Chapter 33
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Christian
This is awkward as fuck.
Desert landscape stretches beyond the windshield as Taylor’s truck hums steadily, tires eating up miles of empty highway. Sign of Life by Motionless in White blasts from the speakers.
Squished beside me, Salem sits with her feet on the dashboard while she scrolls through her phone.
Dev is on her other side. I have no fucking clue why she decided to ride with us to Matty and Xed's in Phoenix.
There's a perfectly empty backseat in Huckslee's Audi—he's driving with Tay—but she crawled in after I told everyone that Dev was coming, too. It's weird.
When I asked her about it, she'd just blinked innocently and said, “What, I can't hang out with my second-best guy friend?”
Seems sus, if you ask me.
Glancing sideways, I eye up Dev from where he's sitting with his forehead against the window, long legs taking up most of the space.
He's in my clothes again, with a few days of stubble on his cheeks.
He looks good, and I can't even spend the ten-hour drive trying to make him come. Or getting some road head. Unfair.
It's been an… interesting week. Ever since that night at the club, we've spent the last couple of days together. If we’re not lounging around before work, we’re watching movies late into the night.
He's been sleeping on the couch for whatever reason, but I've gotten so many goodnight orgasms that I pass out before I question it.
Sometimes we suck each other off, sometimes we just frot, but we haven’t fucked since that first time. Not that I'm against it, but… something about Dev's exclusivity clause makes me hesitate and I’m not sure why.
“I think I have an idea,” Salem announces suddenly, dropping her phone into her lap. “What if we do a holiday calendar?”
I lean back and rest my arm behind her on the seat so that I can touch Devon's shoulder. “For next year?”
“Yeah! You and Tay, a different pose or stunt for each month with your bikes. We could sell it for Christmas.”
“That’s coming up quick. Would we have enough time?” My fingers rub the material of his shirt in slow circles. From the corner of my eye, he glances at me curiously, but I keep my attention on the road.
Salem purses her lips. “Yeah, probably. The band is in between tours right now, so I have nothing to work on. And since we brought the bikes, we can take some shots when we get to AZ.”
“Do a few naked ones,” Devon snickers, causing me to flick him on the ear.
“So, about you.” She gives him a cool glance as she picks up her phone again. “Matty's thrilled that once again you're crashing something you weren't invited to.”
“He was invited,” I grumble irritably.
Salem tosses me a pointed look. “We're staying at his house and you didn't even ask.”
Dev lets his head thump against the window again. “Trust me, I wanted to stay behind. I’m not even supposed to leave the state on probation.”
“I didn't force you, motherfucker,” I argue. “Just thought maybe you'd want to go on a trip like friends do?”
Okay, maybe I'd guilted him into it a little. So what?
“Begs the question,” Salem murmurs, turning to look at me again. “Why did you want him along, anyway?”
I clench my jaw until the muscles ache. “Why does there have to be a reason?”
Truth be told, there is a reason, but I'm not telling her shit.
As much as I want to trust Dev, I'm not sure I do yet—definitely not enough to leave him alone all weekend with Logan and Owen after he made out with them.
Look, the last time I left Dev alone with someone he's fucked, he did it again.
Only then, it was Arya and it was behind my back.
I'm gonna need a little more time to trust him again. And despite what he thinks, I wasn't planning on bringing home that chick from the club. I'm an asshole, but not that much of an asshole.
The remainder of the trip goes smoothly. Salem and I spend the hours talking business while Devon mainly sleeps. Guy is not a morning person at all. When we finally pull into Xed and Matty's driveway after ten hours on the road, I'm fucking exhausted.
Of course, Hannah's already waiting on the large front porch, jumping in excitement.
“Auntie Sal!” The nearly seven-year-old launches herself down the steps at full speed when we get out of the truck, almost tripping over her shoelaces before slamming into Salem’s legs.
“Hi, Bean!” Salem laughs, dropping her camera bag just in time.
I ruffle Hannah's long brown hair. “Swear you get taller every time I see you.”
That earns me a beam of pride and a hug. “I grew two inches. Daddy measured me.”
