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He paled a bit. “Alice noticed?”
I snorted. “You weren’t subtle at all, so it’s not surprising. If you keep acting like that, she will try to corner you and get it out of you. I’m fine with things the way they are. I understand that nothing is going to grow between us, and I’m okay with that. I didn’t even tell anyone what happened between us, so if that’s what you’re worried about, then there’s no point.”
He opened his mouth, but no words came out. After a long minute, he closed it and nodded. “Good, that’s…good. No hard feelings, and you understand.”
I raised a brow.
Why was he repeating things like this?
“Yes, that’s literally what I just said now and the other day. If you actually want to keep what happened before a secret–which seems to be the case–then I would advise not acting like being near me would light you on fire.”
Then I pointed to the door. “If that’s all, you should probably head out. I have another appointment soon, and I need to make sure this new guy is settled in the back until it’s time for me to go home.”
Will nodded, the motion jerky as if his head was miles away. It was only after he left, still kind of dazed, that I let myself think about that interaction.
He’d made a point of bringing up the party just to ensure I understood how things were, and yet…I was the only one here acting as if nothing had happened. He even kept repeating it as if he expected me to react differently.
The thoughts buzzed around my head for hours, driving me crazy even through the ride home with my new furry friend.
Devin’s car sat in the driveway when I got there, and I bit my lip. Usually I’d ask him since he obviously understood how men thought, but how would I even begin to word this? I still didn’t want him knowing I had kissed his best friend and as long as that stayed the same, I had no idea how to approach this.
I’d always been awful with lying or hiding things, so he’d probably figure it out the second I started talking.
Looking at the dog contently dozing next to me, I shook away the other topic. It could wait a bit.
Easing him out of the car, I grunted when his weight nearly toppled me. He was still pretty weak, though I gave him an IV for dehydration earlier, so I’d figured it would be best to carry him. He was definitely a bigger breed though, whatever he was a mix of. There probably was no way I could lift him when he got back to his regular weight. Hauling him to the door, I knocked with my elbow, waiting as my arms ached something fierce.
Devin answered quickly, both his brows flying to his hairline when he saw my new companion.
“Did you kidnap one of your patients?” He asked, picking the dog up when my arms almost gave out. Of course he made carrying him look easy and I huffed, wiping my brow.
“No, William found him on the side of the road and brought him in. He had no interest in keeping him, though. There’s no chip or collar, so he's mine unless someone comes forward to claim him. You know how the animal shelter is for sick dogs, and he needs lots of TLC to get better. I couldn’t just stick him in a cage after all he’s obviously been through.”
Devin set the dog on the living room carpet, sitting cross-legged next to him with a nod. “Fair enough, I doubt I would have either.”
Then he frowned, eyeing me with open suspicion. “Is everything alright between you and Will? He’s been acting off lately and asking how you are.”
I was going to kill that idiot.
Biting back the urge to groan or roll my eyes, I snorted. “He put his foot in his mouth a week ago and despite my telling him things are fine, he’s worried he hurt my feelings or something.”
Devin grunted, “I figured it was something like that. I told him you weren’t easily offended, but he refused to admit that’s what he was worried about.”
Well, it wasn’t ‘offense’ he was concerned with. No, he just the thought I was hurt or struggling with his rejection.
He didn’t seem to be able to comprehend that I wasn’t.
Then, the metaphorical light bulb went on over my head.
That’s why he kept repeating this! He was so used to women falling all over him that he thought I would take the rejection harder!
It was almost funny, now that I thought about it.
He’d been confused earlier because I wasn’t reacting how he thought I would, namely by bursting into tears or some other such nonsense. I’d accepted his rejection at face value and moved on.
Shaking my head at the man, I smiled. “It’s nice of him to be concerned, but it’s not necessary. I’m over what happened, it wasn’t even that big of a thing. At least this explains why he’s been acting so weird around me.”
Focusing back on Devin, I shrugged. “You can tell him I said that too if he keeps bothering you. I’ve already told him as much, but maybe hearing it from you will chill him out.”
