Devlin shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans and shifted his focus from Garrick to the apartment above the garage. “So I gathered,” he said, his voice sounding far away. “I would guess the girl is about ten or eleven, and the man I knew for six months never could have had a daughter all that time and not bragged about her to me. It just wasn’t in him.” With a blink, Devlin came back to Garrick and penetrated him with one look. “In you.” He shrugged and a little light twinkled silver in his eyes. “Aside from that, they don’t call you dad. Kind of a giveaway.”
“Right.” Duh. Jesus, Garrick had to get his mind back in the game. Speaking of which... “Listen, were you here earlier this morning?” he asked, watching Devlin closely. “Did you drive by the house or were you in the neighborhood around eight-thirty this morning?”
A frown immediately marred the beauty of Devlin’s face. “No.” Just as fast, he stiffened to fully alert. “Why? What’s wrong?”
Noise of a door slamming and shoes clomping down wood stairs had Garrick lifting his focus to across the yard. Shawn and Chloe elbowed and took verbal jabs at each other on their way down the narrow flight of stairs.
Garrick shouted, “Don’t fight on the stairs or we’ll go inside!” The kids slowed their steps--a hair--and Garrick quickly turned back to Devlin. “Listen to me.” He grabbed a patch of Devlin’s shirt and crumpled it under his fingers. “My name is Garrick. Please don’t challenge me on it today.” As the kids bolted across the grass toward them, Garrick’s skin felt clammy under his clothes, and he implored Devlin to comply with every fiber of his being. “Do you understand?”
Devlin closed half the distance between them. “You’re Garrick to them. I understand.” He covered the fist Garrick had curled against his sternum and rubbed down each finger with a soothing touch. “I’m not cruel, you know.”
“I know.” A deep breath released the knot twisting in Garrick’s chest. With Devlin’s help, he was able to let up the lock-hold on the man’s shirt too. “Furthest thing from it.”
Shawn and Chloe each skidded to a stop in front of Garrick and thrust out their respective finds. Garrick grabbed the bottle of water, and Devlin intercepted the pills before Garrick could get his hands on them.
“Nuh-uh.” Devlin sidestepped Garrick’s reach. With a laugh that reached right inside and caressed Garrick’s very soul, Devlin shook the bottle of pills in Garrick’s face as if it was a maraca. “I’ll do it for you. It takes two hands to open these little suckers.”
Garrick dipped his head. “Thanks.” Jesus Christ, heat burned in his cheeks, and he fucking thought he might be blushing.
“Here’s your keys too,” Shawn said, as he deposited the set in one of the pockets of Garrick’s cargo shorts. “And I remembered to lock the door.”
“Good job, Shawnee. Guys,” Garrick moved and put an arm around each kid, “this is Devlin Morgan. He’s...” Everything I’ve ever wanted in a man? Maybe not the right circumstances for such a declaration. “...a friend of mine. Devlin,” Garrick’s heart skipped a beat as the very best, wonderful result of an accidental meeting in his life officially met the next two down on his list, “meet Chloe and Shawn Fine.”
Devlin squatted down and stuck out his hand. “Chloe,” Garrick could tell he gave her a good, solid handshake, the very best choice he could have made, “and Shawn,” he put his hand up to receive one hell of a high-five from the boy, “nice to meet you.”
Chloe responded with one of her half-smiles. “Nice to meet you too.”
Shawn cocked his head and crossed his arms against his chest. “Do you play baseball, Mister?”
“You can call me Devlin, and yes, I know how to play baseball. I’ll even do you one better.” Devlin propped his fists on his hips and made his voice sound like someone telling a grand story. “I even play on a team with the local police officers because we don’t have enough people at the firehouse that can play in order to have a team of our own.”
“You’re a fireman?” Shawn’s eyes grew big and round, and his voice rose so high Garrick thought the neighborhood dogs might hear him.
“Yep.”
“So awesome.” Shawn grabbed Garrick’s knee and started jumping up and down. “Can I go see your fire truck one day, Devlin? Please please please?”
“Shawn!” Chloe clenched her hands into fists and stomped her foot into the ground. “You are soooooo inappropriate.”
Devlin shifted his attention to Chloe. “It’s okay. I understand Shawn, Chloe. Fire trucks get me hopped up and excited too.” He put his attention back on the boy. “I’ll have to talk to my boss, and you’ll have to talk to your mom, but we’ll see what we can do. I think it’ll be okay.” With his hand cupped around one side of his mouth, Devlin leaned in and pretended to whisper in Shawn’s ear. “The chief is my big brother, so I have a little bit of pull.”
“So cool.” Shawn grabbed Garrick’s hand and tugged. “Don’tcha think it’s so cool, Garrick?”
Garrick smiled down at Shawn. “Very cool, Shawnee.” His stomach fluttered as he looked at Devlin and said softly, “I think I was just replaced.”
Devlin dropped his focus to Shawn’s hand firmly latched onto Garrick’s. “Doesn’t look like it to me.” He looked up and made eye contact with Garrick once again, and they shared a smile that felt like an unexpected shaft of sunlight warming his skin on a chilly day.
“Hey,” Shawn took Devlin’s hand and pulled Garrick’s attention back down to him, “so Devlin can stay and we can play two on two. Come on, come on.” He let go and locked both hands firmly around Garrick’s one. “Me and Garrick against Devlin and Chloe.”
Devlin shoved his hands
