Son of a bitch.
Tomorrow was Saturday. His yellow Post-It note reminder that he had to be down at Grace’s house by eight-thirty in the morning glared at him like a beaming sun. If Garrick bailed like a specter in the night, he screwed over Grace’s shot at building a new life too.
He couldn’t leave that woman in the lurch.
It would crush Shawn if he disappeared without an explanation. Garrick liked the kid; hell, he liked the less trustful Chloe too. He hadn’t been in their lives long, but he didn’t want to be just another guy who didn’t say goodbye.
And the truth was, he didn’t want to leave Devlin like he had either.
That kiss...
Garrick groaned as he relived tasting Devlin and touching him again. After what had transpired in that hallway, Garrick owed Devlin a private conversation, at the very least ... and Christ only knew what else.
He pushed himself upright and unpacked his clothes. Garrick didn’t know what in the hell he was going to do tomorrow, but he definitely wasn’t going anywhere tonight.
Garrick settled onto his couch for another long sleepless night.
Chapter Five
A soft knock sounded at Devlin’s bedroom door.
In bed after midnight, unable to sleep, Devlin called out “I’m awake,” and Maddie opened his door.
Looking like an absolute train wreck in her cut-off sweatpants and a ripped white T-shirt, Maddie studied him from the doorway. “Are you all right?” she asked, as she twisted her long hair into a bun on top of her head and secured it with a fabric-covered elastic band. “You disappeared there for a while tonight, and then you were kind of quiet when you came back.”
Damn. Devlin should have known Maddie wouldn’t quietly go to bed. After Wyn had come out searching for information earlier, Devlin had found himself brushing aside the man’s curiosity rather than prodding him for information as planned. Something about that exchange with Gradyn--Garrick--in the hallway kept Devlin mum. Whatever questions Devlin ended up having answered about Gradyn/Garrick, would happen between the two of them.
And no one else.
“Dev?” Maddie stayed where she was and practically bored holes in his forehead with her glaring. “What’s going on?”
“I’m fine.” He stretched his legs under the thin sheet covering him to the waist, stacked his hands behind his head, and let out an exaggerated sigh. “Just frustrated that I can’t get back to work. I’m tired with this lack of activity.”
“Uh-uh.” She pushed away from the doorjamb, and rolled her eyes. “I’ve heard that excuse too many times before.” With three steps, she was at the foot of his bed, too close for him to hide from her laser stare. “Are you sure this doesn’t have anything to do with disappearing tonight right after Garrick left, and with you calling him some other name at the garage yesterday?”
A streak of self-preservation shot adrenaline into Devlin’s heart, and he met his sister’s gaze with an equally arched brow. “Are you sure you’re fooling anybody with your biting comments directed at Wyn, least of all Wyn himself?” Maybe it was the kiss he’d shared in the hallway with Gradyn--Garrick--whomever--that had left his mind and body humming for hours afterward, but in watching Maddie with Wyn tonight, the truth of his sister’s feelings for the man had tumbled into place for Devlin. “You’re not feuding with Wyn because you dislike him; you’re doing it because you want him, but you don’t think he wants you back, and you don’t know how to handle it. Up until a few months ago, you guys were civil and even chummy sometimes.” He drilled her with an equally probing stare. “Something changed, Maddie. What happened between you and Wyn?”
They didn’t need proper lighting for Devlin to see Maddie’s face flush with color and her lips to thin down to almost nothing. “Fine.” She practically hissed the word, then did an about-face and strode to the door. “Be a jackass. Goodnight.”
She slammed his door as she let herself out, and guilt stabbed Devlin in the stomach.
“Shit.” When cursing didn’t release enough tension, Devlin growled and pulled his hair. He didn’t want Maddie sniffing around asking questions about Gradyn--Garrick, damn it--but that didn’t give him the right to take a jab at her in order to get her off his back. He loved his sister. In many ways, with Aidan leaving them for such a long time, it had often felt like him and Maddie against the world. Aside from that, Maddie was younger and more vulnerable than he was, and in a lot of ways Devlin saw himself as her protector.
Shit. Damn. Fuck.
Devlin threw off the sheet, slipped into some shorts and a T-shirt, and treaded to Maddie’s room. He knocked softly and then eased open the door, not allowing her the chance to deny him entry. Maddie sat in a chair by her window, her legs folded up to her chest, and her cheek resting on her knees. She wasn’t crying. Devlin didn’t think Maddie would dare let herself do something as girly as shed a few tears, but he knew the rough edges that made up his sister protected lots of soft places.
He moved to her side and stooped down until he was looking up at her partially hidden face. “I’m sorry for going at you like I did. It was cruel to exploit your feelings like that, and I’ll understand if you don’t feel like talking to me for a while.”
Maddie kept her arms curled tightly around her legs, but shifted her head to rest her chin on one knee. “There was no need to hit back below the belt, Dev. I wasn’t trying to start an inquisition about you, or Garrick, or anyone. I was just curious.”
“I know, and all I can say is that I’ve never met Garrick Langley before yesterday.” A technical truth, at best, but at this
