Rocked (The Everyday Heroes World) - Julia Wolf Page 0,82

Luckily, she’d never had a problem with my relationship with Veego. If I could have handpicked a woman to be in his and Ellie’s life, it would have been her. Actually, she was better than I would have picked for Veego, so he was damn lucky she’d fallen for his bright smile and overlooked his plethora of unbecoming attributes.

“Kat, I hope you don’t think me being back will confuse Ellie. I have no intention of going anywhere again,” Casey said.

I shook my head. “You don’t owe me any kind of explanation. I mean, if you were burning Veego’s clothes in the lawn, I might have an issue. Short of that, I love you, Case. I missed you.”

She and I hugged, this time, as tight as could be. I really was happy for them and hoped it stuck. I was also jealous Veego didn’t carry the same baggage I did. He’d never had trouble with dating and girlfriends, though Casey was the first he’d brought around Ellie.

I was still thinking about that when we pulled into our driveway at home. Devon stood on our porch, his hands tucked in his pockets. I hopped out of the truck, and he climbed down the steps, moving toward me.

“Hi, Devon. Gotta let Leroy out.” Ellie breezed by him with the single-minded goal of reuniting with her dog after a night away.

His mouth quirked as he watched her go, then he returned his attention to me. He looked tired. Dark circles surrounded his hazel eyes, and his jaw was scruffier than normal.

“Hey. I was just seeing if Ellie wanted to practice. I can never remember her schedule.” He stopped right in front of me, his eyes moving around my face.

“I just picked her up from her dad’s. Believe me, I can barely keep up with her schedule, so I don’t blame you for not remembering it. I’m sure she’ll want to practice. I was about to make dinner.” God, I hated how stiff I sounded. Every thought came out like a sound bite, clipped and so damn polite.

“All right.” He rocked back on his heels. “I’ll come back in a little while. Or you can send her over to my place. Whichever makes you more comfortable.”

And now, Devon was the one who sounded overly polite.

This was the worst. And completely unfair.

I laid my hand on his arm, his muscles twitching. “Would you like to join us for dinner? I’m just making pasta, nothing fancy.”

He exhaled, and his hand covered mine. “Fuck yes, I want to. I’ll even chop shit to pay my way.”

I snorted and rubbed my thumb along the length of his. “Well, you better come in. I always need people to chop shit for me.”

We worked together in my narrow kitchen, Ellie flitting in and out to grab a carrot stick or cracker, Leroy bumbling in and out to be loved and adored. Every once in a while, Devon and I would brush up against one another—the small space made touching unavoidable—and he gave me these looks so full of longing, my resolve was near crumbling, but I remained steadfast. He was leaving soon, and I was lost about it all. Seeing Veego and Casey together had only screwed with my head further.

“Veego and his ex are back together,” I said as I dropped the pasta into boiling water.

He turned to me, pausing mid-chop. “Oh yeah? Is that a good thing?”

“I’m happy for them. She’s a good woman, treats Ellie right. He never told me why they broke up, not really, but they appeared to have moved past it.”

He chuckled, then went back to chopping.

“What’s so funny?” I asked.

“Nothing. Just thinking.” He shook his head, cutting precisely through the lettuce.

Frustrated more than I’d ever been, I picked up a kitchen towel and cracked it like a whip on Devon’s ass. “Tell me, Devon.”

“Jesus, Lady.” He laid down his knife and rubbed his ass cheek. “Go easy on me.”

I held the towel over my head, menace in my eyes. “Tell me or you get the whip again.”

Laughing, he yanked the towel from my hand and tossed it over his shoulder. “I was thinking how sure I was Veego was into you. Guess he just thinks he owns you.”

Without the towel, I threw my slotted spoon at him instead. He dodged it easily, hands up like he was proclaiming his innocence.

“Shut it, rock star. Veego’s got some old school views, that’s true, but he definitely doesn’t think he owns me. He knows me well enough