Following Me(69)

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Devon said sarcastically.

Amy just rolled her eyes again and walked over to one of her tables. Devon busied herself by rolling silverware, filling salt and pepper shakers, and wiping down the tables. At some point, Brennan returned, and she smiled as she felt his eyes follow her around the room. She wondered if he even knew that he did it so frequently.

The day passed with a steady flow of traffic. It wasn’t anything that one person couldn’t handle on her own, but it was nice to have both Amy and Devon on the shift. The dinner crowd was more obnoxious than normal, and Devon felt like punching one of the customers. She even heard Amy swear at a guy who grabbed her ass. Jenn’s wasn’t that kind of place.

Devon was more than irritated when she found the shitty tips from the rambunctious groups after they had exited the restaurant. Amy was fuming across the room, and Devon suspected she had discovered the same problem with her tables. What kind of ass**les came in with a huge party, acted like hellions the whole time they were here, and then didn’t tip? Who had raised them to do that? Devon wanted to throttle them and explain to the worthless human beings that just because they had never worked a day in their life didn’t mean they couldn’t appreciate the hard work she had done for them. But, of course, she couldn’t do that either.

“You go ahead and take a break. You look like you need it,” Devon told Amy.

She didn’t want to do Amy any favors, but Amy had been there longer. Plus, it didn’t help Devon any to have everyone hate her.

“Thanks. I need a f**king smoke,” Amy said, pressing her hand to her forehead. “I’ll be back in fifteen.”

Devon watched Amy’s tables and kept Brennan busy with drink orders. Leaning forward, he kept offering her shots of tequila like the first time they had ever really talked. Devon declined, but he just kept offering.

“Just one shot,” he whispered, pushing the drink toward her.

Devon shook her head. “Not on the clock. Give it to Amy. She will flip her shit.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Oh, don’t play dumb. That girl is obsessed with you.”

Devon giggled as Brennan poured the rest of her drink orders.

“What? No, she isn’t,” he said.

“Brennan, really? You are not oblivious to the world. You have to know that her and Hannah are so into you.”

“Huh,” he said, his eyes going deep into thought. “That explains a whole hell of a lot.”

Devon rolled her eyes. “How did you not see that?”

“Only have eyes for you, Belle.” He smirked, placing a drink on her tray.

Her stomach flipped as she picked up the tray. She made a round of her and Amy’s tables. Amy returned ten minutes past her allotted fifteen minutes with the smell of smoke announcing her presence. She didn’t apologize for her tardiness, and Devon suspected it was because she had been late earlier.

“Your turn,” Amy said with a shrug.

“Thanks,” Devon said.

Devon walked past Brennan into the back and took a seat on the bench. She sighed and stretched out her aching legs, lying back on the bench. She yawned and let her mind wander back to this morning when she had awoken in just a tangle of limbs. Being with Brennan was the only thing that had allowed her to forget her old life. She had tried to push back the memories, but they haunted her no matter how hard she had tried. When Brennan had walked into her life, all of that changed.

When she heard the door creak open, she shifted up to her elbows to see Brennan walking in.

“Hey,” he said with a charming smile.

“Hey.”

“Came in here to check on you. It was a bit of a madhouse out there for a while.”

He walked over and sat on the end of the bench. She scooted down and rested her head on his thigh.

“It was. I’m ready to go home,” she said with a yawn. “Someone kept me up late last night.”

“Not late enough,” he said, running his hands through her hair.

Devon chuckled and closed her eyes as he worked his magic at untangling the knots. He calmed her down, and she could have lain there all night. Everything was so natural and easy with Brennan.

She exhaled softly. “Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?” His hand pulled back through her loose strands.

“I’ve been wondering about this since you told me, but I don’t want it to sound weird,” she said, her hands fiddling with the buttons on her white shirt.

“Nothing is weird between us,” he said.

“I just…well…your dad left you with money, right?” She felt weird for asking.

Brennan tensed and stilled his hand. “Uh, yeah.”

“Then, um…why do you live in a small one bedroom, take the L, and work as a bartender?” she asked, her words coming out in a rush.

She didn’t want to sound snooty because that wasn’t her intention. But if his dad had worked at Northwestern Memorial for thirty years as a doctor, then he was likely well-off. Why wouldn’t Brennan use any of that money?

“Oh,” was all he said.

“I don’t mean to sound like I like you any less because of it. I don’t! I don’t care about those things. I like those things,” she added hastily. “I was mostly curious.”