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“Other than he’s the cockiest guy I’ve ever met? No. That your girl?”
As much as I’d like to claim her like Stormy suggested, I’d look like a complete idiot if I did that and she ends up flirting with the guy right in front of us.
“She’s from my past,” I confess. “Showed up here a week or so ago. She needed a little help.”
“Gonna threaten him, too?” Stormy asks, having seen Oracle’s approach to her as well.
“I’m starting to think you’re stalking me,” I mutter, wishing I’d grabbed a beer so I have something to do with my hands rather than just clenching them repeatedly at my sides.
“A stalker stalking a stalker,” he says with a grin. “What a concept.”
“So she is your girl?” Newton asks.
It’s my turn to glare at the guy. I swear I knew this was going to happen. I warned Devyn about this. I shouldn’t be surprised that two of the three new guys have already set their sights on her. Every other man in the room who has a significant other is keeping them very close, claiming them with their actions, either an arm around their waist or holding their hands. Devyn is the only one wandering around without someone beside her, and these guys are astute as the next.
“You guys planning on going to Jake’s?” I ask, a hint that the women here aren’t the only ones that exist in the world.
“Didn’t work out so well last time,” Stormy mutters, referring to the first time we showed up here and went out that same night.
“I don’t drink,” Newton says.
“They sell Cokes, too,” Stormy says, making it sound like he’s going tonight regardless of what happened last time.
I turn my eyes, catching another glimpse of Devyn, only to find her and Oracle looking in my direction. He raises an eyebrow at me, and it feels like he’s seeking some form of confirmation.
When I stand still, with no reaction, his grin grows, a glint in his eyes that says if I don’t claim her that makes her fair game.
It pisses me off when it really shouldn’t.
I know Dr. Alverez, the club’s psychologist, would tell me that my feelings are just… mine, and I have every right to feel what I feel.
Instead of doing something to make me jealous or push me into action like I assumed someone as young as Devyn would do, she simply looks disappointed, taking a step back when Oracle inches forward.
It’s just another way that she’s proving me wrong. Her maturity is showing, and that doesn’t help my insistence on staying away from her.
Chapter 17
Devyn
“I’d love to do that for you,” I tell Sunshine.
“I know you’re busy, but everyone has been so excited about all their custom things.” She presses her hand to her nearly flat stomach. “We have time, but I figured custom curtains and throw pillows in the nursery would be amazing.”
My smile grows wider, but then I see the unspoken things in her eyes. If I had to wager, I imagine she’s just now at a point in her life where she can do things like order custom curtains and pillows. I met her fiancé, Bishop, one of the guys in Cerberus, a little earlier, and I could easily tell the man would give her the world before she even needed to ask for it.
I fight the urgency to find that type of life for myself. I’m not exactly interested in being a mom. I’m sure I’d be horrible at it because I didn’t have the best example, but I want the type of love so many people here have found. I want to see the dedicated and utter devotion in a man’s eyes when he looks in my direction.
“I’ll make sure to add it to my list, but I assure you, I’ll have it done before your sweet little baby is born.”
She squeezes my hand as if I’m the one doing her a favor when in actuality, her placing an order with me is the true gift.
So many people have come up to me to ask about things I can do for them, and I’ve taken every single order. I’ll work through the night if I have to. No one has asked for a discount. Many are like Sunshine and didn’t even ask what the price would be, but I haven’t once gotten the vibe that any of them are expecting it for free.
Everyone who invested in Devyn Malloy Designs has done it on a one-off arrangement, meaning I don’t owe anyone a percentage of my business after their items have been made. Em didn’t specify a set number of one-of-a-kind clothes for the children at the shelter, but I know she won’t abuse it by expecting me to make clothes forever. I would though because her buying the embroidery machine in order for me to win the football bid was epic.
