Following Me by Linde, K.A. (best books to read in your 20s .txt) 📗

peered out at her.  He left the door ajar, still latched to the wall by achain.  “Devon?” Brennan asked, yawning.

“Hey,” she whispered.  Shesuddenly felt self-conscious, like she shouldn’t have shown up.

“What are you doing here?  It’sfour in the morning.”

“Can I come in?” she asked,surprised by the time.

“It’s late, and I was sleeping. It’s been a long night.  I really don’t have time to deal…”  He trailed offwhen he finally looked at her.

“Please?”  She tried to hold thetears in, but she didn’t succeed.

“Devon, can’t this wait until themorning?” he asked, doing a poor job of hiding his sympathies.

“It is the morning,” shemuttered.

“A normal hour then?” hepersisted.

Devon dropped her head and thenlooked up into his big eyes.  They weren’t rimmed with red like they had beenthis afternoon.  They weren’t dazed like they frequently were when he came intowork high.  They were just normal Brennan eyes, and she liked them the best.

“I don’t have anywhere else togo,” she said, feeling defeated.

Brennan sighed.  He tipped hishead side to side as if debating, and then he closed the door, pulled back thechain, and opened it for her.  “Come on in,” he said.  “I’ll make up the couchagain.”

“Thanks,” she muttered, relieved.

Devon took a seat on the couchand remembered the last time she had been here.  Her head pounded, and shetried not to think about it.  This was Brennan.  She could figure thingsout.

He returned with a pile ofpillows and blankets, just like last time.  But this time, she could tell thathe was still pretty upset.  She wasn’t sure if it was from earlier or what, buthis body was rigid.

“Well, good night.”  He turnedand walked toward the bedroom.

At least, he wasn’t one topry.

“What’s wrong with you?” sheasked.  Unlike him, she was one to pry.

Brennan stopped walking andsighed.  He turned around to face her.  “How much have you had to drink?”

“Too much,” she offered easily.

“That’s what I thought.  Whydon’t you just…sleep it off?” he said softly.

“Brennan,” she said when heturned away from her again, “can’t you just talk to me?”

She watched him clench andunclench his fists at his side.  He turned back around and shook his head.

“What do you want to talk about?”

“Can you sit down?” Devon asked,pulling her feet up on the couch.

“No,” he said stiffly.

“God, Brennan, what’s wrong?” sheasked, the alcohol making her bolder than she would have normally been.

“You want to know what’s wrong?”he asked, crossing the room.  He took a moment to try to compose himself, buthe failed.  “You’re what’s wrong.  Everything about you!”

Devon swallowed, looking up athim in shock.  Where was this coming from?  “What?  Me?” she croaked.

His hands shook.  “You walk intomy life when I won’t let anyone in.  You walk right in without asking, withoutgiving me an option.  Then, you slam that door shut so hard, it could crack thewindowpanes.  Just when I think you’re gone and I can close up again,” henearly shouted at her, “you crash back in all over again.  And it’s worse nowbecause I’m around you all the time.

“You have this barrier up, and Ihave no clue how to get through it.  And it’s obvious that you don’t want tolet it down, but I can’t help but try.  When I think there’s no chance, none atall, after you leave my gig…when I wrote that song for you…”  He trailedoff, looking at her fiercely.  “Then, you show up here, saying you have nowhereelse to go…when the door is always wide open.”

Devon’s heart was beating so hardin her chest that she thought she might explode.  This was what he had beencarrying around all this time?  She had suspected that he still liked her,but this…how could she even respond?

“I think I broke up with myboyfriend,” she said softly.

It wasn’t a lie, not exactly. She had left Reid.  It was over in her heart.

“What?” Brennan asked, coming upshort.

He hadn’t been expecting that.

“We’re over.”

Brennan sat down then.  “I’m sosorry.”

She didn’t believe him, and itmade her smile.  “It’s, uh…for the better.”

“God, I’m a dick,” he said, hishand brushing through his hair.

Devon laughed.  “Far from it.”

“Is that why you came by?” heasked, his eyes narrowing.

“Sort of.”  Devon scrunched upher nose.  “Hadley and Garrett got into a fight, and I didn’t want to be aroundthat.”  Also not a lie.

“Everything is falling apart,” hesaid softly.

Devon shrugged.  “I don’t knowabout everything.”

She patted the seat next to heron the couch, and he moved over to sit by her.

“How are you feeling, youknow…about your boyfriend?” he asked with a sigh.

She couldn’t tell if it was asigh of relief or not.

“I’m not sure if it has all sunkin yet,” she admitted, wrapping her arms around her knees.  “We dated foralmost three years.”

“That’s a long time.”

“Yeah,” she said, “it is.”

Brennan sighed again.  “It’ll geteasier with time.”

Devon nodded.  “I think so. Plus, time is all I have now, right?”  Was she trying to convince herself orhim?

“Sorry about yelling at you,” hesaid sheepishly.

“It’s alright.  I probablydeserved it,” she whispered.

“You didn’t,” he said.  “Iwas…projecting.”

“That’s one word for it,” shesaid with a laugh.

He stared down at the floor for afew minutes.  He really was beautiful.  He was even beautiful when he hadyelled at her.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he saidfinally.  “That when you didn’t have anywhere else to go, you came and foundme, so I can be there for you.”

He lifted his eyes to hers, andshe felt his words hit her.

“I want to be that for you,Devon.”

THE SMELL OF bacon filled theapartment, and Devon awoke with a smile.  No nightmares.  She hadn’t hada single one all night.  It was the first time in weeks.  She had sleptsoundly, not even waking up when Brennan got up to cook.  She checked her watchand realized it was already noon.  She couldn’t believe it!  She hadslept for almost eight hours.  She couldn’t remember the last time that hadhappened.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Brennancalled from the kitchen door.

She yawned and stretched her armsover her head.  She was clad in one of his T-shirts.  It was way too big, but itsmelled so good and clean and so much like Brennan that she wanted to wear itall the time.  Her eyes