Rumors: Justine & Devon Read online

  Rumors

  Justine & Devon

  Rachael Brownell

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Imperfect Love Story

  About the Author

  Also by Rachael Brownell

  Chapter One

  The walk of shame.

  There’s only one other time in my life I feared what I looked like the morning after leaving a man’s bedroom. That time, I was actually ashamed of what had happened behind closed doors. Not that I remember all of it, but what I do remember turned into a learning experience for me. It’s something I’ll never forget.

  What do they say about history?

  Learn from it or it will repeat itself. Something like that.

  Well, I learned a lot from that night, and I’ve never repeated that same mistakes again. In fact, that experience has made me somewhat of a prude according to a few of my previous boyfriends.

  It’s not that the act of sex is something to be ashamed of. It’s natural. I’ve had plenty of sexual experiences in my life. That one experience was just not something that I ever plan to tell anyone about. Drunk, sloppy sex. Hands, arms, and legs everywhere they shouldn’t be.

  He was a bit of a kinky drunk bastard too. I’ll never look at toes the same ever again, and if anyone puts theirs near my mouth, I’ll nut-check them without a moment’s hesitation.

  Not this morning, though. Yes, it appears I am doing a walk of shame, but there is no shame in my heart. My conscience is clear.

  “Coffee?” Ryder asks as I take a seat at the island.

  This should be awkward. It’s eleven in the morning. The fact that I’m still in my costume from last night is a clear sign I stayed here. My boss, one of them, is offering me a cup of coffee. In his kitchen. In only a pair of running shorts.

  Ryder Dixon. The youngest, most attractive Dixon brother. That’s not exactly true. They’re all attractive in their own respect, Ryder is just more my type. Tall, dark hair, all hard body and defined muscle. Brooding and angry. Intelligent and kind. An amazing father.

  He’s also the ex-husband of one of my best friends, so that means he’s off limits. Not that I stood a chance with him. The moment he saw Emerson, there was a spark in his eye. Megan was out, Emerson was in. I would blame Em for their divorce if Ryder hadn’t already filed. That’s was all Megan’s fault anyway.

  She screwed up the best thing that ever happened to her.

  Not just once, or twice. She literally screwed around on Ryder for months. She must have thought she was invincible or that he was too stupid to find out. Neither of those things was true. Allison and I tried to talk to her about it, to get her to see what she was doing, but she refused to talk about it. She promised to stop seeing him, her mystery man, but I have a feeling she never did. I’m not even sure if she’s stopped seeing him at this point.

  “Yes, please,” I reply, laying my head on the granite counter top, the cool surface against my cheek a welcome feeling. I’m exhausted, and if I don’t keep my eyes open, there’s a good chance I’ll fall asleep right here.

  “Here ya go.”

  Lifting my head, I find a mug of steamy, black coffee in front of me. Wrinkling my nose, Ryder sets down a canister of sugar and bottle of French vanilla creamer next to the mug. Now that’s more my style.

  “Thank you.” Reaching for the creamer and dumping in a heavy-handed amount, stirring until I reach the desired color I like. Light beige.

  “Is Devon up yet?” he asks, leaning against the counter behind him and crossing his arms over his chest. The innocent action causes his muscles to tighten drawing my attention to his arms for a brief second.

  “Yeah. He’s grabbing a shower real quick,” I answer, looking away, ashamed of the fact that I was staring. I can feel the heat in my cheeks as I focus on the coffee cup in my hands. I’m not attracted to Ryder, but I couldn’t help but notice the way his muscled flexed. You’d have to be dead not to notice him.

  Ryder waits for me to continue, but there’s nothing left to say. I’m sure Devon will fill him in after I leave if he wants him to know. If not, that’s between them. We may not be at the office right now, but I still think of Ryder as my boss. I’m not comfortable talking to him about this, about my personal life in general.

  Sure, we’ve hung out outside of the office plenty of times. I’ve spent the night here before. Being friends with Megan for the last few years, it was hard to avoid. Still, this is different. Megan doesn’t live here anymore. Their divorce was finalized almost a month ago, and he’s moved on.

  Me being here, early in the morning after not leaving the night before, shouldn’t be a thing. But it is. And it’s weird.

  After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence, Ryder finally speaks up. “You know, Justine, he lives in Chicago. He always has and always plans to. I’m not telling you to hurt your feelings, I just want you to be aware of what you’re getting in to. He’s a great guy—”

  “Why, thank you,” Devon booms from behind me.

  The sound of his voice sends a shiver up my spine. As I turn to hide my smile from Ryder, I catch sight of a freshly showered Devon. He wears his hair short, buzzed close to his scalp, but I can still see the water droplets sparkling in the light. He’s changed into a dark-blue t-shirt that looks like it’s been designed to fit him perfectly and a pair of dark jeans. His feet are bare, and as much as I hate feet in general, I can’t seem to take my eyes off his as he approaches.

  “Don’t interrupt me, asshole.” Ryder’s irritation with Devon rings loud and clear.

