Saving Sarah (10 page)

“Bake at three hundred fifty degrees for one and a half hours, basting every thirty minutes.” Sarah paused. “Basting every thirty minutes? Dammit! How did I miss that part?” She looked back toward the dry, burnt rosemary chicken she’d worked so hard on preparing. “Well, fuck. What in the hell do I do now?”

 
A knock made her look up. She quickly laid the book down and wiped her hands on the new white apron she’d bought. Sarah had spent so much time at the grocery store, she completely missed lunch with her girls. Melissa didn’t mind calling and teasing her terribly for trying to make dinner.

Taking a quick peek at herself in the mirror, she took in her reflection—black slacks, red silk blouse with her blonde hair in waves. Damn, she looked like Christmas. Well, it was too late to change now.

As Sarah reached for the knob she hesitated. Fear like nothing she felt before exploded inside of her, leaving her body shaking as she began to back away. Her mind was screaming to run, but already entering the kitchen, there was nowhere to go.

The sound of wood cracking as someone’s fist pounded into the door made her cover her mouth to hold in a scream. Who in the hell would be banging like that? For some reason, she knew it wasn’t Devon or Gavin.

A ring echoed through the living room. “Shit,” she whispered, running to her purse. The moment she hit the ignore button the door crashed to the floor. Air rushed against Sarah’s face, blowing her hair back at the force of the fall. She couldn’t move as she stood there staring at Tom. Their gazes locked, and time seemed to slow in her fear.

“Sarah!”

Devon’s voice in the background only registered briefly. All she could see were Tom’s eyes glaring at her before he disappeared. The adrenaline hit so hard and so fast Sarah collapsed to the ground breathing heavily. Seconds hadn’t gone by when she noticed Gavin kneeling next to her.

“Are you all right? Was that the guy who’s been calling?”

Shakily, Sarah nodded. “Where’s Devon?” She immediately stood. Her legs shaking almost made it impossible.

“He ran after the guy.”

“Why didn’t you go with him?” she said frantically.

“He told me to stay with you. Do you know how strong he is? He wouldn’t have needed me for one guy. Sarah, he’s an alpha. The guy wouldn’t stand a chance against Devon.”

 
Walking to the door, she peeked out, not seeing anything. “Gavin, if something happens to him…”

He quickly embraced her in his arms. “He’ll be all right. Shh... It’s okay.”

Sarah couldn’t think. “I just got him back. If I lost him again, I’m not sure what would happen to me.”

Gavin stroked his fingers through her hair while he made soothing sounds and pulled her deeper into the living room. Nausea threatened at the thoughts of any harm befalling the one man she tried endlessly to forget. Suddenly, she didn’t want to have him missing from her anymore. Even if she hadn’t completely forgiven him, she didn’t want him gone either.

The sound of footsteps had Sarah spinning around. Devon walked through the door slowly, and she ran, throwing herself into his arms. “He had a car waiting by. I couldn’t keep up with him, but I did get the license plate number.”

“Why did you do that? You could have gotten hurt.” The sobs wracked her chest as she fought to breathe against the panic flaring inside of her.

“Whoa, honey, calm down. I’m fine. Don’t cry. Here let me see.” Devon lifted her face up, wiping the tears away with his thumb. “Are you okay?”

Was she okay? Fuck no, she wasn’t okay. One minute she was confused, and the next, she was ready to pledge her undying love to the one man she thought she’d never forgive. That shit wasn’t normal.

“Yes, I’m fine. He didn’t do anything besides bang my door down, but you shouldn’t have gone after him. It could have been dangerous.”

“You let me worry about danger. I’m just glad you’re all right. If I wouldn’t have heard the loud knocking…” Devon tensed against her. He held her tighter, resting his head down on hers.

Recalling the banging, Sarah looked at her door. “Now how in the hell am I supposed to explain that to the manager? She’s going to flip. I think he broke the frame.”

Devon looked at her, shocked. “Someone tried to break into your house, and you’re worried about the damn door? Sarah, you could have been hurt. You have no idea who that guy was. He could have been a murderer, a rapist. Do you know how lucky you are?”

Turning to Gavin, she wasn’t sure what to say. Devon didn’t give her time to do anything. “Gavin, do you know something you’re not telling me? You both are looking at each other like you’re hiding something.”

“We’re not hiding anything. Sarah told me she knows who it is.”

“Well, who the hell is it then?”

Confused on how to start, she quickly pulled away and sat down on the couch. “If you fix my door, I’ll tell you everything, the whole story. You’re both going to find out anyway.”

“Wait, there’s more? I thought he was just some random guy you saw once and brushed off. Isn’t that what you said?”

She looked at Gavin, twisting her mouth. “Yes, that’s what I said, and it’s true, but there’s more to it than just that. If you at least try to fix my door, I’ll tell you. I don’t like it being open. I feel exposed.”

Her ex sniffed the air, and a smile began to appear on his face. The look he gave her caused Sarah to roll her eyes. She knew what was coming.

“Hey, is something burning?” Devon walked into the kitchen and laughed.

“You know very well I could never cook. I might have left it in there too long, and well, I missed the part in the instructions where it said you had to baste every thirty minutes. I plan to do better tomorrow.”

