Chapter 6
Callie
Iwas so exhausted I slept like the dead. When my alarm goes off at six a.m., I head straight into the shower and go through my morning routine like a zombie. Twenty minutes later, my hair is damp and hanging loose around my shoulders and I’m dressed in a comfortable pair of old jeans and a baby doll blouse I got at a vintage shop in East L.A. It’s got small orange and yellow flowers all over and kind of looks like wallpaper an eighty-year-old would pick, but I dig it.
I grab my Uggs, and after glancing in Conner’s room to admire my work from last night, I bounce down the stairs. The first thing that strikes me as odd is the smell of coffee.
Devin shouldn’t be awake right now, let alone drinking or making coffee. I make my way from the stairs, through the small front hall and into the kitchen. Luc and Rosie are sitting quietly at the kitchen table with mugs in their hands.
“What the fuck,” I say, shocked.
Rose stands and I walk into her outstretched arms, hugging her tight.
“We told Devin,” Luc tells me.
“And it didn’t go well?” I squeak, feeling guilty because they wouldn’t have anything to tell him if I hadn’t told them.
“Well, he stormed over to Ashleigh’s and confronted her and then took off,” Luc says, running a hand through his disheveled, shaggy hair. “So, yeah, it went fantastic.”
“We’ve been driving around looking for him all night,” Rose tells me with an exhausted but worried expression. “And we called all the guys he’s close to on the team. No one has seen or heard from him. We even went to see Mitch Lupo at, like, three a.m. Devin had given him a spare key to this place, which he gave us.”
“Fuck.” I curse and cover my face with my hands. “This is all my fault.”
“It’s Ashleigh’s fault,” Luc tells me flatly. “It’s not yours.”
“Did she…did she tell him she was cheating?” I ask as Rose walks over and pours me a cup of coffee.
“Pretty much.” Luc shakes his head in disgust. “She tried to rationalize it to us after he stormed out.”
“‘He is there for me when Devin can’t be. He doesn’t travel half the year without me. He loves me,’” Rose mimics Ashleigh in a wickedly whiny, high-pitched voice.
“Heloves her? Her husband fucking loves her! Screw this other guy!” I snap furiously.
“His name is Andrew and he’s their accountant. Oh, Rosie told her that and a hell of a lot more,” Luc says in a proud voice as he flashes my sister a little smile. “She ripped Ashleigh a new asshole. Told her she was a selfish bitch, that Devin was the best thing that would ever happen to her and Conner is proof of that. That she was ruining Con’s life, not just Devin’s.”
“He had to make me go wait in the car while he finished talking to her,” Rose admits and she doesn’t look the least bit shameful about it. “I made her hysterical.”
“Oh,youmake her hysterical.” I roll my eyes. “How the fuck does she think she made Devin feel, destroying his trust and their wedding vows?”
Before anyone can say anything else, the front door slams—hard. We all jump. My heart starts to beat frantically. Luc is the first to make it into the front hall. I follow behind and Rose is right on my tail.
Devin looks like shit. His dirty-blond hair is askew, his suit is wrinkled and his eyes are puffy and red. I realize he may have been crying and it breaks my fucking heart. He doesn’t make eye contact with any of us.
“What are you still doing here, Luc? Go back to your team,” he says gruffly and starts for the stairs.
“Devin…”
“Go, Luc!” he yells so fiercely it makes me jump.
Devin stomps up the stairs. Luc moves to follow him but I grab his arm. “I’ll handle it. You guys should just go.”
“Are you sure?” Rose looks concerned but I nod and give her a brave smile. She hugs me and then I hug Luc and watch as they head out the door.
I climb the stairs two at a time and hurry down the hall. His bedroom door is open and I step tentatively into the room. He’s standing with his back to me. His suit jacket is lying in a heap at the end of the bed and he’s stepped out of his shoes.
“Devin, I’m sorry.”
“For what?” he barks. His shirt falls from his shoulders and he drops it on the ground.