  “Well, good morning to you too, sunshine.” If Ryder’s words hurt Devon’s feelings, you wouldn’t know it. Sliding on the stool next to me he says, “Where’s my coffee?”

  “Get it yourself. I need to wake up Emerson.”

  She’s still here? I thought she left last night. Of course, we snuck away from the party early. If she had left, I wouldn’t have known. After all the sneaking around they tried to do, I assumed she would have gone home. Some things still surprise me, though.

  Stalking down the hall, Ryder leaves Devon and me alone in the kitchen. There’s a tension between us that wasn’t there last night. It feels like we’re alone for the first time. Maybe it was the alcohol or the fact that we were hidden behind closed doors, but I’m suddenly nervous. My gut is telling me to run.

  Wait that was Ryder telling me to run. That has to be what has my stomach in knots. He was trying to warn me away from his friend. Does he not think I’m good enough for him? Is he being protective of Devon?

  “So, what do you want to do today?” Devon asks, pouring himself a cup of coffee. Slowly bringing the cup to his lips, I watch as he blows across the hot liquid, barely cooling it down before taking a large sip.

  No cream.

  No sugar.

  Straight coffee. Black as night.

  Dark like his eyes. Chocolate brown with a hint of gold around the irises. I spent a lot of time looking into those eyes last night until he turned out the lights on us. Then all I could see was the shape of his body as he lay on his side facing me.

  With the lights off, I was able to check out the rest of him without t
he fear of being caught. A few hours ago, as the light of day began to creep into the room, I was able to enjoy the view even more. In the middle of the night, he changed out of his costume and into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. As great as he looked as a fake doctor in light-blue scrubs, he looked even better in normal clothing.

  “Earth to Justine. You still with me?”

  “Yeah,” I reply, looking down at my hands before taking a sip of my coffee. I was staring at him, into his eyes, and I didn’t hear a thing he was saying.

  “Any ideas?” he asks, leaning on the island, reaching across to take my hand in his.

  “Um, no,” I stutter, closing my eyes as he draws tiny circles on my palms with his thumb.

  “Any idea what I’m talking about?”

  “Nope. Not a clue,” I admit foolishly.

  Laughing, Devon pulls his hand back. When I open my eyes, I find him still standing across the island from me, his arms crossed over his chest just as Ryder had been moments ago. Now if only Devon was sans shirt...

  “I’m sorry. I zoned out. I’m exhausted and haven’t had nearly enough coffee yet.”

  All true, but also lies. Would I like a few more hours of sleep? Hell yes. Do I plan on drinking my weight in coffee today to survive? It’s going to be necessary. Did I zone out because of either of those things? Nope.

  “What about food? I was hoping we could grab lunch before I leave.”

  “That sounds delightful.”

  “So back to my original question. Any ideas as to where we should go?” he asks, smirking at me.

  That damn smirk. That’s what made me take notice of him to begin with. He walked up to where Allison and I were standing, planning our escape. We knew Megan was going to be making her grand entrance at any moment, and we didn’t want to stick around for the drama that was about to ensure.

  Megan was planning on crashing the party. She filled us in as she was on her way. She planned to stick it to Ryder and call him out as a cheater. She wanted to make a scene so people would assume that his indiscretions were the reason why they got divorced.

  Thankfully, it didn’t happen. I have a feeling Mr. Dixon may have put a stop to her actions before she could get started. One look from that man when he’s angry will make anyone rethink their plans.

  When Devon approached, Allison was explaining how we should sneak out the back, but she stopped mid-sentence. Her eyes were drawn to something or rather, someone. When I turned to see who she was staring at, I was met with those chocolate eyes. He wasn’t looking at Allison even though her eyes were locked on him. He was looking directly at me, talking to Mr. Dixon and his wife.

  I could feel his stare even after I turned around. Why was he staring at me? Allison is the one that always draws attention from guys. Her outfit last night, with her breasts almost popping out, was bound to get a few glances. Me, in my cheerleader outfit, not so much. Aside from my legs, there was barely any skin showing.

  I always keep my boobs covered. They’re big enough that I can’t hide them completely, but I can keep them covered, and that’s what I choose to do.

  Within minutes it became apparent that Allison wasn’t planning on leaving. All talk about sneaking out ceased. She started flipping her hair and adjusting her costume, tugging her top lower and her shorts higher. That’s when I realized he was coming over. If he wanted to talk to Allison, if that’s the kind of girl he was looking for tonight, I was prepared to kindly step aside and let them have a little privacy.

  It wasn’t.

  He barely said hello to her, nodding in her direction before turning to face me, his body almost blocking Allison from my view. I’m glad it didn’t. The look of shock on her face was so cute I had to force myself to swallow the giggle that was bubbling in my chest. The moment he addressed me by name, I started to freak out. My words were rushed, and my hands began to shake. I knew everyone in the room except him, and I felt more out of place than I ever had in my life. Somehow, he knew who I was, though.

  “Um, there’s a pancake house downtown if you want breakfast food,” I reply, looking at the clock on the wall. It’s almost noon but bacon and eggs sound good to me.

