Following Me(22)

“We left early.”

“Yeah. Long in a different way then.”

Devon sat down on the sofa and got comfortable amid the throw pillows. Brennan took a seat next to her and flipped on the television.

“You want to talk about it?” he asked, putting on ESPN as background noise.

“No,” she said instantly.

“Alright.”

The conversation ended, and Devon sat there frozen, watching baseball highlights. She felt bad for cutting him off so abruptly. Maybe she was being ridiculous.

“How do you afford this place bartending?” she asked, hoping that the subject was neutral enough.

“Don’t like to talk about it.” He took a drink from his beer.

“Oh,” she breathed.

Brennan finished his beer in silence and then placed the empty bottle on the coffee table. Devon watched as he stood and stretched out his lean muscles. He wasn’t overly built, but he was all muscle. He raised his arms over his head, and her eyes darted to his exposed stomach, then quickly away.

He left for a minute and then returned with a bunch of blankets in his arms. He tossed them onto the couch. “You taking the bed, Belle?”

“Couch is good with me,” she told him.

“Whatever suits you, suits me,” he said. “Here’s the remote.”

“You can just turn it off. I’m going to pass out,” she said, averting her eyes.

He turned to go, but then he seemed to think better of it. He sat down next to her on the couch again. “You going to tell me what’s eating at you?” He looked at her more intently than ever before.

She shook her head. “Nothing is.”

“You pissed about Hadley?” he asked, hitting on the most superficial problem.

“How did you know?”

“I pay attention.”

“So…you know what she’s up to?” she asked carefully.

“That she’s snorting coke?” he asked. “Yeah, I know about that.”

“Does Garrett know?” she asked quickly.

Brennan shook his head. “No way. He thinks she’s perfect. Could you imagine if Mr. Perfect found out his Princess was a coke addict?”

“She’s an addict?” she squeaked.

“Depends on your definition. She’s done it more than a few times.”

He was being loose with his words because he was drunk. Devon probably shouldn’t have been taking advantage of the situation in his state, but she wanted answers.

“How do you know all about her problem if he doesn’t?” Devon asked out of curiosity.

“When you’ve done shit before, you can see it in a person. Once she found out that I knew, she stopped hiding it around me,” he told her honestly.

“You do…coke, too?” she asked, her heart sinking. Was that what was up with him? But didn’t it normally make them upbeat or fidgety?

“Nah. Just once and knew it wasn’t for me. Mostly weed.”

Ah, that explains it, she thought.

“You could use some weed,” Brennan told her. “You’re too uptight, Belle.”

Devon frowned. Typical. “I’m going to pass.”

“Suit yourself, but I think you’d like it,” he said, turning to face her with a smile.

“I’ve done it before,” she said, not wanting to admit how much she used to smoke. For a long time, she had thought she studied better high. It had become a problem when she was pretty much always studying.

“You?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah. Surprised?”

“Wouldn’t have pegged you.”

“Oh right, square.” Devon gestured at herself with her hands.

“I dig square,” he told her bluntly.

Oh damn, how messed up is he? Devon wondered.

“Thanks,” she whispered, glancing down.

She didn’t know how else to deflect the conversation. Brennan was nice…well, kind of, and he was very attractive. She needed to get out of this territory. She was here for a place to crash, and crashing sounded like a good idea right about now.

When Devon felt his hand reach out and touch her cheek, her eyes fluttered up to meet his. Before she had a chance to react, he leaned forward and kissed her lips. Her shock held her at bay. He did nothing more than hold his soft lips against hers. They were foreign and strange yet enticing.

She felt her body respond to his touch. His fingers moved and threaded through her hair, tugging on it slightly in his haste. She had too many thoughts swirling in her head to keep it all straight at once. The most prominent ones were how good this felt, how wrong this felt, and how surprised she was that he was even doing this.

Had he ever given her an indication that he wanted to kiss her before that last comment? She couldn’t remember.

She didn’t know why, but tears welled in her eyes. They slid easily down her cheeks, mixing salt with the taste of alcohol on his lips.

Brennan pulled back to look at her and she gasped out, “I have a boyfriend.”

Brennan dropped his hands into his lap. “Oh.”

Devon bit down on her lip as she waited for him to say something more. He just stared at her, his eyes slightly hazy. She wanted him to say something, anything. Was he pissed? Was he shocked? Did he expect something from her?