perfect for it, even though Ester had her doubts in the beginning. But being with Devon made her feel safe and their light conversation every morning distracted her from any creepy thoughts.

So why did she not accept Devon's invitation for dinner tonight? She wanted to get to know him and he genuinely seemed interested in her.

But there was still that small voice in the back of her head, telling her to be careful around him. If not for the secret admirer thing, then for the game they were playing right before he changed his attitude towards her. Even though Ester felt comfortable around him now, didn't mean he had the right intentions for his actions.

"Ugh!" Ester groaned and sat up from her bed. She looked at the clock. 10:30 p.m. Dinner would've started three hours ago. Ester didn't know if she regretted her decision or not. On one hand, it was really hard to say no to him. Devon even wanted to skip practice for the dinner and something about that suggestion made her heart skip a beat.

But on the other hand, Ester didn't think she was ready to be alone with him. Like really alone. Not like in the morning when they were running. But like dressing up and going to his place, eating in front of him and drinking wine.

Now that she thought about it, tingles erupted in her toes. She should've said yes. But then again, she had to consider the consequences.

One, he was Sierra's brother and she specifically told her that she didn't wish for Devon and Ester to ever become a couple. Sierra even almost caught them kissing, which both of them failed to remember up until now.

Second, if it was just part of Devon's plan to crush her, she'd look like a fool in the end. She was sure her falling for him or even liking him was not part of her plan in the beginning. But maybe it was part of his.

And third, if Devon were to be her secret admirer, Ester should definitely stay away from him.

Because her secret admirer has been showing a rather aggressive behaviour in the past few days. After she ignored him at the beginning of the week, he had continuously texted her. And it was getting even creepier than before.

He now started texting her at work, saying he liked her outfit today. Or asking her what she was eating when she was having lunch in the cafeteria. It was really creepy and Ester thought blocking his number would help. But she still felt watched whenever she wasn't distracted by her friends.

So if that admirer of hers were to be Devon, she wanted nothing to do with him. Even if it was meant to be a joke at first.
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"You're still here." Devon heard his mother's voice and turned his head to the side to look at her.
"I thought you were asleep." He sighed and shifted his gaze back onto the glass of brandy in his hand.

"And I thought I heard the front door close." Martha smiled at her son as she walked over to him. He was in Alejandro's poker room, sitting on the chesterfield armchair and looking deep in thoughts.

"Your father won't be happy once he finds out about you sitting in his chair." Martha said and Devon refrained from rolling his eyes.
"He's not my father."

"Stepfather, sorry." Martha liked teasing Devon and Sierra about Alejandro's title. They knew him for nine years now, but still never treated him like a father. He was actually more like a friend to the both of them. It was especially weird for Devon to think of him as a father.