Page 107 of Undeniable

“Yes, it was,” Shelby agreed from her seat on the other side of Amanda.

They’d been intrigued about what James and I were like growing up, so I’d told them about what it was like living next door to him and the things we got up to.

I’d also filled them in on some of the details of our past we hadn’t yet shared. James said that there weren’t any—or at least very many—secrets between their group, so I relayed the short version of our story. Amanda, of course, threatened to kick his ass, and Luke was the second to jump to my defense. But no one wanted to move past it all more than I did and they understood.

On the other side of the fire, Reed and James were playing cornhole with Will, Devon, and one of my previous college teammates, Piper. I watched them closely for several minutes and was surprised to see Devon laughing and joking with Piper. She was a gorgeous blonde and had been our star defensive player all four years of college. She’d also just so happened to end up moving to Austin after graduation.

In the process of getting to know the group and their easy dynamic, I realized Devon was the quiet, introspective one. And so it was honestly surprising to see him open up even a little with anyone outside of their group.

“Looks like Devon’s hitting it off with Piper,” I mentioned to Amanda.

Looking up, she silently regarded the pair until Piper ran her fingers down Devon’s arm. Amanda whipped her head to me, her eyes wide with surprise.

“Umm yeah, that’s unusual but great. The guy deserves some good in his life.”

“What do you mean?”

She sighed and slumped back in her chair. “You know his mom was diagnosed with cancer when we were in college, right?”

I nodded, and she continued.

“With his dad having run out on him, his mom, and his little sister, Devon decided it was his job to figure it all out. And he has. He’s paid for his mom’s treatments when insurance didn’t cover them, graduated from college, found a hell of a job, made sure his sister finished high schoolandgot into the college of her dreams. Devon is literally one of the best people you will ever meet. He would give you the shirt off his back, then go buy you six more for every day of the week.”

“Oh, wow. That’s—wow.” I had no other words. I agreed with Amanda, though. If all that was true, he really did deserve some good.

“Yeah, he hasn’t had a steady relationship in a while, but I think he wants that. I think it’s also hard for him with everything else he has going on. His mom is in Houston right now going through another experimental treatment, so he spends a lot of time going back and forth. He needs someone… special. And especially after Blakely…”

At that, I perked up. They’d only mentioned Blakely once or twice. Like Valerie—Luke’s ex-wife and the woman who kidnapped Hazel—they didn’t bring her up much. All I knew of Blakely was that she was part of the plot to kidnap Hazel with Valerie and that she’d disappeared after everything went down.

Actually, the most I knew of the situation was from reading Hazel’s book she wrote about her and Luke. James had loaned me his copy—which was annotated and well-loved—last week. I’d devoured the novel in one sitting. James had confirmed that most of what was written, at least to his knowledge, was based on true events. It was a form of therapy for Hazel to write it all down after everything that happened.

And based on the book and what everyone else told me, not much was known about what happened with Blakely afterward.

But I didn’t know what that specifically had to do with Devon.

“What does Blakely have to do with it?” I asked, intrigued and prepared to pry.

“I can’t say with any certainty, but I think there was something between them. I honestly don’t know if either of them ever even realized it, but Blakely was constantly in Houston with Devon visiting his mom or helping with his sister when she was younger. They were extremely close, and well, I always thought there might have been something more. But Devon’s a little hard to read. Even for us, the people who know him better than anyone else.”

I looked back over at the pair, still laughing and tossing the bags back and forth. If Devon had harbored feelings for Blakely, I was sure that figuring out she was in on a kidnapping plot and then disappeared after the fact would definitely complicate things.

“She really disappeared without a trace?”

Amanda waved a hand and tried to act unaffected, but I could see the sadness in her eyes. The group had been friends for nearly a decade, and I was sure none of them took it easy when she left.

“Not exactly?” There was a slight lilt of a question in her voice. “Her mom told me that she calls every once in a while to let her know that she’s okay, but she doesn’t say much more than that. The whole situation is strange, honestly. I’ve known Blakely a long time, and… she’s never one to run from her problems. But then again, I never thought she would help kidnap someone either.”

By prying, I’d well and truly made the mood much more somber. But as always, Amanda was not going to let the heaviness last for long.

“You know, when you first started at Murphy’s, and when you worked the reopening party, I thought for sure that you and Devon were maybe going to be a thing. The way you two looked at each other…”

Her smile was devious and I rolled my eyes. “I mean, I can’t say he’snotattractive.”

“Who? Devon?” Hazel chimed in from my other side.

“Are you kidding me with this?” Luke acted offended but held his wife, who was still perched on his lap, closer.

“I may be married, but I’m not blind,” Hazel added, and Luke shook his head. “It’s the tattoos,” Hazel continued, to which Amanda agreed.

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