Every Glance (Every Life #3) (28 page)

“Are we living in an alternate reality or something?” Makenna asks with a pair of wide eyes. “Dalton brings a girl over
and
introduces her as his girlfriend? I swear this isn’t real.”

“Very funny.” I roll my eyes before looking at Devyn. “Please, don’t listen to anything they say tonight. Even though they promised to behave, I know them better than that.”

“But is it true? You’ve never brought a girl over here to meet them?” Devyn smiles wide. It may not be that big of a deal, but I hope that she now knows how special she is to me.

“Nope. I’m very selective.”

Both Wes and Sawyer snicker so I shove at both of them. Yeah, they know I’ve dated a few people. Okay…a lot. But I’m sure they also recognize what a big deal this is for me.

“What about your parents?” Devyn asks, perching herself on a barstool. “Have you ever brought a girl home to meet them?”

Uncomfortable silence falls on the room.

“No.” The word is clipped, shooting from my mouth like a gunshot. I realize now that I’ve never mentioned much about my parents to her.

“Oh,” she barely whispers.

The quiet only lasts for a few seconds until Sawyer—my saving grace—takes action. “How about some appetizers, Devyn?” He proceeds to tell her about each dish on the counter, and Callie hands her a glass of wine. The mood lightens immediately, and the chatter picks up again.

Once dinner is ready, we all sit down at the table, and I think we do more talking and laughing than we do eating. As a matter of fact, my food is nearly cold before I’m even half finished. I’m relieved that everyone is talking to Devyn, and she seems to be at ease finally, judging by the constant, gentle smile on her face.

After dinner, we all help to clean up—the girls begin clearing plates and loading the dishwasher while the guys put away all the leftover food. We make short work of it and settle into the living room in only a few minutes.

“So tell the truth, Dalton,” Callie says, passing a bottle of beer to me before crossing the room to give Wes and Sawyer theirs, “have you given the girl any notice at all that she’s attending a wedding this weekend?” She pauses to look at Devyn. “You
are
on the guest list as his plus-one, you know, but being a man and all, I’m sure he’s failed to mention it.”

A look of utter confusion sweeps across Devyn’s face as she whips around to face me.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no.’” Callie waddles over and slumps into the couch, holding her round belly.

“I was going to ask you tonight,” I take Devyn’s hand and look over at her. “But because I’m now on the spot, would you please be my date for Sawyer and Makenna’s wedding this Saturday? I know it’s not much notice, but I’ll even take you dress shopping tomorrow if you like.”

“Just make sure you shop fast.” Makenna kicks her feet up into Sawyer’s lap. “You have to be at the rehearsal at six. And the dinner is at seven.”

I nod and look back at Devyn. “Please? Simon can come, too. The kid looks damn adorable in a bow tie.”

“I’d love to go with you, but just for the late notice, you’re going shoe shopping with me, too.”

I hold out my hand until she slips hers into mine, and I shake it. “Deal.”

“Whoa. Dalton has a girlfriend
and
he’s going shopping with her. I’m beginning to feel faint.” Makenna gushes dramatically and covers her eyes with the back of her hand.

I take her momentary blindness as an opportunity to get back at her, so I launch a couch pillow across the room and it bounces off her head. Everyone laughs as she retaliates, throwing every pillow over there at me, but I easily bat them away. She finally realizes that isn’t working, so she picks up one of the pillows that ended up in the floor, and she stalks across the room, giggling. Everyone in the room is laughing, including Devyn.

When she’s only a few feet away, Makenna swings the pillow over one shoulder with both hands and readies to smack me with it. I know I can easily take it from her when she gets close enough, so I just sit and wait.

But a kink in my plan in the form of a beautiful woman named Devyn comes into the picture before I even realize what’s going on. She launches herself into my lap, pinning my arms down just in time for Makenna’s pillow to connect with my face.

“Traitor!” I yell at Devyn and start tickling her ribs. She screams for mercy while Makenna pegs me in the back of the head with the pillow a couple more times. Devyn finally breaks free and scrambles to her feet, racing through the kitchen and out the back door. By the time I make it outside, she standing in the middle of the yard, just taunting me.

“Come on, Dev. Let’s call a truce.”

