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He really was an idiot.
Rubbing the bridge between my eyes, I answered.
He brought in a dog he found on the side of the road, and I may have grumbled at him when he showed no interest in taking him in. You should come and meet him. Devin and I named him Fig. He’s a sweet guy.
Then, I snapped a picture of him and sent it, just for good measure.
I barely had to wait a second before her response came through, though it was mostly heart emojis.
He’s so cute! Also, that sounds like William. Honestly, I nearly fainted from shock when he told me he was moving back. His old lifestyle of sleeping around doesn’t work as well here since anyone he goes to bed with could be related to someone important.
I didn’t see the topic shifting to her brother’s sex life, but now that we are here…
Biting my lip, I chose my next words carefully.
You’re not the only one shocked by that, but why did he move back anyway? Not that I’m not happy to see him, but it felt sudden.
This time her reply took some time, the bubbles on the bottom of the screen appearing and disappearing a few times before finally her response came through.
I’m not sure to be honest. When I asked him he told me he needed a change, but that doesn’t make sense. He loved life in the city, and he didn’t sound like he was having issues there before he decided to move. I feel like there’s more to this but if there is, he isn’t sharing.
Flashing back to how she and William interacted, the easy smile he gave no one but her, I could at least guess.
Maybe he was lonely and wanted to be near you?
There was nothing wrong with needing family, especially considering he wasn’t interested in getting an actual partner. He only had one outlet for affection.
I couldn’t imagine living like that, but if it made him happy…
My phone stayed quiet after that and I put it away, the sound of tires outside pulling me to the present. Devin walked in not two minutes later, arms bulging with bags that I hurried to help him with.
“Did you buy out the pet store?” I asked, incredulously staring as he put down his arm load and shrugged.
“Nope, though I’m sure it looks like it.”
Rifling through one of the nearby bags, he pulled out a squeaky toy and squeezed it. “Fig hasn’t had an easy time of it so far, but that’s about to change. We’re going to spoil him rotten.” He grinned, both of us watching as Fig’s head snapped up to stare at the toy.
When Devin squeezed again, Fig lurched off the couch and tried to jump for it. Considering his condition, he didn’t get very far, but I hissed.
“Careful! He needs to take it easy, remember?”
Devin lowered the toy for Fig to grab, nodding sheepishly. “Right, sorry.”
Fig took it and flopped down, happily squeezing it until my ears ached from the sound. Shaking my head at the noise, I plopped onto the couch and hummed.
“Next time I’m definitely waiting for your help to bathe him. He doesn’t like water and made sure I knew that.” I flicked a hand over my change of clothes. “As you can probably tell.”
Devin snorted, relaxing next to me with a nod. “I may have noticed.”
Silence dragged on for a second, then my mind wandered to Alice and my conversation. Devin was Will’s best friend, so if anyone would know why he moved back, it would be him.
“Hey, can I ask you something?”
He hummed curiously, eyes on me, and I continued. “Do you know why Will moved back here after so long? The only thing I can think of is that he wanted to be near his sister, but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions.”
Devin shrugged, giving a so-so motion with his hand. “That’s most of it. He loved the city, but he knew there wasn’t a chance he’d be getting Alice to move out there. Other things played into it, but for the most part, he missed his sister.”
Then he paused, grimacing. “Don’t use that to tease him, okay? I know you two love torturing each other, but that’s off-limits.”
