Following Me(76)

Hadley narrowed her eyes, but she was too much of a girl to not give in. “Ugh…too much. I’ll have to show you. Bedroom?” she asked, nodding toward the room she shared with Garrett.

“Sure. Garrett, maybe you should pour Reid a drink,” Devon offered, skirting around him.

Reid reached out and grabbed her wrist. When she winced, he released some of the tension. He pulled her into him, and she did everything she could not to pull away. Her wrist would be the least of her worries then. He pushed back a lock of blonde hair from her face.

“I missed you, and I don’t ever want you out of my sight again,” he said so softly only she could hear. His lips landed possessively on hers. “Don’t be in there long.”

Devon bit her lip, wanting nothing more than to wrench herself out of his grasp, but she just nodded.

“Good,” he said, releasing her. “I think I would like that drink now, Garrett.” He walked into the kitchen with a boisterous laugh.

Devon scurried away from him and into the bedroom. She hoped her shaking wasn’t noticeable. She closed the door quickly behind her just as Hadley tossed her bags on the bed with a big huff.

“Okay…what the f**k is he doing here?” Hadley asked.

“Shhh,” Devon warned quickly, putting her finger to her mouth. “Keep it down.”

“Sorry,” Hadley said quietly.

“We didn’t really break up,” Devon said, biting her lip.

“What are you talking about? You said that you did, and then you were gone all night with Brennan,” Hadley said, confused.

Devon fiercely shook her head. “Don’t talk about him. Reid can’t know about Brennan.”

“Devon, what is going on?” Hadley demanded, crossing her arms.

“I left St. Louis without telling Reid. I wanted to break up with him, but I didn’t know how. So, for all intents and purposes, we were broken up. He just…didn’t know…” Devon trailed off.

“Fuck, Dev. What are you going to do?” Hadley asked, sitting back heavily on the bed.

“Wing it?” Devon said with a shrug.

Hadley looked at her skeptically.

“Okay, I’m going to have to act like everything is normal…as much as I can anyway. You are, too. Then, I’m going to try to talk to him, but please don’t bring up Brennan. I don’t want him to think that is why we’re breaking up.”

“Isn’t it?” Hadley asked.

“No,” Devon said, shaking her head. “I left Reid before I had ever met Brennan.”

“Fair point.”

“I just…have to do this my way, okay?”

Hadley stood up and placed her hand on Devon’s shoulder. “Let him down easy, Dev. He’s crazy about you.”

He’s just crazy, she thought.

DEVON WAS CLOSE to collapsing by the time they made it out to the bar. She really wanted a drink to calm her nerves, but she wanted to stay in control. The last thing she wanted was to confront Reid with an addled mind or accidentally slip and say something she shouldn’t while drunk.

Hadley and Garrett decided on a club not too far from their house. Hadley hadn’t been out at night since her overdose. Devon didn’t want to worry about that on top of everything else. Garrett would just have to take care of her for once.

When Devon walked into the club, her head was swimming. It felt so much like her dream. It really wasn’t anything like it at all, except for the dance floor, heavy music, and crowd. That shouldn’t have been enough to trigger her terror, but having Reid holding tightly to her arm didn’t help anything. As bile rose, she covered her mouth and tried to swallow away her apprehension.

His hand slid across the small of her back and gripped her waist. He leaned down and spoke directly into her ear. “Drink?”

She shook her head. “I’m okay.”

“Come with me anyway,” he said, pulling her toward the bar.

“Okay,” she said because she really had no other choice.

Reid ordered himself a Crown and Coke and her a Cosmopolitan even though she didn’t want it. She didn’t like cosmos, and she had told him a hundred times that she didn’t, but he kept ordering them for her.

“Reid,” she muttered as they waited for their drinks.

“Yeah, Dev?”

He pushed his hand up into her hair and massaged her scalp. She didn’t want to enjoy it, but it felt good. She wished he would stop, so she could concentrate.

“I think we need to talk,” she said, wondering if he could even hear her over the music.

“Let’s talk later, okay? I can’t really hear you,” he said with a smile.

Devon didn’t like the thought of later. “But—”

“No,” he said sharply, cutting her off. “Later. Let’s enjoy our night together.”

With that, his lips covered hers as he held her head in place, so she couldn’t move. He forced her mouth open and plunged his tongue inside. She wanted to squirm away, but he had her exactly where he wanted her. Her heart pounded as one of his hands slid down her backside. He grabbed it forcefully enough to make her cry out. Back before he had ever hit her, that would have turned her on. Now, she only felt disgusted.

When the bartender slid the drinks across the bar to him, he released her. Reid handed the guy his credit card and told him to keep the tab open.