Rocked (The Everyday Heroes World) - Julia Wolf Page 0,61

saw how he looks at you. You’re his, whether you know it or not.”

“You think I’m lying?” I threw my hands up. “I don’t owe you anything. Why the hell would I lie about that?”

He nodded, and I caught how pinched his face was before he turned away to look out the window.

Shit. I didn’t want this trip to go down the tubes before we even landed. Taking a deep breath, I unbuckled and walked across the aisle to stand in front of Devon. He finally tipped his head back to peer up at me.

My fingers dragged along the scruff on his jaw, and he kept watching me, unblinking. I reached for his hands to uncross his arms, then lowered myself into his lap. He sucked in a quick breath, eyeing me warily, his muscles bunched with tension.

“Remember the uproar your visit caused?” I asked.

“Yeah. I recall you mentioning it last night before you kicked my ass to the curb.” He brought his hand up and smoothed my hair away from my face. His movement stuttered, like he’d just realized what he was doing, and his hand fell to the side.

I went on anyway, ignoring the pang in my chest that he didn’t want to touch me anymore. “Turns out, for years, Veego’s been telling the guys we work with that I’m off-limits to them. That bomb was dropped on me as soon as I went back inside after you left.”

“Damn.” His head fell against the cushion. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“I was.” Devon scoffed and started to turn away from me again, but I pressed my hand to his cheek. “I was. And so pissed, I almost ended our friendship over it. I told him if he ever crossed that line again, we were done. Co-parents, and that’s it. And I know you think he’s harboring some secret love for me, but I don’t. He might think he has a claim on me because of our past and Ellie, but that’s it.”

Devon’s eyes searched mine. “You’re telling me if you offered yourself up to him right now, he’d turn you down?”

It was my turn to smirk. “Oh, I don’t think he’d turn down sex. But I think he’d take me to have my head examined if I told him I wanted him to be my boyfriend. It really isn’t like that between us. We’re close and we always will be, but we’re not in love.”

With a sharp nod, his eyelids lowered. “I’m sorry for being a dick.” He wrapped his arms around my waist, bringing me closer. “I have to admit, I got jealous.”

“I know.” I dragged my fingers through his hair. “I wanted to invite you in last night.”

“Why didn’t you? Would Veego have a problem with it?”

“I don’t give a damn what he has a problem with.” My fingers curled into his T-shirt. “I don’t want to fall for you, Devon, so I’m trying to keep a little distance between us.”

He tugged me even closer to his chest. “I don’t see a whole lot of distance between us.”

“No, you’re pretty hard to resist.”

His lips touched mine in a featherlight kiss. “I get why you’re keeping your distance. I don’t like it, and I intend to step over your boundaries any time you’ll let me, but I get it. What I don’t get is why you don’t date.”

“Do you date?” I countered.

He grimaced, his forehead touching my jaw. “No, but my shit is complicated.”

“So is mine.” I pushed his face back so I could see him. “I did date after Ellie was born. There was a guy who I was kind of crazy about when she was three. I was only twenty-three, fresh out of college, and I had a little kid, but I still wanted to be young. Plus, I guess I was looking for some assurance I was still desirable with my scars.”

“What happened? Do I have to murder this guy?” He’d gone growly again, and I liked it.

“No, the guy didn’t do anything wrong. He let me chase him, and I got stupid over him. I left Ellie with someone I should have been able to trust, but it didn’t work out that way. Ells had an allergic reaction and very nearly died while I was out with a man who really wasn’t that into me.”

Devon’s entire face flashed from horror to pity to anger. “Holy shit. Who was watching her?”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is if I hadn’t gotten so