Chapter 14 Donovan
DONOVAN
Ispent some of the next day working at Quest, following up to make sure things were getting back on track with the lumber.
Then at home, I worked on my garden project, but before I knew it, I was headed to poker at the twins’ house.
It was a stretch of town I was familiar with as I’d looked at some investment homes there.
It was a beautiful street; one of the most sought after.
I couldn’t believe that the two of them lived together in such a family-centric neighborhood.
Especially given their reputations. But I was certainly curious to see their place.
As I pulled into a long, winding driveway, I was blown away by how stunning it was.
There was a disconnect between the guy who was goading me to sing karaoke and the guy who owned this magnificent home.
The lake was behind the house and I bet they had one of the most perfect views in the entire damn town. Wow.
Knocking, I stood in awe and waited for someone to let me in. Tonight I was much less nervous than I had been yesterday, even though there would be some strangers. I reminded myself that I was Donovan, just Donovan here, and I loved that.
Murphy opened the door and stood off to the side to let me in.
The entire far wall was just windows that showcased the lake and mountains.
I was gobsmacked because it was undoubtedly the best view in town.
Adding to the charm was a huge dog that lumbered up to me and sat waiting to be pet.
He was looking at me with his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth.
My sister’s knees would have buckled. She loved dogs, and she asked for one for every birthday and holiday there was.
“Glad you could come, Donovan,” Bennett’s voice cut through my wandering thoughts, bringing me back. No—this house belonging to these men didn’t make any sense at all.
“Thanks for inviting me. I’m not particularly good at poker, but I brought this to make up for it.” I said, holding up a bottle of my favorite scotch.
“I’m terrible at it, and all I have to show for it is this.” He held up his beer. I quickly settled in around the table and we all made small talk as we waited for Maverick to arrive.
“What the hell?” Tucker said. “Maverick is never late.” At that, Bennett pulled out his phone to text him. Within seconds, a frantic reply pinged back explaining that he had been distracted, was on his way, and would arrive soon.
“Wonder what he was distracted with?” Murphy asked.
“Are you kidding me?” Bennett shot back at his brother. “What the hell do you think distracted him?”
Murphy just looked at Bennett and shook his head with his hands in the air, confused, like he genuinely didn’t know what he was talking about. Jesus, even I knew what he was referring to.
“Cora, dumbass. Did you see them last night? Pretty sure they hooked up,” Bennett replied as if he couldn’t believe his brother didn’t pick up on it.
“No way!” Murphy shot back. “There is no way.”
“Are you blind?” Bennett laughed at his brother.
“Maverick and Cora are a thing?” said one of the other people there.
After last night, maybe? I smiled to myself.
“Donovan is removed from this situation. What’s your take, good sir?” Bennett turned to me, as did the whole room.
“I’m too new here to make those kinds of calls.”
“Come on. Don’t play the indifferent game. Gut check, are they hooking up?”
“I mean, there’s obvious chemistry between them. But as for acting on it. I don’t know.” I wanted to stay neutral. At the beginning of all these new friendships, I was going to make sure to proceed with caution for the same reason I was doing so with Audra. Nothing was worth losing Maeve over.
“Oooh, I didn’t realize this was happening tonight,” Tucker said, pointing towards the lake, bringing a stop to the current conversation. His abruptness told me that he might be the only one who knew the answer to the question we were currently debating.
It was May, and they explained that this was the time of year they started doing graduation boat parades.
People would decorate their boats like floats and cruise around the lake, dock them, then have an all-night party.
Murphy assured me there were no high schoolers on either side of their house, but it wouldn’t have mattered.
Foolish teenage activities like that always made me laugh, and I imagined the men I was sitting with had their share of shenanigans.
Bennett pulled out his phone and shot a message to Maverick informing him he had eight minutes to arrive or we were starting without him, and some other empty threat about being barred for eternity.
He shot back a middle finger, not an emoji, an actual photo of his hand flicking off the camera in front of the steering wheel, that Bennett showed to us, which made us laugh while we waited.
