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“Thank you for the pie,” I said. “And the ear.”
“Anytime.”
“You’re a good friend, Owen.”
He winked. “I could be thatandmore—doesn’t have to be one or the other.”
The offer was more tempting than ever. But I had to steel myself. “Goodnight, Owen.”
He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “’Night, beautiful.”
CHAPTER 8
Owen
As usual, the following night I was the last one to show up for our monthly apartment building board meeting, which was really just an excuse for us guys to catch up over drinks. Although, there was typically some actual business on the agenda—just not as much business as general debauchery.
Colby, Holden, and Brayden were seated at a table at L-Bar when I strolled in.
“Hey.” I pulled out a chair and sat down. “Sorry I’m late.”
“Is you being the last to show up anything new?” Brayden chided as he perused a menu. “Happens every damn time.”
“I guess not.” I turned to Holden, who had bags under his eyes. “How’s Hope? I ran into Lala in the hallway the other day. She told me the baby has her first cold.”
“Toughest week of my life. But thank God, she’s getting better. Still a little stuffy, though. It’s been hard watching her struggling to breathe.” Holden exhaled. “We hadn’t been getting good sleep before the cold—she’s been a night owl from day one—but that was even worse.”
“A night owl like her daddy, right?” I smacked him on the back. “I thought your years of partying would’ve prepared you for staying up all night, drummer boy.”
“Mav went through that no-sleep phase, too,” Colby said. “But thankfully he’s doing pretty well now.”
“Okay, enough of theDaddy Day Careshit. It’s boring to the single guys among us,” Brayden teased.
I took advantage of a rare lull in conversation to hand Colby something.
“Hey, Devyn gave me this rent check for you. She was on the way down to your place, but I told her I’d be seeing you anyway.”
“Okay.” He tucked it into his pocket. “What’s the deal with that situation? Where the hell did their mother go that Devyn had to fly in to stay with those kids?”
I exhaled. “It’s bad, man. She’s basically MIA.”
“You seem to know the ins and outs of that situation in four-ten, Owen,” Brayden noted. “Something you want to tell us?”
I realized my side conversation with Colby just now hadn’t been so private.
Holden cracked up behind his beer bottle.
Brayden looked at Holden and me. “What the hell is so funny?”
I’d put off filling Brayden and Colby in on my history with Devyn long enough. Holden was the only one who knew the story of how I had really first met her. By some miracle he’d kept my secret all this time, but Holden was known for having a big mouth. So it was only a matter of time before he’d end up spilling the truth if I didn’t.
A waitress came by and took my drink order, but when she left, the guys were still staring at me, waiting for an explanation.
I filled them in on the Vera situation first. “Here’s the deal. Vera Marks took off. She left with some guy, and no one knows where the hell she is. She did the same thing to Devyn when she was younger, multiple times, and Devyn ended up in foster care. The whole thing is very messed up.”
“Shit,” Colby muttered.
“So, wait…” Holden said. “She may never come back?”