“Pizza it is,” Gavin said, rubbing his hands together.

“Pizza sounds perfect. I’m just going to go change. When my door’s fixed, I’ll explain.”

Gavin lifted the door easily and nodded to her. “Sounds good to me. The frame’s not broken. I’ll have it fixed before you get back. Devon, go get me some tools.”

Sarah shut her bedroom door and sat on the bed, trying to collect her thoughts. What Tom had done truly scared the shit out of her. What in the hell was he doing, or more importantly, planning to do? Chills raced down her body as she rubbed her arms. She knew he’d been upset, but to go as far as breaking down her door was too much. It was time to call Stephen.

Picking up her house phone from the bedside table, she called Evelyn. Two rings went by until she answered. “Hey, Sarah, what’s up?”

“Ev, I need you to send Stephen over.”

“What’s happened?” Evelyn’s voice deepened at her concern.

“Tom broke down my door. Devon ran after him, but he got away.”

A large intake of breath echoed over the phone. “Shit, we’re on our way.”

“Thanks, Ev.”

Sarah hung up and walked over to her closet grabbing a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. Her hands were shaking so badly, buttoning the pants was almost impossible. All the information she was about to tell the guys would either break their building relationship or put a huge dent in it. She couldn’t even begin to imagine how they would take things.

The sound of a drill made her jump. Anxiously, Sarah paced the floor trying to buy some time, but she knew she needed to get this out before Evelyn and Stephen showed up. How in the world could she tell the men who she likely would be spending the rest of her life with that for the last year she made bets on which men to sleep with?

Uncertainly, she walked out of the room. Gavin gave her a big smile until he noticed, and probably felt, her distress. He tested the door and shut it.

“All done. See, no problem. Devon!” Gavin called, looking toward the kitchen. She could see how tense he appeared. The way her body shook, she knew he could probably tell this wasn’t going to be good.

Devon walked out of the kitchen, wiping his hands. “I was just getting rid of the chicken and washing the dishes. Pizza’s on its way.”

“I might as well tell you both before Evelyn and Stephen get here.” Sarah took a deep breath and gestured for them to sit down while she paced in front of them. When they were ready, she nodded, more to jumpstart her mouth than anything.

“Tom and I met almost a year ago. It was at a club in Corpus.” She paused to look at them. “Tom was one of my first bets.” When they remained silent, she proceeded. “The girls and I have played the game Bets a while now. We…bet each other on who to take home. Gavin, Devon, I’m sorry, but you were both bets. That was, of course, until everyone figured out who you were,” she said, looking at Devon.

“That night, Gavin, I didn’t approach you the second time because of the bet. I
wanted
to be with you.”

“Bets.” Gavin laughed. “You girls bet on men?” He turned toward Devon. “Is it just me or does that sound more like a man’s kind of game? Bets!” He laughed.

Devon threw him an angry look. “It might be funny to you, but has it occurred to you that this guy,
a bet
, is now after Sarah? That is the stupidest, most dangerous game I’ve ever heard of. And what about Stephen and Brandon, do they know about this game?”

Sarah looked down. “Yes, they know. We’ve already told them to butt out. Stephen doesn’t like it at all, but Brandon’s more easygoing. He thinks we’re allowed to make our own decisions. Plus, they kind of watch over us and scan who we leave with. I’m not sure exactly how or what they do, but they’ve told us no on some of them.”

“Unbelievable,” Devon said aghast.

A knock at the door made Sarah’s stomach twist even tighter. Gavin held up his hand when she walked forward. He went and opened the door, looking back at her for assurance.

“Are you okay?” Evelyn ran up, embracing her tightly.

“I’m fine Just a little shaken, that’s all.”

“Devon, it’s good to see you. Sorry, I don’t think we’ve met,” Stephen said, holding out his hand to Gavin.

“Gavin. I’ll be new to the pack.”

“Glad to hear both of you are joining us. So what’s going on here?” Stephen asked, examining the door.

Sarah noticed he wore his police uniform. He must have been on patrol. She held Evelyn’s hand while they walked closer toward him.

“Tom was a bet I met at the beginning of the game. When he wanted to see me again, I declined. Let’s just say he didn’t take it too well. He’s been prank calling me ever since, but today…” Sarah shivered. “Today he decided to knock my door in.”

“Tell him about the call you received Saturday morning.”

She looked at Gavin and then back to Devon. “He called, and when I acknowledged him, he said he witnessed a confrontation between the three of us outside of the Martini Bar. He had to have been watching.”

“Sarah! You didn’t tell me this,” Evelyn squealed, tightening her hand. I would have made Stephen keep a closer eye on you.”

“It’s the first I’ve heard about it, too,” Devon said, looking up at her.

“I didn’t think it was a big deal.” Sarah shifted her feet while she fought not to get defensive.

“It’s a big deal,” Stephen said, looking at her. “All right, what arrangements do you guys have going on here? I take it you’re our newest threesome.”

Sarah blushed while Evelyn slapped at him. “I told you not to say anything, dammit!”

“What, Evey? I have to know. It’s police business.”

“Sorry,” Evelyn whispered.

“It’s fine.” Sarah let out a sigh. “I’m staying here. The guys are staying in Devon’s apartment, three doors down.”