Less than five minutes later, Maverick came busting through the door, profusely apologizing for being late.
He caught flak, but the cards got dealt, and the game began.
The entire poker game lasted about two and a half hours, and when we were done, we took the party outside.
Murphy started a fire in the pit, and we played some made-up game that we all got too competitive over.
I had a solid buzz going after I lost both the poker game and the ridiculous game we invented. The other attendees had gone home, and the five of us were sitting around the fire pit, continuing to drink. If there was an unspoken expectation of me to leave, I didn’t pick up on it.
“So, Wright, what’s going on with you and my favorite Audra?
” Bennett slurred across the circle. If I hadn’t heard him call her that before, my shackles may have been raised.
But if he had any genuine interest in her, he wouldn’t be taking home women in front of her, left and right.
As it stood, admittedly, I didn’t love him calling her that, even though he’d been calling her that for a hell of a lot longer than I’d been around.
“Whatever do you mean, Bennett?” I said as I smirked at him, amused at how little shame he had in prying for information.
“I had to watch you two make goo-goo eyes at each other all night last night.”
“I am a twenty-eight-year-old man designing apps, running companies, and building a resort. I don’t make goo-goo eyes.”
“You fucking liar. Those aren’t mutually exclusive, you know,” Bennett chortled. “Anyway, she’s good stuff, so don’t hurt her man?”
“Can I ask you a question?” I turned it on him to avoid the question. Many years ago, I’d perfected that skill. “You seem to have a soft spot for her. Why aren’t you making a play for her?”
“Honestly, I love her … like my third sister. She is everything I would want in a partner, but I just can’t see her in that way.
And I assure you, she feels the same. I’m her third brother, which is why I’m giving you a talk now.
The words trauma bond come to mind.” He chuckled, though it sounded more like a reluctant acceptance rather than humor.
That raised my curiosity. What had happened to her?
To both of them? If I pushed on that, I might break my ‘proceed carefully with Maeve’s friends’ rule, and didn’t want to be rude, so I dropped it.
I’d find out in due time. “But she’s good people,” he continued.
“A tender heart. Would give you the shirt off her back. All that stuff. She deserves the best.” He hiccuped.
I still didn’t quite get a read on if he had a thing for her.
“Noted. I have no intention of anything questionable,” I stated.
“Let’s jump in the fucking lake,” Maverick blurted out, halting the Audra talk.
Tucker, Murphy, and Bennett shot their eyes to him and then exchanged looks with each other. “Maverick wants to jump into the lake?” Tucker repeated. “What the fuck happened to you tonight? Better yet, today? This is old Maverick behavior.”
“Let’s fucking go. Like when we were teenagers and we would sneak into that one old guy’s backyard.
But now you guys have that kind of backyard.
Did you ever think you would have Orchard Lake as your backyard?
” Maverick slurred out. He was completely in control last night, so him buzzed was amusing to me.
Though I’m sure my buzz was amusing to them, too.
“Don’t have to ask me twice,” Bennett said, standing up and stripping down to his boxers.
The others followed suit. My option was to hold my ground and be the only one who didn’t strip down to my skivvies, or suck it up and join them.
I chose the latter. So at about midnight, five grown-ass men were doing drunk cannonballs off the pier into the lake.
I’m shocked the cops weren’t called for a noise complaint.
Or maybe they were, and the officers knew who was doing it and left us alone. Rules were different in a small town.
After copious laughter, judging splashes, and general chaos, we made our way back to the fire pit.
Murphy ran inside to get us towels, and we sat out there by the fire for a little longer, trying to dry out our underwear.
At that point, I decided it was smarter for me to pass out on a couch than attempt to make it home.
So, on my first official guys’ night here in Savannah Springs, I passed out on the couch like I was back in my teens, doing stupid things with my adventure group.
Even though I had been in this town for fourteen months, in the span of the last few, things were changing.
And though it was entirely unexpected, it felt damn good.