“No,” she said instantly.

“Alright.”

The conversation ended, and Devon sat there frozen, watching baseball highlights.  She felt bad for cutting him off so abruptly.  Maybe she was being ridiculous.

“How do you afford this place bartending?” she asked, hoping that the subject was neutral enough.

“Don’t like to talk about it.”  He took a drink from his beer.

“Oh,” she breathed.

Brennan finished his beer in silence and then placed the empty bottle on the coffee table.  Devon watched as he stood and stretched out his lean muscles.  He wasn’t overly built, but he was all muscle.  He raised his arms over his head, and her eyes darted to his exposed stomach, then quickly away.

He left for a minute and then returned with a bunch of blankets in his arms.  He tossed them onto the couch.  “You taking the bed, Belle?”

“Couch is good with me,” she told him.

“Whatever suits you, suits me,” he said.  “Here’s the remote.”

“You can just turn it off.  I’m going to pass out,” she said, averting her eyes.

He turned to go, but then he seemed to think better of it.  He sat down next to her on the couch again.  “You going to tell me what’s eating at you?”  He looked at her more intently than ever before.

She shook her head.  “Nothing is.”

“You pissed about Hadley?” he asked, hitting on the most superficial problem.

“How did you know?”

“I pay attention.”

“So…you know what she’s up to?” she asked carefully.

“That she’s snorting coke?” he asked.  “Yeah, I know about that.”

“Does Garrett know?” she asked quickly.

Brennan shook his head.  “No way.  He thinks she’s perfect.  Could you imagine if Mr. Perfect found out his Princess was a coke addict?”

“She’s an addict?” she squeaked.

“Depends on your definition.  She’s done it more than a few times.”

He was being loose with his words because he was drunk.  Devon probably shouldn’t have been taking advantage of the situation in his state, but she wanted answers.

“How do you know all about her problem if he doesn’t?” Devon asked out of curiosity.

“When you’ve done shit before, you can see it in a person.  Once she found out that I knew, she stopped hiding it around me,” he told her honestly.

“You do…coke, too?” she asked, her heart sinking.  Was that what was up with him?  But didn’t it normally make them upbeat or fidgety?

“Nah.  Just once and knew it wasn’t for me.  Mostly weed.”

Ah, that explains it, she thought.

“You could use some weed,” Brennan told her.  “You’re too uptight, Belle.”

Devon frowned.  Typical.  “I’m going to pass.”

“Suit yourself, but I think you’d like it,” he said, turning to face her with a smile.

“I’ve done it before,” she said, not wanting to admit how much she used to smoke.  For a long time, she had thought she studied better high.  It had become a problem when she was pretty much always studying.

“You?” he asked with raised eyebrows.

“Yeah.  Surprised?”

“Wouldn’t have pegged you.”

“Oh right, square.”  Devon gestured at herself with her hands.

“I dig square,” he told her bluntly.

Oh damn, how messed up is he? Devon wondered.

“Thanks,” she whispered, glancing down.

She didn’t know how else to deflect the conversation.  Brennan was nice…well, kind of, and he was very attractive.  She needed to get out of this territory.  She was here for a place to crash, and crashing sounded like a good idea right about now.

When Devon felt his hand reach out and touch her cheek, her eyes fluttered up to meet his.  Before she had a chance to react, he leaned forward and kissed her lips.  Her shock held her at bay.  He did nothing more than hold his soft lips against hers.  They were foreign and strange yet enticing.

She felt her body respond to his touch.  His fingers moved and threaded through her hair, tugging on it slightly in his haste.  She had too many thoughts swirling in her head to keep it all straight at once.  The most prominent ones were how good this felt, how wrong this felt, and how surprised she was that he was even doing this.

Had he ever given her an indication that he wanted to kiss her before that last comment?  She couldn’t remember.

She didn’t know why, but tears welled in her eyes.  They slid easily down her cheeks, mixing salt with the taste of alcohol on his lips.

Brennan pulled back to look at her and she gasped out, “I have a boyfriend.”

Brennan dropped his hands into his lap.  “Oh.”

Devon bit down on her lip as she waited for him to say something more.  He just stared at her, his eyes slightly hazy.  She wanted him to say something, anything.  Was he pissed?  Was he shocked?  Did he expect something from her?

“Good night then,” he said finally as he stood.

She stared up at him, her brow furrowed with trepidation.  Was that it?  He wasn’t mad?  He wasn’t going to push the topic?  Didn’t he have more to say?

He made it all the way to his bedroom door before turning back to look at her.  He seemed to be waiting for something, but she didn’t know what it was.

“Good…good night, Brennan,” she told him.

Whatever she was supposed to say…that wasn’t it.

He hung his head a little and then nodded.  “Have a safe trip tomorrow, Devon.”

As Brennan shut the door behind him, she realized that was the first time he had ever called her by her name.

DEVON WALKED DOWN the dirt lane kicking her cowboy boots against the small rocks in her path.  The day was approaching dusk, and the sun was hanging heavy over the horizon, splattering the sky with pink, orange, and yellow.  She finger combed her blonde hair down to her waist.  She wished she had a hat because her hair was a rat’s nest.

She whistled her latest tune recalling the lyrics she had sang for her parents earlier that day.  They liked them the song so much that they wanted to send it off to a label.  They thought their Dixie girl would be a star.  She didn’t know about any of that, but she liked writing it all down.

Devon veered off the road, taking a shortcut through an open field.  She was thankful for her boots as she trekked through the waist-high grass.  It had been a warm day, but the night was rapidly cooling the temperatures.  She shouldn’t have been surprised in the least, but somehow, she would always forget her cardigan for the walk.

The wind whipped across the grass, tying her hair in knots and matting it to her face.  She struggled to keep it away, but there was just too much of it for it to make a difference.  While she fought with her hair, her sundress flew up around her stomach.  She yanked it back down to cover herself, but she was having little luck.  Grumbling in frustration, she cursed the wind for its timing.

She and her brother, Dustin, had taken this shortcut for years.  It was only a matter of time before Dani knew about it as well.  That thought terrified Devon.

When she crossed the halfway point between the road and the woods, she heard boots crunching against the earth behind her.  Rolling her eyes, Devon turned back around.

Dustin better not be trailing me again, she thought.

Her eyes roamed the field, trying to make out if someone was on the road.  She couldn’t really see anyone, but out here, that didn’t mean no one was there.  Shaking off the feeling, Devon turned and continued across the open field.  She had plans, and getting spooked out in the open wasn’t going to stop her.