Series: The Laws of Opposite Attract Series by Vi Keeland
Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 105253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105253 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 526(@200wpm)___ 421(@250wpm)___ 351(@300wpm)
Brayden’s reaction was exactly as I’d expected.
“Are you kidding me?” he raged. “When I was taking my shot with her at Colby’s that day, you let me make a fool of myself, knowing you’d already slept with her?”
I gritted my teeth. “It wasn’t like I was trying to set you up. This has nothing to do with you. I just didn’t feel like kissing and telling about this one.”
Colby narrowed his eyes. “We tell each other everything. What’s different about this? What’s the big secret?”
I hesitated. “I don’t know exactly. I guess I feel protective of her or something. I didn’t want to cheapen it by bragging. I was a little ashamed of the way she ghosted me, too.” I stared down at my bottle. “It also didn’t feel like just a one-night stand—Lord knows I’ve had those before. Then once I found out she lived in our building, it became about protecting her privacy more than anything else.”
Colby nodded. “Okay. Fair enough.”
Brayden laughed. “I wondered why you looked like you wanted to kill me that day you saw me talking to her at Colby’s.”
“You’re right. I did want to kill you. But I understood that you didn’t know what was going on. You were never in danger of getting punched.”
“You’re lucky I’m not interested in her anyway,” he huffed.
I smacked him on the arm. “Oh yeah? You’re too good for her now, asshole?”
“No.” Brayden brushed some lint off his shirt. “But I’m turning over a new leaf.”
Holden stopped drinking mid-sip. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’ve actually found myself attracted to…a more mature woman lately.” He tossed a jalapeño popper into his mouth.
“Devyn is very mature,” I defended.
“She’s too young,” he said with his mouth full.
Is he serious? “She’s not that much younger than us,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, but I’m finding that the women around our age, mid-to-late twenties, early thirties even, tend to be superficial and immature, in general.”
“Is that so?” Colby raised a brow.
Holden chuckled. “When did this come about?”
“Let’s just say I have secrets of my own.” Brayden winked.
Colby slammed his bottle down. “Jesus. Both of you are shady lately.”
When Brayden refused to divulge anything more, the subject returned to Devyn and me.
“So what’s the deal?” Colby asked. “Why aren’t you dating her now if you had such a great night together?”
“I don’t have a clear answer for you. I do really like her. And you know I don’t say that very often.”
“You really like her. That’s your reason for not dating her?” Colby asked.
“There’s a but in there somewhere,” Holden prodded. “Spill it.”
“Things are complicated with her life right now, and the last thing I wanna do is complicate things for her more. That’s all there is to it.”
“So why are you offering to go to Boston with her?” Colby asked.
“Because I want to help her.”
“I’m calling bullshit.” Brayden laughed. “I think you want to help her right into another hotel room.”
I rolled my eyes. “Maybe in the back of my mind, I wouldn’t mind if that happened… But whether you believe me or not, that’s not my motivation. Sorry if you don’t think I’m a decent-enough person to just help someone who has a lot on her shoulders right now.” I sighed. “Anyway, she may not take me up on my offer.”
“You know what I think?” Brayden looked at me skeptically. “I think you’re being cautious because of you, not her.”
“Really?” I rested my chin on my hand. “Enlighten me, since you seem to think you know me better than I know myself.”
“She’s only here temporarily. You know she’s leaving. So you’re being overly cautious because you don’t want to get hurt.”
That was certainly Devyn’s rationale, but I wasn’t ready to get into this. “Think what you want,” I told him. I downed some of my beer before reaching for a mozzarella stick.
Colby looked around the table. “Anyone else got skeletons to pull out of their closet tonight?”
Brayden and I looked at each other and chuckled.
Holden smacked his hand on the table. “If not, let’s get this meeting over with. I have a sniffly baby girl waiting at home for kisses from Daddy.”
***
On the way back to my apartment that evening, I debated whether I should stop by Devyn’s to see if there were any updates on Vera. I decided to check in, and the moment she opened the door, I could tell from the stressed look on her face that things hadn’t changed.
“Hey.” She stepped aside. “Come in.”
“How are you?” I asked.
“Long day.” She let out an exasperated breath. “I’ve been trying to get some work done, and the kids were fighting at dinner, but thankfully they’re in their rooms now doing homework.” She looked up at me with tired eyes.
“I take it nothing’s changed in terms of the situation with your mom?”