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

He had a habit of parking a floor above allthe other cars to avoid anyone messing with his baby.  Ironic at best.

Still holding her hand, he guidedher to the passenger seat, opened the car door for her, and let her slide ontothe black leather seat.  As he shut the door tightly behind her, she tried notto hyperventilate.

They were alone.  Completelyalone.  100 percent alone.

She felt like a caged animal,desperate to be released from captivity.  Her hair stood on end, and she tried notto fidget.  Without thinking, she reached into her purse and pulled out a pen. She absentmindedly flipped it between her fingers.  It didn’t calm her down,but it helped.  It gave her something else to think about.  She wanted to writethen, to let out all the emotions coursing through her body.  She wanted towrite more than she had since the first couple weeks she had been in Chicago. But she didn’t dare pull out her notebook.  Reid didn’t like her lyrics, and hecertainly wouldn’t like the ones she had written about him.

Reid sat himself comfortably intothe driver’s seat and locked the doors.  Devon watched the lock click intoplace, and she had the sudden urge to lift it and bolt.  How far could sheget?  She wasn’t a runner.  Could she make it to the elevator?  Wouldthe stairs be a better option?  Would he chase her?  Were her dreams becomingreality?

He revved the engine to life, andDevon sank back into the seat.  She couldn’t outrun him.  Although he didn’twork out like he had used to, he still had more than six inches on her inheight.  Not to mention, he was a natural athlete.  And who was she kidding? Her dreams were already her reality.

“Where have you been staying?” heasked, reaching for her hand and taking it.

“With Hadley and her boyfriend,”she told him with a sigh.

“Ah,” he said, putting the carinto reverse, “I forgot Hadley was in the city.”

Devon nodded, not knowing whatelse to say.  Now, he knew.  Great.

“Then, we’ll go there.”

“What?” she asked.  OhGod…Hadley!  She had told Hadley that she and Reid had broken up and thatshe was into Brennan.  If she showed up with Reid in tow, it could cause anuclear meltdown.  Garrett knew what had happened between them, and Garrett andHadley both knew that she had been out all night with Brennan.  If they saidone word about Brennan, it would set off Reid.  Reid could not go back to theapartment.

“That’s where your stuff is,right?” he asked, turning to face her.

“Uh, right.  But I don’t havemuch,” she said.  She didn’t even know why she said that.  It wasn’t like shewanted to hurry up and head back to St. Louis.  She had no escape there.

He smiled and squeezed her hand. She tried not to cringe.

“Didn’t you leave your phonethere?”

Her stomach dropped.  Fuck! Of all the days…

“Oh yeah,” she whispered.

Reid pulled the car out of thegarage and exited smoothly into traffic on the one-way street.  “Where am Iheaded?”

She bit her lip and stared outthe car window before directing him to their destination.  She didn’t want tobring him back to the apartment.  What choice did she have though?  Shehad taken the only choice she could to protect Brennan.  Now, she had to followthrough with it.  Once he was safe, she would try to work things out withReid.  He just couldn’t find out.  She wouldn’t be able to forgive herself ifReid were to hurt Brennan.

Devon had never driven thestreets of Chicago, but she knew the blocks well enough.  Jenn’s wasn’t farfrom Marina City, but she felt a bit disoriented since she always took the L. He grunted when she made another accidental wrong turn.

“I should have just used my GPS.”

“Sorry,” she squeaked.

It was the least angry he hadgotten with her for bad directions in a long time.  He had refused to let hernavigate anywhere they went because he hated all her mistakes.  This wasalready starting out so well.

He pulled into the Marina Citycomplex and parked.  Devon pushed the door open and stood.  From her position,she could see out of the building all the way to Lake Michigan.  It made herthink of Brennan’s boat, the boat his father had left him, sitting in theharbor.  She pulled her eyes away from the horizon, not wanting her eyes toshow the loss of what could have been.  Reid might not be able to decipher whatit was immediately, but she didn’t want to give him cause to consider it.

They walked to the elevatortogether, his arm locked around her shoulder.  He was using any excuse to touchher.  She wanted to run far, far away.  Apparently, she hadn’t run far enoughto get away from him.

The elevator was as quick as everand deposited them on the forty-third floor of the building.  Devon wasdreading this with every ounce of her being.  She hated not knowing what wouldhappen when they walked through the door.

Devon slid her key into the holeand turned the handle.  She took a deep breath for strength and pushed throughthe door.  Reid walked in behind her.  Suddenly, the apartment felt very small,much too small.  Two bedrooms, two baths, a kitchen, and a living room—itwasn’t enough space.  She couldn’t get away from Reid in here unless she wantedto jump off the balcony and drop forty-three floors.  And that wasn’t even anoption.

“So, this is the place,” she saidtentatively.

As they walked into the livingroom, Reid seemed to be examining the apartment.  He was probably judging theplace.

She heard a noise behind her, andshe turned quickly.  Garrett was standing in the hallway.  His eyes moved fromDevon’s face to Reid and back.  His eyes grew wide as he seemed to realize whatwas happening, and then his face turned white as a sheet.

Reid turned around just then andsmiled.  “Hey, man, I’m Reid.”  He walked across the room and shook Garrett’shand.

“Garrett.”

“So nice to meet you.  Devon’sbeen telling me all about you.  Really nice of you to let her stay in the cityfor a couple weeks,” Reid said.

“Uh, yeah, no problem.  She’swelcome here anytime,” Garrett said, his eyes shifting to Devon.

Reid smiled bigger and turned toinclude Devon in the conversation.  “That’s always good to know.  Maybe we’llmake another