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“Hm.” I glance at him sideways, feeling awkward again. This is a side of the guy I've never seen before and it's tripping me out. Arya’s voice from our phone call yesterday runs through my head.

“Don't fuck things up with Dev. He's got a lot more depth than people give him credit for.”

Okay, so what? He's nice to my cousins and my siblings. Those fuckers like everyone. They're social butterflies like me; it's how we were raised. Means nothing. Doesn't change the shit he did last year.

But my mom likes him. And she's always been the one to clock shitty people from a mile away.

Jesus Christ, what the fuck am I even doing right now?

Across the yard, she calls my name this time, and I silently thank her for the excuse to get away as I give Devon a nod. “I gotta go, but uh… You don’t actually have to stay if you don’t want to.”

“I want to.” His whiskey eyes are brighter and clearer than I ever remember seeing them.

The tightness in my chest eases slightly. “Cool. I'll be back, then. Don’t disappear.”

“Wouldn't dream of it, hot shot.” He lifts two fingers in a lazy salute, that cocky grin on his face once more.

My stomach flips over several times as I head toward my mom and sister, head all cloudy like I'm in a daze. The urge to glance at him over my shoulder comes on strong, but when I do, he's no longer where I left him. He's nowhere to be found at all.

And fuck, if that doesn’t scare me more than anything else.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Devon

Guests shuffle into place, and I hang toward the edge of the crowd awkwardly.

Christian's mom taps a mic from the DJ tent, feedback screeching briefly before she calls out something in Spanish. Everyone claps, and the music changes from pop to something more low-key. The lights strung across the yard dim slightly.

Marisol emerges into the center of the yard with Christian on her arm, his shoulders squared and chin up. I was lying when I said he looked good in that suit—he looks downright delicious. It fits him well. The sleeves hug his biceps and chest, where a pink tie rests beneath his jacket. If his family hadn't surrounded us, I would have dropped to my knees the moment I saw him.

He guides his sister into position with one hand at her back, and then they both start to sway to the music with silly grins on their faces.

“He did this last year for Sofia, too,” Taylor murmurs beside me, having returned from grabbing food.

“Did what?”

“Father-daughter dance. He toured colleges with his little brother, too, when Logan was in the hospital and Salem was missing. Family means everything to him.”

A catch in his voice has me tearing my gaze away from Christian. “I can see that.”

“He’d do anything to protect them,” Taylor adds quietly, eyes never leaving the dance floor. “Doesn’t matter the cost. Even if it gets him into trouble.”

Something sharp twists inside my chest. I scoff under my breath. “Where is this going? You think I'm some kind of threat or something? I'd never hurt his family. Ever.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Tay finally looks at me, expression guarded. “I’m not worried about you hurting them.”

“What the fuck are you trying to say?”

A beat of silence stretches on as we watch Christian dip his little sister just enough to make her giggle.

“He doesn't know how to draw a line,” Taylor says at last. “Once he decides you’re family, there isn’t a boundary he won't cross. He’ll bleed out for you. Get it?”

“I'm failing to see what this has to do with me.”

“I think,” he says slowly, glancing back to his best friend, “some people take advantage of that kind of loyalty.”

Ah. I swallow hard, his words finally clicking. “And you think I’m some people.”