Devlin and Garrick by Cameron Dane (short story to read txt) 📕

His life depended on it.

Chapter Three

Devlin dialed his brother’s number and then started pacing the length of his living room, his mind in a thousand places at once.

Primarily in one place, really, and he damn well knew it.

Stop thinking about him, you idiot.

Aidan picked up on the third ring. “What’s up, bro?”

“Hey, Aidan, listen; my date has to go into work tonight and called asking if we could switch to tomorrow. What do you say? Can I renege on my invitation to you and Ethan for tomorrow night?” A week ago, Devlin had invited Aidan and Ethan over for grilled steaks. This morning, when Darren had given Devlin the perfect “out” of their date, Devlin hadn’t had the heart to break it. “You guys could come over tonight instead. I have everything defrosting.”

“It’s cool if you need to call off tomorrow night, but I can’t do tonight,” Aidan answered. “I’m heading into work right now.”

“Shit. I forgot.” As a firefighter, Devlin knew Aidan’s schedule as Chief inside and out. He growled under his breath at the injury keeping him from work. In just this short time away things were starting to slip his mind. “I’ll call Darren back and tell him I can’t do it. It’s not a big deal.”

“Don’t do that,” Aidan replied quickly. “And don’t use me as an excuse if you don’t want to see Darren again.” For a brother who had spent much of his adult life far away from his siblings, Aidan had certainly slipped back into a lecturing tone easily enough upon returning to Redemption three years ago. At least Devlin thought so. “Call Ethan on his cell and let him know the change in your schedule. Unless he’s made plans since this morning, he can make it. He mentioned spending part of the evening grading papers, but since it’s a smaller number of kids with summer school, I know he can be flexible with that.”

Devlin passed by the kitchen and eyed the half-dozen steaks sitting on the counter. “I could do that.” Shit. That still left a lot of meat he couldn’t refreeze. “Maybe I’ll invite Wyn too.”

Aidan’s sharp bark of laughter rang loudly through the phone. “Willing to risk Maddie’s wrath, are you?”

Wyn Ashworth was Ethan’s younger brother. Maddie had spent a good part of her senior year in high school sending verbal jabs in the older Wyn’s direction. Wyn took it in stride and, on occasion, nailed her back. Then, a few years ago, it seemed as if they had called a truce of sorts. Their taunts felt softer, more like teasing--and maybe even light flirting. Until a couple of months ago. Something changed, and their friendship turned downright icy. Ethan couldn’t get anything out of Wyn about it, and Maddie gave Devlin and Aidan the stone-faced silent treatment whenever they asked her about it too.

With Aidan and Ethan’s commitment to each other, though, Maddie and Wyn could not avoid contact. They were just going to have to get the hell over whatever bugs were up their asses and learn to be civil around each other. Devlin had no intentions of refereeing Thanksgiving and Christmas this year or any other in the future. He knew Aidan and Ethan wouldn’t either.

“Maddie can learn to deal with it.” Devlin forced a bit more bravado into those words than actually beat within him. “This is my apartment as much as it is hers and I am welcome to invite whoever I want into it. She can do the same.”

“It’s your funeral.”

“Don’t I know it.” Devlin threw himself down on the couch, and with a groan, covered his eyes with his forearm. “Nothing like one more battle to get my weekend started right.”

“Another battle?” Aidan’s voice rose in pitch and volume. “What are you talking about, Dev? Is everything okay?”

Damn it. A light pounding started behind Devlin’s right eye. “It’s nothing. I’m fine.”

Devlin heard Aidan sigh. “Now who’s keeping secrets?” his brother asked.

“If you’d let me come back to work,” Devlin squeezed his eyes shut, “I’d be a lot better.”

“As soon as a doctor clears you,” Aidan answered, his tone softening. “It’s not me. I need you at the firehouse as much as you want to be there.”

“I know.” Guilt had Devlin swallowing down a second plea. His brother could not treat him any differently than anyone else on his crew. “I’m just being a complaining ass. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Say goodbye so you can call Ethan. I have to go anyway or I’m going to be late.”

“Bye,” Devlin said. “Be safe.”

“Will do. Talk to you later.”

Aidan hung up, and Devlin quickly called Ethan and Wyn, who both agreed to join him for dinner. After he did that, he tossed the phone on the coffee table, and his brain took no time zeroing all of his thoughts in on one thing again. Gradyn Connell--who had become Garrick Langley.

My Denny.

Devlin couldn’t find out much of anything about Garrick Langley. He had not been able to track down a physical address in Redemption for where the man now lived. A search turned up only a local PO Box. No listed phone number either. Devlin obviously knew the guy worked for Mr. Corsini, but then so did Maddie. She practically lived at that garage, which meant Devlin didn’t have a chance in hell of cornering Gradyn there to demand answers for why he was masquerading as a man named Garrick Langley. Not without his sister turning on him and demanding answers of her own.

Devlin wasn’t ready to share what he knew about Garrick yet. Much in the way he hadn’t ever told a soul about what had happened that weekend in San Francisco either--or about what had developed in the six months of e-mails and phone calls that had followed. Devlin had never said a word to anyone about this man who had so completely captured his heart.

A chill went down Devlin’s spine right where he sat in his over-warm living room.

Maybe I knew, even back then,