جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 10

Devin’s POV The moment Eve's voice cracked on the other end of the line, I knew that walking misdemeanor had finally done what I had been silently hoping he would do since the day Eve told me she was engaged. He had removed himself from her life in the most catastrophic way possible, and while I was genuinely sorry she was hurting, I could not pretend I was sorry he was gone. I had been in love with Eve Lovelace since we were sixteen years old. She had been crying in the school library over a history paper, looked up at me with those dark eyes, and asked if I thought anyone ever actually got what they wanted. I had no answer then. Seven years later I still had no answer, but I had built my entire life around staying close to her, and that meant swallowing every impulse that might send her running. She thought I was her gay best friend. The one man in the world who wanted nothing from her. I let her believe it because it was the only way she let her guard down, and I would rather

Eve’s POV The morning had already delivered one gut punch. I saw no reason to stop at a single blow. After Devin dropped the revelation about my father's debt to Martin, I sat at the breakfast table for a long time, staring at the cooling eggs and trying to rearrange the shattered pieces of my life into something resembling a plan. Devin cleaned the kitchen quietly, giving me space. He knew when to push and when to hover, and right now hovering was the correct call. I could feel his presence behind me like a wall between me and the abyss. Finally I stood up and reached for my phone. "I'm calling Marguerite Chen." Devin turned from the sink, drying his hands on a towel. "The family judge?" "She's the executor of my mother's will. If anyone can tell me whether that marriage clause has any flexibility, it's her." I was already scrolling through my contacts. "Maybe there's a loophole. Maybe the deadline can be extended. Maybe I can petition the court for an adjustment based on e

Devin’s POV I stood in Eve's kitchen after she left for her appointment with Marguerite Chen and stared at the coffee maker for five full minutes without seeing it. She'd said she needed to do this alone. I understood that about her, the fierce independence that sometimes tipped into self-destruction. Push too hard and she'd pull away. So I let her go, and I cleaned her kitchen, and I checked my emails, and I pretended I wasn't counting every second until she walked back through that door. Mark called around eleven. "The investor meeting is rescheduled for next Thursday. Your grandfather's assistant left another message. He wants to know what family emergency required you to fly across the country." "Tell him I'll explain when I'm ready." "He won't accept that." "He doesn't have to accept it. He just has to live with it." I hung up and checked my phone for the fifth time in ten minutes. Nothing from Eve. I knew she was fine. She was in a meeting and would call when she was

Devin’s POV "What are you doing," I said, though it came out more like a strangled plea. "Getting comfortable." She fumbled with a button and made an impatient sound. "Help me with this." "Eve, you are drunk. You should sleep." "I'm also getting married." She beamed up at me, still wrestling with her buttons. "To you. My best friend. So there's no issue, right?" I opened my mouth to argue but she had already moved on to her pants, shimmying out of them with the graceless determination of someone who had decided clothing was optional. I turned away so fast I nearly knocked over her floor lamp. "Devin." Her voice was teasing now. "You can look. You're gay and it's not like you're going to be scandalized by my body." If only she knew. "I'm giving you privacy," I said to the wall. "I don't need privacy from you. We're going to be married, so what's the problem?" The problem was that I was a hot blooded male who had been in love with her for seven years and she was cur

Eve’s POV I climbed off his lap and straightened my shirt, suddenly feeling awkward for reasons I could not explain. "Right. So. We should plan things. We only have a month. Less than a month, actually. We need to figure out the ceremony and the photos and the announcements and I need to call Marguerite and…" "Eve." Devin's voice was calm. "Breathe." I took a breath. "Sorry… I'm just…This is happening…This is actually happening." "It's happening." He stood up and carried his empty teacup to the sink. "We'll figure out the details. We always do. But first you should probably drink more water and take something for that headache. You're still squinting." I rubbed my temples. "I am not squinting." "You're squinting like a mole in sunlight." "Fine. I'll take an aspirin but after that, we'll start planning. We don't have time to waste." An hour later, after a shower and two aspirin and another bowl of Devin's miracle soup, I felt better. We sat at the kitchen table with our phone