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Not good enough. But he couldn’t probe any deeper without sounding suspicious. He rummaged around in his brain, trying to think of excuses why he couldn’t go, but he came up with squat.
Zoe was a firecracker. She said their secret was safe with her, but she loved to push him, and he had to admit it—he kind of loved it when she did. But interacting with her at their family home, with Han right there? What lines would get blurred?
It wasn’t just her he didn’t trust. His fingers twitched. He was getting too comfortable hanging out at his apartment with her. They spent half their time naked or snuggled up or both. Reaching out and putting his hand over hers and pulling her into him was becoming second nature.
Would he be the one to slip up and give them away?
Oblivious to Devin twisting himself into knots, Han pursed his lips. “Then again, she’s been going out a lot recently.”
“Yeah?” Devin’s throat threatened to close again.
“It’s super weird. She bummed around the house all the time when she first moved back in, but now it’s like she’s never there. I think she’s sneaking out at night, too.”
Devin tried not to choke on a piece of mango and pork. He coughed into a napkin.
“You okay?” Han asked.
No.
“Yeah, yeah.” Fighting both to breathe and to come off as casual, Devin asked, “Is it really sneaking, though? She’s in her twenties, right?”
“Fine, fine, whatever. It’s still weird. I didn’t think she had a lot of friends around here.” He narrowed his eyes. “I’m pretty sure she’s not dating anybody.”
“Maybe she’s just working late? The Junebug is a bar.”
“Maybe.” Han frowned. “You’re right—it’s none of my business. I just hope she’s not doing anything stupid.”
Devin’s stomach flopped around inside his abdomen.
She was doing something stupid all right.
Namely him.
“I’m sure it’s nothing,” he lied.
Only he wasn’t so sure of that.
He wasn’t so sure at all.
“So… do you want me to stay away?” Zoe had her back turned to Devin as she brushed her hair, but her gaze flicked to his in the bathroom mirror.
He was a little groggy, still splayed out on the mattress, naked and boneless. She hadn’t had to close the bar tonight, so she’d come over after her shift, which was great—he loved seeing her. But it was past his bedtime, and that last round had been particularly athletic.
There was something in her voice that told him he needed to pay attention, though.
He rose onto his elbows and rummaged around in his skull for enough brain cells to rub together. “What do you mean? It’s your house.”
Their pillow talk had inevitably turned to a discussion of the dinner party Han was holding at the Leung house. She’d seemed surprised to hear he was trying to find a way out of it.
“Yeah,” she allowed. She set down her brush—one of a couple of her things that had somehow found a home for themselves in his bathroom this week—and came back over to the bed. As if she could tell that he wasn’t at his best when she wasn’t wearing any clothes, she pulled the covers up over her chest. “But Han is your best friend. I don’t want to get in the way of that.”
He wasn’t quite tired or stupid enough to laugh. He’d only resisted her as long as he had because he hadn’t been willing to risk Han’s friendship or Arthur’s welcome. Of course his being with her now was going to affect his relationship with her family.
He reached for her hand and held it in his, running his thumb along the lines of her palm. He should be stressing out right now, but it was hard to be anything but relaxed when it was just the two of them. She made talking about his feelings easy in a way no one ever had. “You aren’t in the way. I’m just nervous he’ll catch on to something being weird between us.”
“Yeah…”
He closed his fingers around hers more firmly. “You know I don’t like keeping this secret, right?”
