Rocked (The Everyday Heroes World) - Julia Wolf Page 0,18
Was it strange that I could picture him doing that? Was it stranger that the idea amused me rather than repelled me?
“Well, if you really want to know, she’s allergic to tree nuts and peanuts, eggs, and dairy. Plus, bees and pollen. Luckily, she grew out of her gluten intolerance, and she’s beginning to tolerate small amounts of dairy. But her nut allergy is most likely here for life, and it’s severe. If she so much as inhales peanut dust, she’ll go into anaphylaxis.”
Devon made a whooshing sound. “Fuck, that’s some scary shit.”
“It can be. She’ll never be able to go to a baseball game, and she can’t fly on certain airlines that still serve nuts.”
He shook his head. “I never would’ve thought of that.”
“I wouldn’t have either before I had her. It’s hard, sending her out in the world, knowing food—the thing she needs to survive—might also be the thing that kills her.”
Devon braced both hands on the counter, his head bowing. “Shit, Kat,” he gritted.
I hip-checked him again. “Don’t get all down and depressed. Not about Ells. She’d cut you if she saw you all blue over her.”
He lifted his head, one corner of his mouth quirking. “I don’t want to get in trouble with little sister. No fuckin’ way am I getting on her bad side.” Crossing his arms over his chest, he exhaled through his nose. “I haven’t seen Veego around a lot.”
Well, that was a swift change in subject.
“Have you been watching for him?”
“Not so much. I’ve been spending a lot of time on my porch. Figured I’d see him come around, picking her up or dropping her off. Maybe hanging out. I’m surprised I haven’t.”
I pressed my last tortilla into a perfectly round shape and turned on the burner on my stove. “He sees Ells a lot, and she spends two nights a week with him, sometimes more. I think he secretly hates my dog, though. He never wants to hang out here.”
“He hates Leroy?”
I tossed a tortilla in the pan and gave Devon a quick grin. “What? You think it’s impossible? The dog is an attention whore who doesn’t listen to reason.”
He snickered. “Must be why I like him.”
“Does he remind you of someone?” I quipped.
“Yep. Not even gonna deny it.” He peered over my shoulder at the pan in front of me. “You really make your own tortillas?”
“I do. They’re simple, really. And I know exactly what’s in them.”
“That’s impressive as hell, Kat.”
I snorted, flipping another tortilla. “You have low standards, Devon.”
“Ha, maybe.” He eased beside me again, clearly done with his assigned task. “Tell me more about you and Veego. You were really only friends who banged?”
My eyes slid over to his for a second before sliding to the pan. “We’ve known each other forever. We tried out the boyfriend/girlfriend thing in high school. It was fine…”
“But you wanted more than fine?” he supplied.
“I was eighteen. I didn’t know what I wanted. And then he hooked up with a random chick when he went away to college and—”
Devon laid a hand on my arm. “He cheated on you?”
I tipped my face back to look up at him and nodded. “He did. We were both going through a pretty rough time and he screwed up in a big way. I was pissed as hell and let down, but I wasn’t heartbroken our relationship ended. That’s when I knew whatever romantic notions I had about him were just that—notions.”
“And yet you got knocked up a couple years later.”
I shrugged. “Well, we never struggled with that portion of our relationship. And everything worked out for the best. We’re still friends, we’ve got an epic kid, and neither of us has to pretend we’ll ever be more than we are.”
Devon’s eyes drifted to the window behind me, his chest heaving in and out a few times, jaw clenching and unclenching. I was surprised by how...affected he seemed. I rarely thought about Veego cheating on me. It was a long time ago, and I’d long since let go of my anger. But Devon…he looked like he might throw a chair or upturn a table.
I didn’t know this man, and here he was, fuming in my kitchen over a perceived wrong. It was oddly sweet. Endearing, almost. I probably should have been afraid of his over-the-top reaction, but I wasn’t. Now, if Veego was here, I might have been afraid for him. Or Devon, because while Veego was shorter, he could bring several grown men down without