Devon climbs out of the passenger seat, rubbing his eyes with a stretch. Hannah freezes, then tugs on Salem’s shirt until she leans down. “Who's that?”
“That’s Dev. You met him a couple of years ago at your grandparents' house, but you probably don't remember.”
And thank God, because that trip had been a disaster. We'd all traveled to Lake Havasu for Matty's wedding to Hannah's mother, Val. Xed showed up in the nick of time and caught the bitch cheating with one of Matty's teammates. Real romantic, love story shit. Now the two of them are married instead.
Hannah shrugs, distracted by Huck and Tay when they pull in behind us. She skips off to greet them and I look over to see her dads standing in the doorway.
“What up, what up,” I say, trudging up the porch steps to pull Matty in for a bro-hug. He's still built like a brick shithouse, all muscles and light blond hair. Beside him, Xed stands in his usual all-black attire, dark hair grown out from the mohawk he used to have.
“How was the drive?” Xed asks, though his eyes are trained over my shoulder on Dev.
I give a little shrug, feeling awkward when I remember that the two of them used to have a thing. Or some kind of thing. And Xed's name is tattooed on Devon's ass. “Long and boring.”
“Sounds about right.” Xed glances up at his husband, who still hasn't spoken. When I follow his gaze, I find Matty staring at Dev as well.
“He won't cause any trouble,” I mumble, wincing internally when Matty's blue eyes swing my way. He looks unconvinced.
“Last time I saw that asshole, he nearly ruined my wedding.”
Xed rolls his eyes. “Ex wedding. He didn't ruin our wedding.”
“Yeah, well. Still. He ruins almost everything.”
Salem appears beside me to draw Xed in for a tight squeeze. “Missed you so much,” she says, kissing his cheek before punching Matty on the arm. “Stop sulking. It'll be okay. Devon's turned a new leaf, hasn't he, Christian?”
I just glare at her as Tay, Huck, and Hannah join us in the doorway.
The first words out of Tay’s mouth are, of course, about food. “When’s dinner? I’m starving.”
Huck snorts. “You're never not hungry.”
“Come on,” Xed says, turning around to lead us all inside. “The guest room is made up. We figured you two would get it while Christian and Salem slept in the living room.”
I motion for Dev to follow us as I grumble under my breath, “Why do Tay and Huck get a room? What about privacy for me and—” Cutting myself off, I pause when I realize that Matty and Xed don't know about my… arrangement with Dev. Everyone’s head swings my way, and I finish my sentence with the first name that pops into my head. “Salem.”
Devon freezes behind me in the entryway. Xed's brows jump, his gaze flying to Salem when she snickers and loops her arm with mine.
“Yep, we need privacy. For all the private things we plan on doing.”
Everybody gapes at us like we're insane—except for Hannah, who's already pulling Taylor off to show him some new duck pond out back. I already know I’ve fucked up, but the warmth vanishing from my back solidifies it.
Eventually, Xed just sighs, shaking his head. “You all can fight over the room amongst yourselves. I swear this friend group gets weirder and weirder.”
They all slowly disperse, conversation picking back up, but Devon doesn’t follow. I spot him through the archway leading deeper into the house, standing with his hands in his pockets.
Pride and guilt war in my gut before I finally decide to close the distance between us. “Hey.”
He doesn’t meet my gaze right away. When he does, his expression is carefully blank. “You and Salem, huh?”
My pulse ramps up. “No, that’s not—”
“It’s fine. I get it.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I growl, lowering my voice. “I just… panicked. Salem and I aren't anything but friends.”
A humorless laugh leaves his throat. “Yeah. So are we.”
Those words hit me square in the chest, but I swallow them down and release a slow breath. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like…”
“Like a secret?” he finishes quietly.
Before I can answer, Hannah’s laughter echoes from the backyard and Matty shouts for me to come outside.
Dev steps toward the front door again, already retreating. “I’m gonna go unload the bikes. Let me know where I’m sleeping.”
He walks off without another word, and I stand there gazing after him for a long moment, wondering why I did what I did and how the hell I can fix it.