“Devin,you don’t need to make excuses. I understand. Absolutely, take the day, spendtime with Kylie and relax. But tomorrow, you’re heading back to my place in thecity. We have the restyling, photoshoot, and we’re going to meet up with a fewpotential bandmates.”
Restyling?
Devinbreathed a sigh of relief and began to chew again. He sipped at his coffee andnodded to the phone. “Awesome. Sounds good. Want me to call you tonight?”
“Nah,kid. I’ll call you tomorrow morning. You kids have a good day, okay? Bye,Kylie!”
“ByeRichard,” I replied, and the line went dead.
Devinlooked up from the phone. His eyes were heavy, but they twinkled withexcitement. “You know what I plan on doing today?”
“Relaxing?”
Henodded. “Yeah, but you know what I’m going to do before that?”
“Eatall of these donuts?” I nudged the box with my toe and grinned.
“Oh,I’m eating something all right, but it won’t be a donut.” He inhaled the lastbite of the cronut, washed it down with a long gulp of coffee, then grabbed thebox of donuts and put them on the nightstand. With a hand flattened to mysternum, he gently laid me back against the bed and I giggled as he settledbetween my legs, spreading them wide. “Turns out, I’mhorribleat beingselfish.”
?
“Well,if it isn’t the rock star and his trophy wife,” Trent said, standing in the doorwayof Devin’s abandoned worksite. His voice sounded bitter, but he jumped from thestoop and threw his arms around Dev’s shoulders, clapping his hands against hisback. “Shit, man, it’s good to see you!”
Devinnodded and took in a deep breath. “It’s only been a couple weeks, dude, but …fuck, the smell of sawdust is sweet.”
Trentgrunted a laugh, taking a step back. “Get the fuck out of here. You’re donewith this shit and that’s great for you. I can’t say I envy you though. I’dmiss it too much.”
Helooked down at me, quirking his lips into a half-smile. “Bet you’re happy tohave him home, huh. Brooke’s been telling me how desperate you’ve been.” Hewiggled his eyebrows and I shoved my hands against him.
“You’redisgusting,” I said, “and I hate Brooke for telling you everything.”
“Well,do you guyswannaknow something Brookedoesn’tknow?”
Inodded eagerly, and he pulled his iPhone from his pocket. After a few secondsof swiping, he turned the screen to us and I found myself staring at a store listingfor a gold diamond ring. My hands flew to my mouth as I immediately looked fromthe phone to Trent and back to the phone. A squeal of giddy glee bounced frommy mouth.
“Whythe hell are you doing this to me, dude?” Devin laughed, shaking his head athis cousin. “You realize what’s happening here, right? I really didn’t need youplanting any fucking seeds.”
Trentlaughed, pocketing the phone. “Sorry, man, but you guys haven’t been togetherfor like, ten years. You have time.”
“Ohmy God,” I was finally able to say. “When are you proposing? I need to know. Ohmy God, could I be there?”
“Hellno,” he said, shaking his head with a chuckle. “We’re going to New York for herbirthday. I’mgonnado it then.”
Devingripped his shoulder. “Congratulations, man. But, uh, I have to ask … how doesthat work into your open relationship?”
“Eh…” He shrugged. “You know, I think I realized, I just don’t really want anybodyelse.”
Istepped forward and wrapped my arms around him. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Yeah,yeah,” he laughed, shoving me off as he turned to Devin. “But hey, don’t besuch a fucking stranger, okay? When you get the chance, yougottacome around and see the house. I poured some cement over the weekend and madesome new steps off the back door. You don’t have to jump down two feet into thebackyard anymore.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Devin
Two months aftersigning my contract withRichard, and a month after recording my first acoustic EP, I had a band.
Robert“Robbie” White,back-up guitarist.
