Following Me (34 page)

REID BENT DOWN and collected the
tray from the floor.  He looked up, his eyes met Devon’s, and he smiled bright
and beautiful.  He had an award-winning smile.  Her hands were shaking as he
handed the tray back to her, and she automatically tucked it under her arm.

How had he found her?
  She
had thought that she was safe, that she had time, that she would be able to
figure things out.  He wasn’t supposed to be here.  He wasn’t supposed to be
standing in Jenn’s, staring at her expectantly.  He had only texted her this
morning. 
There was no way he could have found her in less than a day,
right?
 That wasn’t even supposed to be possible.

And Brennan. 
Oh fuck—Brennan!
 
She hadn’t told him.  There hadn’t been time.  Her mind had been elsewhere, running
ahead of her as always to his one-bedroom apartment.  She had been planning to
tell him night when she was supposed to go to his apartment.

Now, what could she do?
 
Brennan didn’t know, and she had told him that she had broken up with her
boyfriend.  But now, Reid was here, and he was staring at her, making it very
obvious that she was his property.  He had a way of looking at her that made it
very clear they were together.  She never got hit on in public, and Hadley had
been the one that pointed it out the first time.  Devon recognized it now as
possessiveness, which was part of his problem.

Would Brennan notice?  Fuck! 
He
was the most perceptive person she knew.  Of course, he would notice.  Plus,
with the way they hadn’t been able to keep their hands off each other the past
couple days, it would be strange for her to act any different now.

But if Reid saw her with
Brennan, what would he do?
  She couldn’t think about it.  She couldn’t
imagine her life right now without Brennan.  He made her feel human, and she
never wanted to feel like she was anything less again.

As she saw it, she had two
choices, neither of which she wanted to face.  She could confront Reid right
here, something she had never prepared for, and watch him go ballistic,
potentially hurting her and Brennan. 
Hadn’t she thought that if Brennan
ever collided with her problems that he might end up dead?
  She couldn’t
let that happen, but she knew what Reid was capable of.  The other option was
to act like everything was fine—leave with Reid and keep Brennan out of it. 
Figure out what to do from there.  It sounded like a suicide mission to her,
but it felt selfish to risk Brennan.

All she had to do was figure out
why Reid was here and how he had found her.  She couldn’t do much else.

Devon’s whole body was trembling,
and she was sure that Reid saw the shock all over her face.  Heat rose to the
surface of her skin.  Her body flushed all over.  And all she could do was
stand there and stare at him.  It had been two-and-a-half months since she had
last seen him.  It was the longest amount of time she had been away from him in
nearly three years.

Devon could see what she had
fallen for all those years ago.  He wore the requisite prep look like a second
skin.  It was a trait he had acquired long ago when he had attended an all-boys
private school in the Kansas City suburbs.  He had perfected it when he had
pledged a fraternity at Wash U.  His height had gotten him the quarterback
position in high school, but he hadn’t been good enough to play Division I in
college.  Pride had kept him from going to a lower division.  He had used the
legacy factor from his father as the reason he didn’t play in college.  Most of
all, Reid just seemed like the perfect guy—smart, confident, ambitious.

But then, she also saw what she
hadn’t seen when they had first started dating.  His smile was a promise,
telling her she was in a lot of fucking trouble without even saying a word. 
His eyes were icy, threatening her with just a glance.  His height didn’t just
make him taller than her; it was a power struggle.  He had to take up the room
and break her down, make her less than nothing.  His entire presence was
sinister.

And she could do better.

It was a scary thought.

“Hey, Dev,” Reid said, still not
making a move toward her.

“Hey,” she whispered.  “Wha…what
are you doing here?”

“It’s good to see you, too,” he
said, smiling that terribly beautiful smile in her direction.

Devon deadpanned.  She couldn’t
say it was good to see him.  It was shocking to see him.  It was fucking scary
to see him.  It made her want to collapse into a puddle on the floor.  Good
wasn’t even in the first hundred adjectives she would have used.

She didn’t miss that he didn’t
answer her question.  She hadn’t asked what she wanted to know the most
.  Not
what was he doing here, but how had he found her?
  She didn’t think that
one would go over well.

“How have you been?” he asked.

Devon swallowed. 
This sounded
like a trick question.
  “Fine.”

“I’ve missed you.”

Devon couldn’t bring herself to
smile.  Her insides twisted, and she did everything she could not to look away.

“You didn’t return my messages,”
he said, taking a step closer this time.

“I accidentally left my phone at
home,” she told him.

She wanted to run.  She wanted to
turn around and run away from him…into Brennan’s arms.  But that was
dangerous…too dangerous.

“Well, I’m glad I found you
then.  We have a lot to talk about.”

She knew what his talking looked
like.  “I have to work,” she said softly.

He smiled like he knew she was
trapped.  “I’ll wait.”

What could she say to that? 
No, get the fuck out!  Yeah right!
  He was coiled up like a viper ready to
strike, and she wasn’t going to poke him.

“It won’t be long.  I can meet
you somewhere,” she offered, wanting nothing more than for him to leave right
now.

He chuckled, and even that
sounded threatening.  Maybe everything about him was a threat to her now
because she knew how dangerous he was.

“I think I’d rather stay.  I
could use a drink.”

Fuck!  No.  No.  No.
  He
could not have a drink. 
Bad idea.  Really bad idea.
  Brennan was over
by the drinks.

“Take one of my tables, and I’ll
go get you one,” she said, her voice struggling to remain calm.  “Crown,
right?”

“Don’t worry about it, Dev,” he
said, walking up to her.  “I’ll just go to the bar.  We can talk after you get
off work.”

“Okay,” she whispered, knowing it
was anything but okay.

