Following Me by Linde, K.A. (good e books to read txt) 📕

more.  Devon couldn’tleave and wonder if her friend was on a further downward spiral than she,herself was.

Lunch? We need to talk,Devon texted Hadley.

Devon received her response asshe took the elevator up to the apartment.  Fine.  Jenn’s? Hadleyresponded

I’ll just meet you at thatplace across from your work.  This is going to be quick.

I’m off at noon.

Devonchanged into fresh clothes and brushed her teeth.  She was glad Garrett wasn’tthere.  She didn’t want to face him this morning.  He was always so bright andcheerful, and while he did tend to make her feel like a better person, shewasn’t ready for that right now.  Plus, he might know how pissed she was atHadley.  He might somehow see it, and she wasn’t going to be the one to tellhim that his girlfriend was a coke addict, at least not until Devon knew if itwas necessary.

DEVON HOPPED ON another train toHadley’s building.  Arriving at the restaurant across the street, she took overa booth in the back.  It appeared to be nicer than Jenn’s with fancytablecloths, classical music playing in the background, and expensive artworkhanging on the walls.  Devon wasn’t a big fan, but it would be better to meethere than somewhere comfortable…somewhere near Brennan.

Hadley walked in, looking worsethan Devon had expected.  Had she been looking like this all week and Devonjust hadn’t noticed?  Had Devon been so lost in herself that she hadn’t seenher own friend’s problems?  She hadn’t seen a lot of Hadley this weekbecause of her job, but Devon didn’t think Hadley had seemed that different.

“Hey.”  Hadley took a seat acrossfrom her and opened the menu, not making eye contact.

“Hey,” Devon responded.

Hadley clearly wasn’t going tothrow her a line or anything.  She stared stock-still at her menu.  Devon wassure Hadley wasn’t reading it.

“Hadley, come on,” Devon pleaded.

“Don’t act like you’ve beenforthright the whole time you’ve been here,” Hadley snapped, still not lookingat her.

“Fair,” Devon said, trying tobite back her retort.  “I’ll give you that, but I also wasn’t flaunting myproblems in everyone’s faces in a public place.”

Hadley dropped her menu down onthe table.  “I wasn’t flaunting anything, Devon!”

Devon sighed, seeing how this wasall going to go.  “Fine.  You weren’t doing that either.  I just happened tosee it.  But how long has this been going on?  And how long are you going tokeep it up?”

Hadley bit on her lip, her angerslipping slightly.  She looked really young in that moment, less than hertwenty-two years.  “It hasn’t been that long.”

“How long?” Devon prompted.

“Only a month or two.”

Devon’s eyebrows rose.

“Okay, two.”

“And you’re stopping…when?” Devonasked.

Hadley looked away, her blondehair framing her face.  “It’s not as often as you think,” she said, her wallslamming back up.

Devon swallowed, wanting to takeher friend by the shoulders and shake her.  It was sad, considering everythingshe was hiding from Hadley.  As much as this mirrored her problems, it was sovery different.

“I just want you to take care ofyourself.”

“I can take care of myself justfine,” Hadley snapped.

“I’ve no doubt,” Devon drawled,her Southern accent coming out in full force.

“Don’t use that tone with me,”Hadley muttered.

“Does Garrett know?” Devonasked.  She already knew the answer since Brennan had told her last night, butshe wanted to hear Hadley’s response.  She needed to hear what Hadley would sayface-to-face, no hiding.

“Of course, he knows,” Hadleysaid, not meeting her eyes.  “Do you think I would be living with him if hedidn’t know everything about me?”

Devon sat back hard in the booth,staring at her friend.  Had Hadley ever purposely lied to her?  Had Hadleyever been openly dishonest in any way?  Hadley was many things, but a liar? No, she had never been a liar.

And then Devon knew what she hadto do…

“I want to stay in Chicago forthe summer,” Devon told her.

Hadley’s eyes shot to Devon’sface as she looked at her incredulously.  “Well, have a great time,” she saidsarcastically.

“I’m staying with you andGarrett,” Devon told her matter-of-factly.

“What?  It’s Garrett’sapartment.  There is no way he is going to let you stay for three more months. Why do you want to stay anyway?  Don’t you miss your boy toy?”

“Doesn’t really matter why I wantto stay,” Devon said.  “I’m staying, and you’re going to call and convinceGarrett to let me live at the apartment.”

“What?” Hadley asked, eyeingDevon like she was insane.

“Otherwise, I’m going to tell himthat you’re doing coke.”

“But he already knows,” she spatback as if Devon would believe her.

“Fine,” Devon said, pulling outher phone.  “Then, I’ll just call and talk to him about it.”

Hadley openly glared at her.  Shewas clearly waiting for Devon to bluff.

Hadley thought there was no wayDevon was going to dial through to his line, no way Devon would actually do it.

Devon’s finger was poised overGarrett’s number.  She was about to push call.

Then, Hadley cried, “Wait!  Jesus,Dev.  You can stay with us.  Of course, you can stay with us.  I’ll call himright now.”

GARRETT’S ONLY CONDITION for thesummer was that Devon would contribute to the house by paying rent.  That leftDevon in an awkward position since she didn’t have any savings to draw fromthat her parents didn’t actively control.  It would look suspicious if shesuddenly laid out a grand without telling them.  They would wonder if shewas the one on drugs.

Devon wouldn’t dare ask Hadley tohelp her with the money situation.  Devon didn’t want to know how much cashHadley was shoveling into her new extracurricular activities.  Plus, Devoncouldn’t afford to ask Hadley for more help.

Devon felt bad enough as it wasfor manipulating Hadley into letting her stay for the summer.  She should havejust been up-front about it all.  If Hadley knew what Devon was going through,then she probably would have been more understanding.  Hadley also might havehopped on a train to St. Louis to burn the place down.  Devon wasn’t really inthe right mind-set yet to bare all her secrets, so she had acted impulsivelyand used Hadley’s weaknesses against her.  It was low, even with the positionDevon was in, but she hadn’t seen an alternative.  And it had worked.

Now, Devon needed to find a wayto pay rent.  She knew Marina City wasn’t exactly cheap either, and she