She knows me well enough by now to know that I wouldn’t call for a truce without exacting my revenge first. “Not a chance. I’m not falling for it.”

Everyone else has now followed us outside, and they’re thoroughly enjoying the little show. “You better start running, Devyn,” Sawyer calls out. “He’s fast.”

“I’m not too worried. I’m faster.” But regardless of her words, she only hesitates for a moment before squealing, turning on her heel, and darting further into the edge of the woods.

I leap off the porch in a full sprint. Usually when I run, I’m running away from my past and the demons always chasing me. But for the first time in my life, I’m running
toward
something I want.

I catch up with her easily because she’s laughing too hard to run. Scooping her up in my arms, I swing her around in a few circles before putting her back down next to a tree.

“Now, I’ve got you.”

She smiles wide. “Only because I wanted to be caught. But now that you have me, what are you going to do with me?”

I look back over my shoulder at our rapt audience standing on the back porch and turn back to her, grabbing her hand. I tug on her arm and have her follow me to the other side of the tree. Leaning my back into the knobby bark, I pull her against me, one hand around her waist and pressing into her back and the other cupping her jaw.

“I’m a fair man, so I thought it would be a good idea to let
you
choose the punishment.”

She looks up at me through her dark lashes. “Well, you’ve already kissed me senseless on top of the world, I think you should kiss me senseless in the dusky woods. It would be quite painful.”

“Yeah, that would be pure hell on earth. I might need to do it a few times to make sure you’ve learned your lesson.”

Devyn presses her body against mine and curls both arms around my neck. “I have a feeling that this punishment will make me want to be bad more often,” she whispers just a breath away from my mouth.

I lean in to graze my lips along the rim of her ear. “I’m counting on it.”

Tracing the edge of her jaw with my lips, I feel her smile. But it melts away when I kiss the corner of her mouth, and she turns to meet me, her eyes falling closed and her arms tightening around me. Neither of us hesitates. We dive right into each other—devouring, tasting, hungrily begging for more. I’ve never liked the flavor of wine, but the taste of it on her tongue is definitely a new favorite of mine.

I trail kisses down her neck, nipping and sucking gently, and her tiny gasps only make me want to do it more. By the time I reach her collarbone, one of her hands is fisted in my hair and the other is clawing at my back. Her sense of ravenous urgency is definitely contagious.

My hand at her waist slips beneath her sweater to find the softest, warmest skin at her back, and I slide my hand up until my fingertips graze the band of her bra. That simple contact does wicked things to my body. My heart was already about to burst through my ribs, but now the rigid weight between my legs feels like it could knock down a few of these trees.

Devyn must have noticed it, too, because she pulls my head back from her neck and smirks at me. It’s this very moment that my heart stops. Catching her bottom lip between her teeth, she lets her arm fall away from around my shoulder, allowing her hand to skim my chest as it slides down…down…
down
.

Damn.

I’m unable to stop the groan from escaping my chest when she cups me and massages gently, making me wonder how in the hell my zipper hasn’t ripped open from all the pressure behind it. Her hand moves up again, and her fingers snake under my shirt and hook around the top of my jeans.

She’s not really going to…
ohhhhh, yes she is.

In one smooth motion, her hand dips into my waistband, and her cool fingers wrap around me, delivering a jolt of exquisite pleasure that takes my breath away.

“I can feel your phone buzzing in your pocket,” she whispers.

“It’ll stop. It’s probably just one of the guys jacking with me.”

And it does stop, but it immediately rings again.

Devyn pulls her hand out and snickers. “Maybe you should at least see who it is.”

I can hardly get my hand to work, but I somehow get my phone out of my pocket. The screen doesn’t give me much hope that what’s going on with Devyn and me will get any further right now.

“Dr. Hoover,” I answer.

“Dalton…thank God. It’s Anna. You need to get to the hospital right away. I think Mr. Lincoln just had another stroke, and they’re having trouble getting him to breathe.”

“Damn it. Thanks, Anna. On my way right now.”

I grab Devyn’s hand, and we run back up to the house. Everyone is standing around the kitchen, and Callie even starts to make a wisecrack about us being back so soon, but her words fall away as soon as she sees the look on my face.

“Sawyer, the hospital called. We need to go.”

We all race outside, and Sawyer and Makenna jump in my backseat, leaving room for Devyn in the front, but she’s not there. I turn to find her walking toward her own car.