  “That sounds great,” he says, taking another sip of his coffee. “I could go for some crispy hash browns.”

  “Me too,” Emerson chimes, her voice causing me to jump as she slides into Devon’s abandoned seat next to me. “And coffee and maybe some eggs. Bacon, extra crispy.”

  “Someone’s hungry,” I state as Devon places a mug of coffee in front of her.

  Sliding the cream and sugar over so she can reach it, the three of us make plans for breakfast. Emerson still has her costume on and so do I. We’re going to need to change before we go out in public or people will think we’re crazy. Once Ryder joins us in the kitchen, we relay the plan to him and the guys jump in Ryder’s truck and take off for the restaurant. Emerson and I take her car back to her place and change into something more appropriate.

  “Can you grab that?” Emerson asks as she pulls a sweater over her head.

  “It’s Angela,” I announce, picking up her phone. “Hey, Ang. It’s Justine. She’s right here. We’re at your place changing. Downtown, at the pancake place we always go to. Call Ryder and tell him to save you a seat. Sure, I’ll let her know. See you soon.”

  “What’s up?” Emerson asks, handing me a hoodie to wear and a pair of jeans.

  “Angela and Tyler woke up and we were all gone. They’re going to meet us for breakfast. She asked if you would bring her a sweatshirt.”

  Nodding, Emerson leaves the room in search of clothing for Angela.

  My phone chimes as we’re getting in the car, starling me. I’m afraid to see who it is, not wanting to talk to Allison yet. She’s going to want details about last night. Knowing she would make a bigger deal out of it than necessary, I didn’t bother to say goodbye to her before disappearing with Devon.

  DEVON: It’s Devon. You ladies almost here?

  How did he get my number?

  DEVON: Ryder gave me your number. I hope that’s okay.

  DEVON: If not I can delete it. I’m sorry.

  ME: It’s fine. We should be there in ten minutes. Ang and Tyler are on their way, too.

  DEVON: See you soon. Drive safe.

  “Devon?” Emerson asks, a smirk on her face that tells me she has more questions. Hopefully not Allison type questions.

  “Yeah. Just wondering if we were almost there.”

  “You like him, don’t you?” she notes, not taking her eyes off the road.

  “I do, but he doesn’t live here, so I’m not sure it’ll work,” I confess.

  “You sound like me.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I liked Ryder, but he was my boss. Not the best scenario,” she confesses.

  “True, but you two seem to have worked it out. Or at least for last night,” I tease.

  “We’re working on it,” she replies, her cheeks turning bright red at my comment.

  “I guess you could say the same about us. I’m hoping we keep in contact after he leaves.”

  “Chicago isn’t that far away. A long weekend here and there and you two could make it work if it’s worth it.”

  Emerson’s words roll through my mind on repeat the rest of the ride to the restaurant.

  If it’s worth it.

  That seems to be the question of the hour. There was only one other time where I thought the relationship was worth the effort. In the beginning, when things were great, it was worth it. In the end, I was wrong. The end of our relationship sucked, as endings do most of the time.

  Chapter Two

  Breakfast was the most fun I’ve had in a long time.

  Ryder, Tyler, and Devon were bantering back and forth. Angela, Emerson, and I couldn’t contain our laughter as they threw each other under the bus with stories from growing up together. From the sounds of it, Devon was the instigator most of the time and seeing as how he started with the stories as we waited
for breakfast, it doesn’t appear he’s grown out of it.

  As we walk out of the restaurant, Devon takes my hand in his and pulls me to the side. Emerson shoots me a smile over her shoulder as she slides up next to Ryder and heads toward her car.

  “So, I have to leave when I get back to Ryder’s house, but I was hoping that I could call you later this week and maybe we could make plans to see each other again. Soon.”

  The confidence he spoke with last night and this morning has vanished. He’s as nervous as I am about starting something if the sound of his voice is any indication. And the look on his face is the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. He’s biting his lip and avoiding eye contact.

  “I’d like that,” I reply, pushing up onto my tip-toes and kissing him gently on the cheek. I feel him smile as my lips pull away, but they’re not gone for long.

  Devon quickly turns his head, and when his lips brush against mine, I’m tempted to pull his face in closer. I’m not that brave, though. Instead, I allow myself to shrink back to my normal height and wrap my arms around his waist.

  No words are spoken as we spend a few minutes wrapped up in each other. He traces shapes on my back, and I close my eyes and breathe in his scent. I want to remember it until the next time we see each other, whenever that may be.

  My phone chimes, interrupting out perfect moment. Ignoring it, I pull away and smile at Devon. He must be able to read my thoughts because he reaches out his hand and I take it. Walking hand in hand to meet up with our friends, he gives mine a light squeeze before jumping up in Ryder’s truck.

  As they pull away, Emerson puts her hand on my shoulder and guides me to her car. She and Angela try to distract me from my thoughts of Devon on the drive to my place, but my one-track mind refuses to cooperate, zoning out on them as they make plans for the six of us.