My Brother's Best Friend (9 page)

I had made it sound like Devin and I really were together, and if Eric didn’t know who had hit him, he did now.

Perhaps worst of all, Devin and I would have to go on pretending we were really a couple. I couldn’t have Eric find out we weren’t really together. It was the only satisfaction I got last night, to see his surprised face when he thought Devin and I were an item.

I walked back to Devin’s office, knocking hesitantly before opening the door.

“Chris, you’re back. I thought for sure I’d have to come get you. I thought you would love to watch them film the show.”

“I did love it. Only someone came to ruin my fun,” I said, pulling my chair closer to his. “Did you know Eric is working here?” From his reaction, I knew Devin hadn’t known. “It’s fine, Dev. Apparently he works behind the scenes doing something. Larissa wasn’t sure. And don’t worry, I held my own.”

“I never thought you couldn’t.”

“Anyway, Larissa and Zach know what happened, and I’m pretty sure it won’t take long for everyone to find out. He might just be forced to leave.” I said, wishing it were true.

“Maybe, but you won’t go over there alone anymore,” he said, obviously making a mental note for himself.

“But that’s not all that happened,” I hedged. “If I tell you, promise you won’t be angry?”

“I promise.” He smiled.

“Okay, here goes nothing. If Eric didn’t know it was you who punched him then he knows now. I kind of let it slip. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it too much. I don’t think he would press charges. It should be fine, especially now that everyone knows what a bastard he is. Anything else happen I need to be worried about?”

I bit my lip than decided it was best just to rip the Band-Aid off. “Not if you don’t count everyone still thinking we are a couple as something to be worried about.”

Devin laughed. “I don’t think that’s too hard to fi—”

“And for the sake of saving face, it might be best to remain in a pretend relationship until I can officially say Eric is out of my life.”

Devin didn’t say anything, he only sat in his chair staring at me with his intense hazel eyes. “I mean it would only be for a little while and besides, this could really become a learning experience for me. We could pretend we are together, and you could be my teacher. I obviously lack a lot of knowledge and basic experience. I know that, but with help from you, with your vast expertise, you could help me perfect my own skills.”

He continued to stare at me with those penetrating eyes. I couldn’t look away nor could I shut my mouth. “It could be fun, maybe. I mean, I really do need help with this stuff. You know I don’t have many people to talk to and since we have the house to ourselves with complete privacy for a week, why not help me out? Please don’t make me beg.”

Devin pursed his lips then nodded his head. “Fine, but we do things my way.”

I smiled. “Really?”

“Yes. You want to know what a real relationship is like and so I’ll show you and teach you things that go with it along the way. You do realize this makes me no better than Eric, right?”

I shook my head. “You’re nothing like him and this is not a mean joke you’re playing on me. You're doing me a favor, plus I’m asking you to teach me. I want to know what it’s like. And we are in the perfect situation where this just works out.”

“Okay, Chris, but the minute we exit this room we are officially a couple in the eyes of everyone and in our own eyes as well. No backing out and no giving up because you’re scared or mad. We face things together like a real couple. If you’re mad at me, tell me. And if you are scared, you tell me.”

I nodded my head. “I’d like to state for the record that I already tell you when I’m mad at you.”

Devin chuckled and shook his head. “Duly noted. Now, are you ready to go home?”

I nodded and grabbed my stuff as he shut down his computer. “Did you get what needed to get done, done?” I asked as we walked out to the car side by side.

“Most of it. The rest can be saved for tomorrow,” he said then reached down to grab my hand.

I almost blurted out a biting remark but the look he gave me shut my mouth. I had already forgotten our deal. I had to start thinking like we were a couple. Something that was hard because Devin had always been on my bad side. This was something I would have to get used to. Not that it was bad, holding his hand, that is. It was actually almost nice. The warmth from his hand warmed mine as we walked to his car in the cold nearly 60-degree weather.

“So what are we doing tonight?” I asked to get my mind off the feel of his hand encompassing mine.

“Um, dinner—yeah and, uh—” he stammered.

“Something wrong?” I asked. We were almost to the car.

“Uh, yeah, that thing you’re doing to my hand. It’s completely distracting.”

I looked down and realized I was stroking his hand with my thumb and then squeezing it with my other fingers. “I didn’t even realize I was doing it. I was trying to focus myself,” I laughed. “I guess we didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into.”

“I knew it would be hard, but not this bad.” He sounded frustrated.

“Sorry that I’m so difficult,” I told him angrily. As we reached the car, I broke away and got into the passenger seat, slamming the door.

Devin climbed in and sighed. “We said we would talk openly. If this is going to work, we have to talk.”

“Fine,” I conceded only because I knew he was right. “Do you remember when you said you would always tell me the truth?”

“Yeah, I said I’d always give an honest answer to whatever question you ask, no matter how ridiculous.”

“Why are you angry with me? I mean, I get that it will take time to get used to this,” I motioned to us, referring to our fake relationship, “but why is it so much more difficult with me?”

Devin sighed and shifted to face me. “Because I know you, Chris. You’re my best friend’s little sister. You’re also one of my closest friends. It’s that much harder because I know what I’m getting myself into. Now it’s your turn. Why did my comment upset you so much?”

“I don’t want you doing this because you pity me. I thought you were upset because I wasn’t good enough somehow,” I said, defeated. “Maybe I wanted this to be easy between us and, when you said that, I got scared that you would put an end to it.”

“It is going to be easy. It will be like we’ve been together forever. You will learn, and I will help. And together we’ll be like clockwork, seamless and in sync. It will be like we’re truly in love.”

I smiled. “So we’re already in love?”

