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“In the past, she’s always returned after a while. We just don’t know when it will be this time.”
I was usingweagain.
Brayden raised a brow. “We? You seem very invested, Owen.”
Of course, he caught that.I glared at him. “I’ll get to that.”
“Oh?” Brayden’s eyes widened. “I’m intrigued.”
The waitress put my beer in front of me. She also set down a plate of assorted appetizers.
I took a long sip and continued. “Anyway, Devyn had been living in L.A., and her brother called and filled her in on their situation. That’s what prompted Devyn to come out here. She’s not babysitting them as a favor. This was more like an emergency.”
Colby shook his head. “Holy crap, that’s terrible.”
“Well, it actually gets worse,” I said. “Heath skipped school more than once recently, so Child Protective Services showed up at their place. Devyn had to basically lie to them and say the mom is on vacation until Monday. But the truth is, we have no idea when and if she’s ever coming back.”
Holden frowned. “Damn, I knew those kids were trouble, but I never imagined how bad it was. That explains a lot. I really feel bad for them.”
“Yeah. History is repeating itself. The woman is not capable of being responsible.” I took another drink of my beer. “Devyn has a lead that she might be in Boston, though. So I offered to road trip it up there with her to see if we can locate Vera before CPS comes back.”
Brayden pointed his bottle at me. “Wait a minute. Hold up. You need to back up, dude. Why would you offer to go to Boston with her if you barely know her? Something is missing here…”
Holden snorted, and I shot daggers at him.
“Can I please do the honors?” Holden asked. “I’ve been good for so long. Don’t I deserve it?”
Rolling my eyes, I leaned back in my seat and crossed my arms. “Go ahead. Tell them. I know you’re dying to.”
Holden leaned in and paused for effect before blurting it out. “Owen and Devyn had a one-night stand.” He sat back to enjoy the aftermath of the bomb he’d just dropped.
Brayden blinked. “What?”
“When?” Colby asked, just as stunned as Brayden.
“Before I knew she lived in the building,” I said. “It was a complete coincidence. I met her at a bar. We had amazing chemistry, which then…carried over to the hotel next door.”
Colby gaped, and Brayden’s jaw dropped.
I relayed a bit more about that night, including how Devyn had taken off on me. I also explained how I’d told Holden the truth at the hospital after running into Devyn, when I’d gone to issue the noise complaint.
Brayden’s reaction was exactly as I’d expected.
“Are you kidding me?” he raged. “When I was taking my shot with her at Colby’s that day, you let me make a fool of myself, knowing you’d already slept with her?”
I gritted my teeth. “It wasn’t like I was trying to set you up. This has nothing to do with you. I just didn’t feel like kissing and telling about this one.”
Colby narrowed his eyes. “We tell each other everything. What’s different about this? What’s the big secret?”
I hesitated. “I don’t know exactly. I guess I feel protective of her or something. I didn’t want to cheapen it by bragging. I was a little ashamed of the way she ghosted me, too.” I stared down at my bottle. “It also didn’t feel likejusta one-night stand—Lord knows I’ve had those before. Then once I found out she lived in our building, it became about protecting her privacy more than anything else.”
Colby nodded. “Okay. Fair enough.”
Brayden laughed. “I wondered why you looked like you wanted to kill me that day you saw me talking to her at Colby’s.”
“You’re right. I did want to kill you. But I understood that you didn’t know what was going on. You were never in danger of getting punched.”
“You’re lucky I’m not interested in her anyway,” he huffed.
