“I’ve heard that before,” Devon said.
“So, what? You’re leaving because you’re judging me and my friends?” Hadley asked.
Devon watched Hadley’s pupils visibly dilate before her eyes. Yeah, as if she hadn’t taken cocaine.
“I don’t care about your friends. I care about you.”
“Well, don’t worry about me,” Hadley said with a shrug. “Will I see you later at the apartment?”
It was a dismissal. She was riding into her high, and likely, she wouldn’t care about much.
“No,” Devon said with a shake of her head. “I’m leaving with Brennan.”
“Ohhh,” Hadley said, raising her eyebrows. “Now, who is the rebel? Does he know about Reid? I say f**k him anyway. Brennan’s gorgeous.”
Devon rolled her eyes. In the morning, Hadley would realize that Devon wasn’t there, and that would do enough to freak her out. She was too far-gone for Devon to reach anything logical.
“Bye, Hadley. Get home safe,” Devon said sadly.
Maybe she should have waited with Hadley or should have said something more to get her to go home. Maybe she should have done more in general. But Devon felt completely defeated. If Hadley was this messed up, then what did it say about her?
Devon walked away from Hadley and back to where she had left Brennan.
“I’m going to find Garrett. Just give me a minute, and then we’ll go,” she told Brennan.
He seemed to find this acceptable. She left him standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. Garrett’s bulky form was easy to locate in the crowd. He was talking with the husbands and fiancés of Hadley’s friends. Devon couldn’t even begin to remember their names.
Garrett smiled as she approached. “Hey, Dev. Are you enjoying your party?”
“I’m getting tired actually,” she said, yawning. “Going to call it an early night.”
“Oh, alright,” he said, sounding a bit disappointed. “Have you told Hadley?”
“Yeah, she’s pretty messed up though. Just wanted to make sure you knew to take extra care of her.”
“I always do, but thank you. Do you need help getting home? Need me to hail you a cab or anything?”
“No, I’m fine. Brennan is going to help me out,” she told him.
Garrett frowned at that. He clearly was more concerned. “I think he’s pretty gone, too. Are you sure you don’t want me to help?”
She did want his help, but she didn’t want to go back to the place he shared with Hadley. She wanted to be angry with Hadley for her stupidity, and she couldn’t do that if she were surrounded by her hospitality. She couldn’t face Hadley the next morning when she would wake up and go about her life like she wasn’t destroying it.
Devon declined his help once more and then left as quickly as she could extract herself. Garrett was too nice, too caring. Devon had never once thought that someone would be too good for Hadley…until this moment.
“I’m ready,” she told Brennan when she reached him.
IT WAS A chilly night, and Devon hugged herself against the wind as they headed to Brennan’s place. He hadn’t been lying when he said he lived right around the corner. His apartment was no more than two or three blocks from the John Hancock Center. They took the elevator up to his apartment where it was thankfully warm.
She was surprised by the interior. She knew he probably made good money as a bartender in this part of the city, but she wouldn’t have thought his apartment would be so nice. It was a one bedroom with a full kitchen with adjoined dining room, and spacious living room. The apartment was clean with relatively new furniture. It wasn’t what she would have considered Brennan to have, being a bachelor and all.
Devon set her purse on a side table. “Nice place.”
“Thanks,” he said, walking into the kitchen and pulling out a beer. “Want anything?”
“No, thanks. I think I’m done.”
“You didn’t have much to drink for being so done.” He was clearly more comfortable in his own home than at Jenn’s or the bar.
“Just a long night is all.”
“We left early.”
“Yeah. Long in a different way then.”
Devon sat down on the sofa and got comfortable amid the throw pillows. Brennan took a seat next to her and flipped on the television.
“You want to talk about it?” he asked, putting on ESPN as background noise.
“No,” she said instantly.
“Alright.”
The conversation ended, and Devon sat there frozen, watching baseball highlights. She felt bad for cutting him off so abruptly. Maybe she was being ridiculous.
“How do you afford this place bartending?” she asked, hoping that the subject was neutral enough.
“Don’t like to talk about it.” He took a drink from his beer.
“Oh,” she breathed.
Brennan finished his beer in silence and then placed the empty bottle on the coffee table. Devon watched as he stood and stretched out his lean muscles. He wasn’t overly built, but he was all muscle. He raised his arms over his head, and her eyes darted to his exposed stomach, then quickly away.
He left for a minute and then returned with a bunch of blankets in his arms. He tossed them onto the couch. “You taking the bed, Belle?”
“Couch is good with me,” she told him.
“Whatever suits you, suits me,” he said. “Here’s the remote.”
“You can just turn it off. I’m going to pass out,” she said, averting her eyes.
He turned to go, but then he seemed to think better of it. He sat down next to her on the couch again. “You going to tell me what’s eating at you?” He looked at her more intently than ever before.
She shook her head. “Nothing is.”
“You pissed about Hadley?” he asked, hitting on the most superficial problem.
“How did you know?”
“I pay attention.”
“So…you know what she’s up to?” she asked carefully.
“That she’s snorting coke?” he asked. “Yeah, I know about that.”
“Does Garrett know?” she asked quickly.
Brennan shook his head. “No way. He thinks she’s perfect. Could you imagine if Mr. Perfect found out his Princess was a coke addict?”