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Chapter Nine
While he would’ve enjoyed talking to Devaney in the car, Eric was glad she fell asleep almost as soon as he’d buckled her into the front seat. He had a couple friends who suffered from migraines and they all told him the same thing: the best way to get through it was to sleep as much as you could.
When he pulled into the driveway of the address Devaney had given him, Carter was standing with the boys on the front stoop. It was a big house in a nice neighborhood and he could tell someone had taken a lot of care to set up the landscaping in the front but no one had been keeping it up.
If he had to guess, he’d say that used to be Devy’s responsibility and Carter hadn’t realized how much work she put into making it look nice. Either that or the guy needed to find a different landscaping service because they were slacking.
Eric woke Devy by rubbing her thigh and speaking as quietly as he could while still being loud enough to rouse her.
“Hey, buttercup, we’re here. The boys are all ready.”
Her lids fluttered open and she let out a soft “oh,” like she was surprised to be here already. And then she seemed to steel herself and take a deep breath before unbuckling her seatbelt and getting out of the car.
If he thought this was going to be an innocuous or pleasant interaction he would’ve stayed in his SUV. But that’s not how he saw this going with Carter so Eric let himself out, offering Logan and Carter waves as they approached. Logan ambled with that teenage apathy whereas Chase was still young enough to run and throw himself at his mother who gave him a big hug.
She was trying so hard to pretend everything was fine for them but he could tell it was an act. Inside she was still hurting and exhausted but was probably wary of showing any weakness. He couldn’t blame her with the storm gathering on Carter’s face as he stalked down the stone path.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Carter demanded.
“Boys, get in the car, we’ll be right there,” Devy said, herding them into the backseat, clearly in the hopes they wouldn’t hear whatever else Carter had to say. What a dick.
Eric wasn’t going to start something because the last thing he wanted to do was make life harder on Devy, but he also wasn’t going to let her ex talk to her like that without saying anything. No one should talk to anyone like that, but if the boys could hear, he especially didn’t want them to think it was okay to yell at their partners or exes like this.
“Devaney’s migraine hasn’t let up and I didn’t think it was safe for her to drive so I offered to help,” he said, doing his best to keep cool in the face of Carter’s fiery temper. He wasn’t a yeller by nature and he didn’t want Devy to feel like she had to rein him in too.
Carter’s hazel eyes narrowed. “Are you two fucking? Is that what’s going on? You’re fucking this guy, Dev?”
Devaney’s lashes fluttered and her lips parted, looking like a nervous little bird. He hated the way she twisted her fingers in front of her and he hoped to hell the kids couldn’t hear this.
Eric waited a beat to see if Devy was going to snap back at Carter but she couldn’t seem to find her words. That was fine, he had plenty for this asshat.
“We’re dating. We hadn’t told the boys yet because it’s brand new.”
Eric moved closer to Devaney, put his arm around her waist and settled a hand on her hip. He’d apologize later for overstepping but he needed to protect her in any way he could from this monster. If that meant claiming her, then that’s what he’d do. It felt right to hold her protectively, possessively, and he didn’t want to stop.
“We should go, don’t want the boys to be late to school.”
Carter glared at him and then turned his displeasure back on Devaney who slid an arm around his own waist and dug her nails slightly into his skin through his shirt. He wanted to punch Carter for making her so stressed, especially when she was already ill, but that wouldn’t go well. A Black man—even a doctor—punching a white guy in his own driveway? Nah.
“We’re not finished talking about this,” Carter seethed.
Devy pressed herself against his side, dug her nails in a little tighter but seemed to draw comfort from his presence, finding the wherewithal to say, “For now we are. We have to go.”
* * *
The ride to school was filled with Chase chattering away and Logan reluctantly answering questions Devy asked. After they’d dropped them off at their respective schools just in time for the bells, he drove back to his home and parked in the garage. When they got to the breezeway, Devy turned to him with a tight smile.
“Thank you for everything,” she said, waving a hand through the air. “But I have to go. I can’t be late for work.”
Work? Was she fucking kidding?
Eric cocked his head and tried, mostly successfully, to keep the growl out of his voice. “No. What you can’t do is go to work. You told me yourself that your migraine is going to get worse before it gets better and if that’s true you shouldn’t be driving. You shouldn’t be working. All you should be doing is resting.”
“I can’t. If I don’t go to work, I’ll get fired.”
“You don’t have sick time?”
She glared at him, crossed her arms over her chest. “No, I don’t. That’s not really a thing at minimum wage jobs.”
