Draw (Gentry Boys #1)(29)

“’We’,” I nodded. “You guys do most everything together, huh?”

We were heading into some traffic and Cord had to slow down. He took the opportunity to pause and give me another penetrating stare. “Not everything.”

I blushed, once again at a loss over what to do about being on the receiving end of his riotously sexy gaze. I had to look out the window so he wouldn’t guess how he was tearing me up inside.

When we reached the beach, Cord raised his eyebrows at the spread of luxury condos and let out a low whistle. “This guy a movie mogul or something?”

My hands had clenched involuntarily as he pulled into a parking spot. “Daddy’s money.”

“So how much stuff you got to get in there?”

“Not much. Just clothes and personal crap. Devin said he threw all my shit in some boxes by the front door. All the furniture, everything heavy or expensive, belongs to him.”

“Okay.” Cord started to open the door.

“Wait.” I held him back. “Look, I think you should stay here for a few minutes. Let me just go up there, scope things out and get Devin to make himself scarce.”

He was incredulous. “You’ve got to be shitting me. You think I’m just gonna hang out down here and think pretty thoughts while you confront that prick by yourself?”

“I just don’t want there to be a scene.”

“There’s already been a scene,” he reminded me, touching my healed jaw.

I had to make him understand. “Cord, Devin is rich and he’s violent.”

“He’s also a runny batch of chicken shit. Which is why I need to go with you.”

I pulled at his arm. “Five minutes. Please, Cord.”

He stared at me. “Right outside the door is the best I can do, Saylor. And believe me I’ll bust it right the f*ck down at the first sound of trouble.”

I swallowed, noting how his fists were clenched. Devin would never be a match for Cord, even without a busted arm. “I believe you.”

“All right. Let’s go.”

The tension in Cord’s muscles was almost palpable as he walked beside me. When we reached the door of the condo it looked exactly as it had the night I left. Somehow this made me more uneasy. I knocked and waited as Cord leaned against the wall next to the door. The sharp ring tone on my phone told me even before I looked at the screen who was calling.

“Devin.”

My former boyfriend’s voice sounded tired. “Just use your damn key, Saylor.”

I reached into my purse and withdrew it. Cord’s eyes narrowed as I gave him a final pleading glance and walked through the door, shutting it softly behind me.

Devin was sitting on the couch with a laptop. His right arm was heavily bandaged. He saw me and grinned ruefully, rising from the sofa.

“Fractured in three places. The x-ray was quite spectacular.”

“I’m sure it was.” I crossed the room, watching him warily, and tossed the key onto the breakfast bar.

“So what did you tell people?”

Devin glanced at his arm and laughed a little. “Said I was skateboarding.” His smile dropped and he looked almost apologetic. “Isn’t that what you used to say?”

“What did you tell people about me?”

He frowned. “Hardly anyone asks about you, Saylor. When they do, I just tell them you got a job out of state and we’ve opted not to do the long distance thing.”

I crossed my arms. “Well that saves you some face I guess.”

He rubbed the back of his neck with his good arm and scowled. “What the hell do you want me to tell people, Saylor?”

I shook my head miserably. “I don’t care.” I really didn’t. People would believe or not believe what they wanted, and see or not see whatever suited them.

He took a cautious step towards me. “I wasn’t lying when I said I was sorry.”

I coughed. It felt suddenly cold in the room. “You’re sorry. You’re sorry, that’s good.”

“It’s also true that I’m getting help to deal with the way I-“

“Repeatedly beat the hell out of someone you said you loved?”

He winced. “Yeah,” he nodded, sighing. “There’s just all this shit in my head, Saylor. With my dad and with what he and everyone else expects of me-”

I laughed meanly. “You’ve got to be f*cking kidding.”

His dark eyes flashed with a warning I was quite familiar with but I pressed on anyway.

“You live in the lap of luxury, scarcely having to work for a thing. The good life was handed to you and you still can’t be decent, for god’s sake. You didn’t crawl out of the bowels of a hellish childhood desperate to make a good man out of yourself.”

Devin stared at me. “What the f*ck are you talking about?”

I knew exactly what, or who, I was talking about. But I didn’t care to discuss him or anything else with Devin.

“Never mind. Those all my boxes? I just want to get the hell out of here.”

His voice was rising. “You don’t need to be a bitch about it.” Devin held up the laptop. “You know, I got you this as an apology for the one I broke. And then I thought we could go have dinner or something and try to be friends.”