He reached forward and squeezed
her hand.  “You look good,” he said, raking his eyes over her body.  Then, he
released her, turned, and walked directly toward the bar, toward Brennan.

Her heart deflated, and air burst
out of her mouth in a whoosh.  She reached out, grabbed one of the booths, and
held on for dear life.  She couldn’t even turn around to look at Brennan and
Reid standing at the bar together while Brennan made Reid a drink, offered up
polite conversation, and joked around.  She couldn’t witness it.  She thought
she might throw up.

It took everything she had to
return to her tables and act like nothing was wrong.  She had never worked so
hard in her life.  She was trying so desperately not to look at Brennan and
Reid that she worked twice as hard as normal.  She needed to keep her mind
busy, and that was the only way she knew how.

Devon didn’t know what she was
going to do when her shift ended.  She had been running for so long that she
had completely pushed away thoughts of when she would have to face her life
again.  Now, it was here, sitting right in front of her.

The after-hours crowd started
filling the room, which made the distraction a bit easier.  She still had a
hard time looking over to see Reid sitting at the bar, but at least, Brennan
was busy enough that he didn’t have to talk to Reid.  She didn’t want them to
ever have to talk.

When Hannah and another waitress
walked in to take over for Amy and her, Devon thought she might break down into
tears.  She couldn’t leave.  Jenn’s was a sanctuary, and her demons were
waiting for her outside the door…or even worse, at the bar, drinking with
Brennan.  She knew that Reid wouldn’t do anything in public.  He was too
self-controlled for that.  It was the only reason he had gotten away with
everything for this long.  She hadn’t ratted him out, and no one would guess
that perfect Reid would ever do something like hurt his perfect girlfriend.

She wanted to believe that their
time apart had showed him how much he had missed her and how wrong his actions
had been.  She wanted him to see her for the woman he had fallen in love with. 
She wanted him to apologize and beg her to come back.

But those were fairy-tale dreams. 
When he had walked in, the look Reid had given her had been enough to show her
that none of those things would be her reality.  This was Reid after all.  He
could never be wrong…ever.

“Hey, Devon,” Hannah said,
walking up to her.

“Hey, Hannah.”

“I wish I had the mid-shift this
week,” she said with a sigh.  “But I’m stuck working late.  What are you doing
tonight?”

Devon stared at her blankly. 
Hannah never made polite conversation with her.

“Um…nothing.”

“Sounds riveting,” Hannah said,
straight-faced.

That’s more like it,
she
thought.

“Well, have a good time,” Devon
said, untying her apron.  “I’m out of here.”

“Lucky,” Hannah said under her
breath.

If only she knew…

Devon bit her lip and stole a
glance at the bar.  Both Reid and Brennan were looking directly at her.  She
averted her eyes as quickly as she could and hurried through the swinging door
into the kitchen.  Her heart was pounding as she walked stiffly into the break
room.

Only a couple hours ago, she had
sat here with Brennan while he played with her hair.  Before that, they had
been kissing, and he had her backed up against the lockers. 
Could
everything that had happened since then be real?

She grabbed her purse and slung
it over her head, letting the strap cross her body.  She leaned forward against
her locker and tried some breathing exercises to calm her racing heart.  Tears
sprang to her eyes, and her hands swatted them away.  They wouldn’t help her
now.  She just needed to be strong.

The door opened behind her, and
she hoped it was Amy.

“Belle, you okay?” Brennan asked.

No luck.

She straightened immediately. 
“I’m fine,” she said, the words sounding hollow. 
Why did that word sound so
horrible when she said it?

“Fine.  Alright.  Are you ready
to head out then?  Kami just walked in to take my spot,” he said, walking
across the room.

He knew something was different. 
She could tell by the set of his shoulders.  He was waiting for it.  She didn’t
think he knew what it was, but he knew to get ready.  He was preparing himself
for whatever was to come.

“Brennan,” she said softly. 
God,
she hated herself.

“So…you’re not fine.”

“I…I don’t know,” she said with a
shrug.

His hand reached out to touch
her, but it fell halfway through, like he thought better of it.

“Does this have something to do
with that guy out there?”

“What guy?” she said, barely
audible.

He looked at her pointedly.

“Yeah, it does.”

“I figured as much.”

“I wasn’t expecting him to show
up here,” Devon told him.  She wondered if he could tell how scared she was or
if her fake bravery was enough to sway him away.

“Who is he?”  He crossed his
arms, already closing himself off.

“That’s my boyfriend.”

Brennan raised his eyebrows. 
“Boyfriend?”

Devon closed her eyes and shook
her head twice.  “Ex-boyfriend.  Sorry.”

“If he’s your ex, what is he doing
here?” Brennan asked cautiously.

“I’m not sure exactly.  We broke
up on rocky terms.  I think he wants to talk to me,” Devon said, looking away
from him. 
This wasn’t going to be easy.

“Sounds like trouble,” Brennan
said.  “Devon, look at me.”

She obliged, trying not to see
the hurt in his face.

“You don’t have to talk to him. 
I know it might seem like you have to, but you said it was over.  And you’re
over him, right?”

He waited for the answer that
should have been immediate on her tongue.  It was more complicated than whether
or not she was over Reid, but she couldn’t tell Brennan that without putting
him in danger.  She cared about Brennan too much to let that happen.

“We didn’t break up
face-to-face.  I think I should at least talk to him,” she said softly.

His eyes shut, and he breathed
heavily through his nose, like he was holding himself back.  She hated
herself.  She hated herself so much.  She never wanted to cause him any pain. 
She never wanted to see his beautiful face look at her any other way than as
lovingly as he had on the boat yesterday.  She would never forgive herself, but
at least, he would be safe.  She needed to keep reminding herself of that.