Following Me(57)

Brennan sat down then. “I’m so sorry.”

She didn’t believe him, and it made her smile. “It’s, uh…for the better.”

“God, I’m a dick,” he said, his hand brushing through his hair.

Devon laughed. “Far from it.”

“Is that why you came by?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.

“Sort of.” Devon scrunched up her nose. “Hadley and Garrett got into a fight, and I didn’t want to be around that.” Also not a lie.

“Everything is falling apart,” he said softly.

Devon shrugged. “I don’t know about everything.”

She patted the seat next to her on the couch, and he moved over to sit by her.

“How are you feeling, you know…about your boyfriend?” he asked with a sigh.

She couldn’t tell if it was a sigh of relief or not.

“I’m not sure if it has all sunk in yet,” she admitted, wrapping her arms around her knees. “We dated for almost three years.”

“That’s a long time.”

“Yeah,” she said, “it is.”

Brennan sighed again. “It’ll get easier with time.”

Devon nodded. “I think so. Plus, time is all I have now, right?” Was she trying to convince herself or him?

“Sorry about yelling at you,” he said sheepishly.

“It’s alright. I probably deserved it,” she whispered.

“You didn’t,” he said. “I was…projecting.”

“That’s one word for it,” she said with a laugh.

He stared down at the floor for a few minutes. He really was beautiful. He was even beautiful when he had yelled at her.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he said finally. “That when you didn’t have anywhere else to go, you came and found me, so I can be there for you.”

He lifted his eyes to hers, and she felt his words hit her.

“I want to be that for you, Devon.”

Chapter Nineteen - Strawberries

THE SMELL OF bacon filled the apartment, and Devon awoke with a smile. No nightmares. She hadn’t had a single one all night. It was the first time in weeks. She had slept soundly, not even waking up when Brennan got up to cook. She checked her watch and realized it was already noon. She couldn’t believe it! She had slept for almost eight hours. She couldn’t remember the last time that had happened.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Brennan called from the kitchen door.

She yawned and stretched her arms over her head. She was clad in one of his T-shirts. It was way too big, but it smelled so good and clean and so much like Brennan that she wanted to wear it all the time. Her eyes traveled over his body, and she tried to keep the appreciation off her face. But it was too early, and it must have showed because he smirked at her. What did he expect her to do when he walked around the apartment shirtless?

Devon pointed out her feet until they touched the other end of the couch. It felt so good to just…be for once. She couldn’t believe how well she had slept after last night. But she was thinking that discussing what had happened to her, even if everything had gone awry, had helped her…or maybe it was Brennan. She couldn’t choose.

“Good morning,” she said through another yawn.

“How do you sleep so much?” he asked, leaning against the doorframe.

“I haven’t slept this much in months. I feel like a new person.”

Brennan laughed, and Devon sighed back into the couch at the sound. She wasn’t sure she had ever seen him laugh like that—loose, happy, and free.

“Well, I hope this new person likes bacon.”

“She does,” Devon said, nodding. She flipped the covers off her body. When she stood, the shirt fell nearly to her knees, and she blushed, remembering that she had taken off her jeans before she fell asleep. She snatched them off the ground and darted into the bathroom. After tugging the jeans back on to cover her exposed legs, she quickly tied her hair in a knot and then splashed cold water on her face. She needed to wake up and not blush so much.

Brennan had a table big enough for two against the wall in the kitchen, and Devon took an empty seat. He placed a plate with eggs, bacon, and toast in front of her.

“Coffee?” he asked with a smile.

“Sure,” she said. “Lots of cream and sugar though.”

He laughed again, obliging. After pouring his own coffee, he took the seat across from her, and they ate in comfortable silence. Last night felt like a lifetime ago. But Brennan liked her; he had told her. Well, at least, he had kind of told her. He had told her in a completely Brennan kind of way. It made her sigh happily as she ate.

Despite his protests, Devon helped Brennan clear the table, and then she washed off her plate and placed it in the dishwasher. When he finally pushed her out of the kitchen, she walked over to the couch and sat back down. She flipped on the television to some random channel and waited for Brennan to return. It didn’t matter what was on TV because she wasn’t really paying attention.

A couple minutes later, Brennan walked into the living room. He slid into the seat next to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She leaned back against him, snuggling into his chest, and he intertwined their hands in her lap. It was comfortable and nice. How long had it been since she had felt like this? It had been at least a year, probably longer, since she had done this with Reid. She couldn’t remember that far back, back when it had been different, and she didn’t want to think any more about it. She wanted to be content.