“Hmm, maybe I love you but I’m waiting for the perfect time to tell you,” Devin said. “How about this, since people will probably start to ask, we started dating after the Christmas party last year.”

“And you love me? Do I love you?”

“We haven’t said it to each other, but maybe you are starting to realize just how much you actually do love me.”

“This could almost be true,” I smirked. “It sounds so real.”

“All right, so we have it figured out? We can play the rest out by ear.”

I nodded my head.

“Good, now remember we’re a real couple in their eyes,” he pointed outside to a group of people walking by, “and in our own eyes as well.”

“No backing out. No giving up. I got it, Dev.” I smiled. “So let me ask you again, what’s on the agenda tonight?”

“How about we pick out a movie and then we can watch it while we eat leftovers? How does that sound?”

“Do you treat all your dates to leftovers?” I asked, smiling at him.

“Just the ones I plan on keeping around for a long time,” he said as he continued to watch the road ahead of him.

We drove to the video store just down the street from the house.

“You know what you want, CJ?” Devin asked.

“Yeah, some of the girls in the office were talking about one the other day,” I said as I looked on the shelf where it would be. “This one!” I declared triumphantly.

“This one, really?” He sounded skeptical. “You do realize this is a horror film. And when you say the other day, do you really mean like a long while ago?”

“So I haven’t been to the movie store in a while. Besides, I don’t keep up with what comes out when. I hardly ever have time to watch movies. What with school and work.”

“I guess it works out for me that you are so free and available now.” He smiled as he grabbed the movie out of my hand. “You’re really sure about this? You wouldn’t like a nice comedy or chick flick?”

“No, I want to watch this one. And I’m assuming you’ve seen it already?”

“You know me. I try to catch everything. I guess this works better though because now I can tell you when to close your eyes.”

Let me just say, it really was good that he had seen it and really could tell me when to close my eyes.

“I told you this was going to be scary,” Devin said as I huddled next to him on his recliner. He had refused to move to the couch, where we would at least have room to move. But actually, the chair wasn’t bad either. I pulled the blanket over us and leaned into Devin. I mean, he said we had to pretend to be a couple, right? I decided I had to practice at home so when we were in front of others it would be more natural.

So there we were—I won't say we were cuddling—on the chair, leaning toward each other under the blanket. Devin would tell me to close my eyes but I would peek. I always peeked. I was too curious. Unfortunately Devin realized, and he started covering my eyes for me.

I pulled his hand down a couple of times and regretted it soon after, often times screaming and shutting my eyes tight. Devin would just chuckle and tighten the arm already around me.

Finally, toward the last twenty minutes, I was able to watch with only a few panicked moments. At the end, I turned to Devin and said, “I can’t believe they just ended it like that. I mean if the husband’s not a crazy maniac by the time they get to the next town they’ll either die from radiation or from the next government-initiated takedown. I mean what a horribly depressing and freakishly scary movie.”

Devin laughed. “You’re going to have nightmares, aren’t you?”

“I’ll be fine,” I lied. “I’ll just sleep with the lights on and barricade my door in case you go crazy in the night and want to kill me.”

“CJ, what about your melatonin levels?”

I looked at him quizzically.

“When you sleep with the light on, your skin can sense it. It's important to sleep in as dark a room as possible, so your body can produce melatonin.”

I burst out laughing. “Sure thing, Doctor Oz!”

“I'm serious, it's really important for good health. But for now, how about you try and go to sleep here and I’ll bring you upstairs later. That way you know you’re safe and healthy!”

I yawned and nodded my head then shifted so I was more comfortable. Being more comfortable also meant leaning more toward Devin and resting my head on his shoulder.

He shifted slightly too, and I think he pulled out his phone and set the alarm because I woke up to the annoying beep of his phone alarm and sure enough we had both fallen asleep.

I moaned as the phone continued to beep. “Devin. Dev, get the phone.” I pushed him slightly, and he picked the phone off the table next to him and shut off the alarm. “What time is it?” I asked as I yawned and rubbed my eyes.

“Time to get up. It’s seven.”

I moaned again and stretched as best I could in a reclining chair that was holding two people.

Devin stood up and stretched a couple times before he held out his hands to help me up. We said nothing further as we walked up the stairs and each went to our respective rooms to get ready.

I came downstairs after my shower and Devin poured me some coffee. I nodded my thanks and we both drank our coffee silently until we were almost done.

“Are you going to eat anything?” Devin asked.

“No. Just the coffee. We have a staff meeting this morning so there will probably be something to eat.”

“I have to go, so I’ll talk to you soon, okay?” He stood up and put his cup in the sink then walked back to where I sat. “Have a good day at work.” He smiled and placed his hand on my shoulder.

I looked up at him and grinned. “Bye, Dev.”

I
couldn’t believe what happened. I came back from the staff meeting and flowers were sitting on my desk in a beautiful vase. Shelly, the girl covering for me, said they were dropped off by a handsome guy who said they were for his girlfriend, me. Devin had brought them here! I just couldn’t believe it. They were a gorgeous mix of colorful Gerbera daisies, my favorite. I pulled out the note, which had obviously been opened by Shelly— she apologized for sneaking a peek—and smiled at how ridiculous the whole thing was.

“I thought you weren’t dating,” Shelly asked.

“We were keeping it a secret until we were ready to tell my family,” I lied. “He’s my brother’s best friend.”

“Oh, I see,” she said. “A real Romeo and Juliet story.”

“Not that extreme.” I laughed. “My sister also kind of likes him so it’s complicated.”

Shelly made a very big, silent ‘oh’ with her lips and drummed her fingers on the desk counter. “I better get back.”