Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Jeff
I can hear Devon snoring every time I walk down the hall to use the bathroom.
The door to Meredith’s guest bedroom is hanging open a crack and bear grunts reach me in the hallway.
I consider going in, flipping her onto her side so she sleeps more soundly, but I know how absurd the thought is even if the image of Devon waking up and attacking me with those slow swatting hands makes me laugh to myself as I pause by the door.
I can’t stop thinking about the way she felt in my hands. The way she reacted to my touch. How her skin hummed against my fingertips or the way her whole body tightened when I took off her ridiculous sock.
“Dude, what are you doing?” Meredith doesn’t even bother lowering her voice.
I reach out and shut the bedroom door softly and stare at the brush strokes in the white paint for a moment before I turn to face Mer in the tight space.
“Trying to be quiet so I don’t wake Devon,” I explain. Mer lifts a brow like she wants to push the topic, but then her trademark grin spreads wide. And I shudder.
“You look more like you are deciding whether to use zip ties or duct tape on your victim.” Meredith reopens the door that I’ve just shut and the bone rattling sound gets louder.
“Duct tape. No brainer.”
Meredith studies me until I have to retreat back to the table. So maybe I need to reel it in. Spend some time talking or thinking about something other than Devon. Or maybe not.
“Devon’s got a pair of lungs on her,” I tell Kevin as I slide into my seat and pick up my cards.
He nods. “Snores like my grandfather. But denies it. Claims it’s impossible because she had her adenoids out.” He smiles around the rim of his water bottle and leans back. No beer for Kevin. He’s on call. Again. The life of a trauma surgeon.
“How long have you two known each other?” I ask, pushing my bet into the center.
“Who? Dev and I? A long time. We were lab partners freshman year at Rutgers.”
“And then friends ever since?”
He nods. “We dated for a while in college, but she dumped me before I started at Drexel Med.”
I feel his eyes on me and I study my cards hard. Just making conversation. Nothing to see here. I’m definitely not battling some weird thing in my gut that burns when I think of the fact that he’s seen Devon naked.
Mer slides back into her chair and I squash the silly burn before she senses it with her supernatural powers. “What did I miss?”
“Jeff digging into Devon’s past,” Kevin tells her with a laugh. He waggles his brows at me and I shake my head.
“I was just making—”
“Ha. Don’t bother, Jeffy.” She looks me over like she found me head first in the cookie jar. “It’s sad that you think I don’t see you. I see you.”
Kevin chuckles and she swivels on him.
“Oh please, Main Line. Like you’re any better. At least, Jeff’s torch hasn’t seen the better side of a decade. Luckily, your mutual daddy issues doused that shit.”
Kevin’s neck turns an uncomfortable shade of pink and he whispers some choice words Mer’s way before throwing his cards face down into the center.
“I fold,” he says, standing and looking down at Meredith. “I’m gonna go easy on you tonight because I know your time of the month is coming. But next week, you’re done.”
Meredith looks up at him like she’s hurt. “When our cycles synced, Kev, you promised you wouldn’t use it against me.”
He lets out a long breath and turns to me.
“You need another beer?” he asks.
I nod. I feel like a complete shithead. How had I missed that Kev is into Devon? Of course he’s into her. I mean, who wouldn’t be, but I should have seen it. I was too busy looking at her to see him looking at her, too.
“I’m sorry, man. I had no idea you had a thing for her,” I say.
Why am I apologizing? Nothing is even going on between the two of us. She’s made that clear. Shit, I sound even more like a prick.
Kevin shakes his head. “Meredith likes to invent shit. Devon and I are ancient history. She’s like a sister to me.”
“That’s what Jamie Lanister said, too,” Meredith murmurs and I lose a little of my beer down my chin.
Kevin’s pager beeps so loudly that my hand jerks and knocks over my stack of chips.
“Shit. I’ve gotta go in,” Kev whispers as he looks down at the small screen. He’s out of his seat grabbing his bag before we even have a chance to ask if he needs anything.
“Good luck,” Mer yells after him as his footsteps pound on the stairs. The door shuts with a slam and I reluctantly meet Meredith’s gaze.
“Is it me or has he been on call every weekend this month?”
She nods and shrugs her shoulders.
“He chose trauma. And since I know you’re dying to know, that is part of the reason why he and Devon broke up,” she says, pushing her huge messy pile of chips forward. “I’m all in.”
I keep my eyes on my cards and pretend not to be interested in what she’s telling me. I’m not that good of an actor.
“She ended things because he wanted to be a trauma surgeon?” I push my chips in and meet Meredith’s gaze. “I call.”
“I said part of the reason. But yeah. That’s too close to what her father was. And after the shit she’s been through—I can’t say I blame her. Doctors are a no go. Sorry, Jeffy.” She narrows her eyes at me. “Alright show me yours and I’ll show you mine,” she says, lifting a brow.
I want to ask for more, but something stops me.
I’ve already trespassed on so many of Devon’s secrets that I can’t bring myself to dig deeper.
I want her to tell me these things—when she’s sober and alert.
But if what Meredith is saying is true, what the hell am I doing letting myself obsess over all these details?
I spread my triple sixes on the table and Meredith doesn’t blink. Thank goodness Devon is asleep. She’d have a field day with Satan references. There’s a loud snort from the back room and I can’t help but smile.
Then Meredith lays down a full house and my smile disappears.
“This isn’t even fun anymore,” she murmurs as she pulls the chips back towards her.
“Yeah it must be hard. Winning all of our money every time we play.”
“Listen, I’m gonna go to bed, but you’re welcome to stay,” Meredith says, pushing back from the table. “Do you want to follow me back and watch me sleep, too, you fucking weirdo?”
I stare up at her.
“Good night, Meredith.”
“Sweet dreams, buddy.”
I sit at the table for a minute, nursing my beer, processing everything I’ve just learned.
It’s not like Devon hasn’t been forthcoming.
Shit, she’s given me more information about herself than I’ve gotten from any woman I’ve ever dated.
Albeit unwillingly for the most part. Still.
Here I am trying to dig under her fence when she’s hung a huge red sign for me in blinking neon lights. No trespassing. Off limits. Dead end.
And the truth of the matter is, everything in Philadelphia is a dead end for me.
I’ve got eight more months here. Then it’s back to Chicago.
Where I’m needed by my family—by my sister, by my niece, by my mother and the business.
Their fence has a sign, too, but it says “Welcome Home.” I should be focused on my career.
I should stop looking forward to the chance of seeing Devon like a virgin on prom night. I should get my shit together.
Should.