Page 63 of Forever Yours
“Then you should know that what you just did to her was shitty,” Prudence all but shouted, both her and Annabelle pulling out their phones at simultaneous pings and they compared texts, whispering to each other.
“What did she say?” Gabe asked.
Annabelle shot him a dirty look before whispering more with Prudence.
“C’mon, guys,” Gabe implored. “What did she say?”
Prudence nodded and Annabelle spoke. “She’s going to bed.” Short and sweet. That was it.
“You guys aren’t going over there?”
“Not tonight, I think she needs to be alone.” Annabelle punched Gabe’s arm. “What are you going to do to make this right?”
Gabe saw the look of expectation on his friends’ faces, even Sebastian, who had only moved to town three months ago. His shoulders felt heavy with the burden of making five people happy. Devlin wasn’t the only person that his decision would affect, but her friendship with the rest of the group lay in the balance. He knew enough of Devlin that she would back away if things went sour between them. She’d done it when she moved to Amber Falls and he believed she’d do it again.
“I’ll make this right,” he promised. He wasn’t sure yet how to make it right without giving up on his own dreams, but he was damned sure he was going to try.
* * * *
Devlin walked the few feet to her coffee shop, her ears tuned to hear Finnegan’s door opening, both hoping it would and praying it wouldn’t.
You’re not good enough.
The taunting voice followed her.
Everything you do is worthless.
“No!” she shouted, trying to get him out of her head. She’d left her ex in Boston yet here he was, loud and clear in her mind.
She stopped at Books and Beans and looked over one more time before unlocking the front door. The shop had just closed for the evening and Emma was behind the counter wiping it off. She smiled wide when she saw Devlin.
“I didn’t expect to see you tonight, I’m just finishing up prep for the morning.”
Devlin flipped the door locked again and leaned her forehead against the cool glass.
“Is everything okay?”
She exhaled a breath and watched the fog spread over the glass then disappear. She turned and walked around the counter, pulling out her phone and typing out a quick message to Annabelle and Prudence.
I’m fine. Everything is fine. I’m going to bed, we can talk tomorrow?
“Men suck.”
“No, don’t say that! What happened?”
“I don’t know why he’d be any different, but he’s just like every other man I’ve been with. He got what he wanted and that’s it.”
“Gabe isn’t like that. He’s one of the good guys.”
“Is he? He just told me he submitted his proposal to the town council already. Like the last two weeks didn’t happen.”
“Oh, Dev, he didn’t?”
“He did. And on top of it, he just called me out in front of everybody for not submitting mine, that it wasn’t our plan.”
“What was your plan?”
Devlin tried to remember their conversation, but a haze of sex and sleep deprivation tinted it.