Page 25 of The Air You Breathe

“Still, it's weird and last I heard they are taken,” I said pulling out my phone and deciding on a whim I wanted to go to Group Therapy and see Darcy. I wasn’t going to talk to her just to wish her happy birthday, but I was also a chicken shit and I needed to enlist someone to go with me.

“Taken? All of them?” I looked up to see Kaili looking genuinely disappointed, and I am thankful that Jane had taken them because I don’t think I could see my baby sister with three guys. I think I would have a coronary, wondering if ALL of them were treating her right. Looking up Dev’s contact info to text him.

Wanna get a drink at Group Therapy?

I looked up to see Kaili rambling about Nathan and the guys, I had to tune her out. It's going to be hard to look them in the face when all I can hear is my sister raving about how big or muscley they are.

Tonight? When do you ever want to go to Group Therapy?Dev texted back.

I debated on telling him the truth but Dev knew almost everything. One good thing about working for Lucio is I've made great friendships with Giovanni and Dev.

It’s Darcy’s birthday, tonight.I decided to go for the truth.

He didn’t respond right away. Dev’s priorities are his mom and sister, choosing to stay home with them most of the time. He protected Ava at all costs because he wanted her to have a life that was free from a father who only wanted children to further his business or make him money. I think he was also afraid Lucio was going to use Ava to further climb to the top. Marriage is a powerful tool when you're trying to get into power.

Kaili got up from the table and I saw that she is was grinning as she was typing away. I hoped it wasn’t some dude because I’m not ready for some guy to try to swoop in and take my sister.

“Are you dating someone, Ren?” My mother didn’t beat around the bush.

“No, I’m not.” I knew my answer was going to disappoint her. We’ve had several discussions that I'm not getting any younger and I need to find a wife and have kids.

She sighed. “Don’t put love on the back burner, because life is so much better when you have someone to share it with.”

Regret about Darcy came back in full force. “I know,” I said, trying to keep the sadness out of my tone.

“You know, it wouldn’t matter if it were with a man or woman,” she said, matter of factly.

I was confused by her statement until I realized that she thought I might be gay. “Thanks ma, but I am straight,” I said with a smile. I thought it was incredible she was trying to make sure I was ok with coming out to her. “I love you, ma,” I said, getting up and bringing her in for a hug.

“I just want you to be happy. The last time I saw you over the moon was with Darcy and I hate to think you passed up a good thing,” she said into my shoulder, a little muffled. I closed my eyes feeling too vulnerable. My mom hit the head on the nail with that statement.

“I am happy, ma,” I said, but I didn’t feel like it. “Relax while I do the dishes.” I kissed her forehead as I got the table cleaned while my emotions spiraled out of control. When I had the table cleared I felt my phone buzz.

I’ll meet you there in an hour?Dev texted back.

Great, see you there.I responded.

It's about time I started putting myself first in my life. I wanted and needed Darcy in my life and I wouldn’t stop until she was mine again.

* * *

Dev was waitingin the parking lot for me, leaning up against his Impala. If you were just passing by him, he looked like trouble. His brown hair was buzzed short, with crazy blue eyes, covered in tattoos, and a don’t fuck with me expression most of the time. I thought he was wearing contacts when we first met, but they are one hundred percent his.

“The Impala looks great, man,” I said, walking up to him checking out his car. He had fixed it up from just the frame and now it looked damn good with a fresh coat of paint.

“Thanks, I had to redo the paint twice because the first color wasn’t dark enough,” he said, with a ghost of a smile on his lips.

“Looks good.” I clapped his shoulder as we both walked to the front and Dev opened the door.

Music, laughter and chatter instantly filtered out as we walked into the bar. It was surprisingly a busy night as I looked around to find Darcy, Jane and the guys. I spotted Aiden right away because I swear that guy was a beast, and it was also the man bun that gave him away. I walked towards them, looking for Darcy but didn’t see her right away.

“Hey guys,” I said, as we got to the group.

They all responded with heys, how are yous and a wave from Jane. The guys looked at Dev a little warily, but I couldn’t exactly blame them, they kept a tight circle and distrusted anyone who wasn’t in that circle. I also think years of being in the military had made Aiden and Cal paranoid.

We talked about getting ready for our tourist and ski season, and apparently there were a few new ski instructors coming to town. Nathan talked about his new classes he was teaching when I looked around for Darcy again. I had assumed she was in the bathroom when we first arrived, but it had been a while. I half listened to the guys talking about a baseball player and some injury he sustained during a game that might derail his career.

Dev and Jane caught my attention, when I noticed they were talking. He was usually pretty quiet and kept to himself, so it was surprising to see him talking to her. It was hilarious to see the guys quickly notice that Jane was talking to Dev. It was like their Jane alarm went off; another man was talking to her. I chuckled when Aiden left our conversation to go be with Jane and I could tell that Nathan and Cal relaxed.

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