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I smacked him on the arm. “Oh yeah? You’re too good for her now, asshole?”
“No.” Brayden brushed some lint off his shirt. “But I’m turning over a new leaf.”
Holden stopped drinking mid-sip. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’ve actually found myself attracted to…a morematurewoman lately.” He tossed a jalapeño popper into his mouth.
“Devyn is very mature,” I defended.
“She’s too young,” he said with his mouth full.
Is he serious?“She’s not that much younger than us,” I pointed out.
“Yeah, but I’m finding that the women around our age, mid-to-late twenties, early thirties even, tend to be superficial and immature, in general.”
“Is that so?” Colby raised a brow.
Holden chuckled. “When did this come about?”
“Let’s just say I have secrets of my own.” Brayden winked.
Colby slammed his bottle down. “Jesus. Both of you are shady lately.”
When Brayden refused to divulge anything more, the subject returned to Devyn and me.
“So what’s the deal?” Colby asked. “Why aren’t you dating her now if you had such a great night together?”
“I don’t have a clear answer for you. I do really like her. And you know I don’t say that very often.”
“You really like her. That’s your reason for not dating her?” Colby asked.
“There’s abutin there somewhere,” Holden prodded. “Spill it.”
“Things are complicated with her life right now, and the last thing I wanna do is complicate things for her more. That’s all there is to it.”
“So why are you offering to go to Boston with her?” Colby asked.
“Because I want to help her.”
“I’m calling bullshit.” Brayden laughed. “I think you want tohelp herright into another hotel room.”
I rolled my eyes. “Maybe in the back of my mind, I wouldn’t mind if that happened… But whether you believe me or not, that’snotmy motivation. Sorry if you don’t think I’m a decent-enough person to just help someone who has a lot on her shoulders right now.” I sighed. “Anyway, she may not take me up on my offer.”
“You know what I think?” Brayden looked at me skeptically. “I think you’re being cautious because ofyou, not her.”
“Really?” I rested my chin on my hand. “Enlighten me, since you seem to think you know me better than I know myself.”
“She’s only here temporarily. You know she’s leaving. So you’re being overly cautious becauseyoudon’t want to get hurt.”
That was certainly Devyn’s rationale, but I wasn’t ready to get into this. “Think what you want,” I told him. I downed some of my beer before reaching for a mozzarella stick.
Colby looked around the table. “Anyone else got skeletons to pull out of their closet tonight?”
Brayden and I looked at each other and chuckled.
Holden smacked his hand on the table. “If not, let’s get this meeting over with. I have a sniffly baby girl waiting at home for kisses from Daddy.”
***
