Well, Will could fuck right off.
Who is this?
The dots started, then stopped. She was going to have to say it.
Beside me, Daisy whined and pawed at my leg. I reached over and petted her. At least I had one constant woman in my life, even if she was four-legged.
My phone buzzed.
Unknown
Mom.
I clenched my jaw. She didn’t deserve the title. Not after she’d left and didn’t look back. No note, no nothing. Gone. I’d gotten myself up and ready for school like always, knowing Dad was on shift at the station and she’d be passed out in their bedroom, because she was drinking a lot and only behaved when Dad was home to monitor her. Will and Price were already gone, both of them picked up for early-morning middle school football practice. I didn’t play football, plus I was only in fifth grade, so Dad had made sure I knew the bike route to take to school and considered the job handled.
It’s funny, how even now I can still feel the weight of the house, how it always felt like I was moments away from being crushed.
I’d left for school, locking the door to a silent house. And even though I didn’t see Mom’s car in the driveway, I figured she was somewhere else: a bar, maybe, or a friend’s, sleeping it off. It wasn’t until I’d come home and found my brothers waiting on me, dual expressions of sympathy and resignation in their eyes, that I understood.
I’d been the last one standing, and it hadn’t mattered. I hadn’t mattered.
I tossed the phone into the cup holder, started the car and headed home, trying desperately to remember the feeling I’d had when Devon wrapped her arms around me.
19
AARON
I LOOKED AROUND my living room, assessing it. Devon was coming over and I’d spent the morning cleaning, much to Daisy’s confusion.
She sat on her haunches in front of me now, her sweet brindle face turned up at me, eyes big and pleading.
“I know, girl. You want a treat for being so helpful, don’t you?”
Ears perking at the word, she yipped and headed for the kitchen.
I followed to give her the treat I’d promised, then took a shower and headed to get Devon. I’d practically had to extract a blood oath from the woman to let me pick her up instead of Wanda, the town’s only regular Uber driver. She cherished her independence like nothing else.
Thanks to my work schedule, I’d not seen Devon at all this past week. Chief had us doing some annual training, and I’d had to cover for another guy when he got sick. Devon seemed intent on punishing me for “leaving her hanging” on girls’ night, as she put it, and had taken to sending me increasingly sexual texts that had me about crawling out of my skin.
She met me at her door, stepping out in a dark yellow, figure-hugging t-shirt dress. At least, I thought that’s what it was. I was too busy letting my eyes drive around her curves.
“Damn, lady. Get over here.” I pulled her into my arms as I growled, then nuzzled below her ear, delighting in the giggles it produced.
“You like?” She crossed her wrists behind my neck and preened.
“I like,” I said, dropping a kiss on her lips. “Ready to come see my place?”
It was a weekend, so I drove through the square. Our firehouse, and Jodi’s coffeeshop, were on one side, and across the way was a local bookstore, the only barber shop worth going to, and some kind of lady boutique that I didn’t understand. There were other shops dotting the square, but too many empty ones for my taste, as well.
But today, the square bustled. The grass in the center was thick and lush, welcoming the families and dogs that were on it. I counted at least five people with coffee from Jodi’s and waved at that many more.
“You love this, don’t you?” Devon teased.
I chuckled and gestured at the sun glinting off the wires in her mouth. “You’re one to talk, you know.”
She faked a pout, then recovered. “I just mean the way everyone seems to know you. How small this place still is.”
“It’s my home,” I said simply. As we came to a stop, I wove my fingers through hers.
Her answering squeeze was enough.
A few minutes later, I pulled into my driveway and tried to see the house from her eyes. It was one story, white with crimson shutters—crimson specifically, as my one nod to my alma mater. Spindly rose bushes dotted the front, their tight pink buds wishing for water. A giant oak tree towered over the left corner of the yard and shaded the street, and a crimson door winked out from a small porch nestled in the center of the house.
She grinned at me. “Is now when I tell you I’m secretly an Auburn fan?”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I deadpanned.
Winking, she got out of the cab. “You’re right. Orange isn’t a good look on me. Your house is cute from the outside; now show me the inside.”
I waved her in front of me, my gaze snagging on her ass, the way she sauntered up the steps and cocked her hip.
Evil woman. She smirked, knowing exactly what she was doing.
Forcing myself to keep my hands off her body, I opened the door, immediately making way for Daisy’s full-bodied greeting of wiggles. Devon gave her the requisite pets, then straightened and took in her surroundings.
“This is my living room.”
“Looks like a bachelor lives here,” she said.