“Devyn,” I call out. “Ride with us.”

“It’s okay. I don’t want to intrude on something so personal. Just call me later.”

“I may need you there.” The truth of the words shock me for two reasons. If things are as bad with William as it sounds, I may need the moral support. And knowing that it’s her I want there to hold my hand is just as surprising…but in a good way. I just hope I’m wrong about William.

“Okay,” she concedes, jogging over to jump in.

I sling gravel behind me as I pull out of the drive and onto the pavement. I’m almost to the end of the street when I see Callie and Wes finally turn onto the road. The ride is completely silent, only the growl of the engine breaks through the quiet. In the rearview mirror, I can barely see Sawyer in the glow of the streetlights, but he looks grim. His jaw is clenched and his eyes are glazed over. He only softens slightly when Makenna cuddles into him and rests her head on his shoulder.

With my elbow resting on the console, I stretch my arm out over to Devyn’s lap and turn my palm up. She immediately takes my hand and gives it a gentle squeeze.

Yeah, I’m glad she came.

The parking lot is packed tonight, but luckily, there are still a few empty spaces in the doctor’s parking right up front. As soon as we’re out of the car, Devyn takes my hand again, and we rush inside, straight into the emergency room waiting area.

“I’ll come back and get you as soon as I can,” I tell Sawyer. “I promise.”

He nods, and I turn to kiss Devyn on the cheek before dropping her hand and pushing through the doors leading to the long corridor. Stopping at the nurse’s station, I find out what room he’s in and continue down the hall just a few more steps to William’s room.

Dr. Edelman is scribbling on a chart while a team of nurses rushes around to ready him to be moved. Wires and tubes protrude from all over him, but the most concerning is the tube going down his throat. I guess they never were able to get him breathing again on his own.

“How is he?”

Dr. Edelman looks up over his narrow glasses. “Critical, but stable for now. I’m moving him up to the ICU. The next twenty-four hours are going to be rough for him, for sure, but I’m giving you my honest medical opinion when I tell you that I don’t think he’s coming out of this one. I’m really sorry, Dalton. I hope he proves me wrong.”

But Edelman rarely is. He’s a damn good doctor, and if William has any chance of recovering, it’ll be under Edelman’s watch. “I understand. I trust that you’ll do everything you can. When can I get Sawyer up to see him?”

“They’re already set up for him up there, so give me about twenty minutes to get him settled in.” Edelman walks with me down the hall, explaining the symptoms that brought him in and the test results. I’m no specialist or anything, but even I can see that there’s not a whole lot of hope in this situation. When you’re that age with that severe of a brain bleed, it’s nearly impossible bounce back, especially with William’s health being so poor to begin with.

I pause before going back out to the waiting room. Of course, I knew the day would actually come when I’d have to tell Sawyer that William is gone. If it happens today, I just don’t know how I’ll do it. I’ve had to tell a lot of people that their loved ones had passed, and it never got any easier, but I found a way to do it. But how could I tell my best friend that the only real father he’s ever had is gone?

It has to be me, though. Just like it has to be me who breaks the news of his current condition. I swipe at my watering eyes with the back of my hand and shove through the swinging doors. Sawyer jumps to his feet and rushes over to me without saying a word. I think he’s afraid to even ask the questions floating around in his head.

“They are working to stabilize him, and he’s being moved to ICU.” I nod toward the door. “Why don’t you and I step outside, and I’ll tell you everything.”

Sawyer’s eyes lock on mine for a moment, and I can tell that he immediately knows that I don’t have good news. Breaking eye contact, he looks back over his shoulder at the rest of our group. “You can tell all of us. It’s okay.”

“You sure?”

“All of you are my family.”

After a moment, everyone files outside, except Devyn.

“I don’t think I can say what I need to say without you next to me, unless it’ll be too uncomfortable for you.”

Devyn stands and takes my hand. “I’m here, then.”

The next fifteen minutes are the hardest of my life. I tell Sawyer everything I know, including the slim chance of William ever waking up again, and there isn’t a dry eye in our group. We all knew this day was coming soon, which is why Sawyer wanted to get married sooner. But life has a cruel way of reminding you that even the best laid plans won’t prevent the inevitable.