Unbreakable Devotion: A New Adult Romance Novel (2 page)

Maybe if he touched me, he would see me differently than the kid he grew up with, so I asked him to rub lotion on me. I melted when Devon placed his hands on me. His soft caress pulsed through my body in waves of pleasure. I lifted my hair up and felt my body tingle from his touch. But what happened next was completely unexpected. Devon lifted me up in his arms and carried me to the water. I laughed as Devon gathered me up effortlessly in his strong arms, my body brushing the muscular mounds of his chest, his warm smile enveloping me.

My arm curved around his smooth broad back as he carried me towards the water, both of us laughing under the clear blue sky. Devon’s eyes were large and filled with delight as he looked into my eyes. I brushed my hand against the smooth ripples of hard muscle on his arms, and felt my fingers tingle.

“You’re a lot stronger than you look,” I said, laughing, my arm around Devon’s broad shoulder now. I did not know whether I was trying to deny the feelings rushing through me that felt nothing like friendship while the
now gorgeous Devon held me close to his magnificent body, or whether I was pretending that he was still just a skinny boy. Clearly his handsome face and powerful, muscular frame were no longer deniable in my mind.

I gawked at the hard and strong features of Devon’s face, his square jaw, full lips, and green eyes bright and filled with life as he looked down at me laughing and smiling his irresistible smile.

I felt his powerful arms release me. I submerged into the cold water, temporarily cooling off the waves of simmering heat that engulfed my entire body and left my head spinning. Devon had dived in and surfaced next to me, reigniting the heat and leaving me wondering what was happening to our friendship. Did he feel this too? Or did he only feel something like this for Laura?

I peered at Devon’s strong and handsome face trying to find a vestige of the little Devon I knew my whole life. Devon was looking more like a man now, like some mere mortal who had transformed into a Greek god. The hard muscles on his arms undulated as he lifted his long body out of the lake and onto the dock. I bit my lip as I watched Devon’s sleek, slender body. “You coming?” Devon smiled as he tilted his head towards our things.

“Yeah, right behind you. I thought you were going to carry me,” I said with a sheepish grin.

“Ha ha, you wish.” Devon jog
ged towards the beach where we left our towels.

“Yes, I do,” I bubbled with most of my mouth submersed in the water as I watched Devon jog away, his body tight and hard.

Devon leaned back on his towel and watched Erin run towards him from the water, her soft, curving flesh golden brown in the summer heat. She ran next to him as he lay on the towel. Devon squinted up at her in the sun, placing his hand over his forehead. “Slowpoke,” he said.

Erin swept her long wet blonde hair into her hands, moving her hips to the side, and wrung her hair out all over Devon. “Hey, whoa, I am sunbathing here!” Devon protested.

“Payback!” Erin grinned devilishly as she scattered streams of water from her thick tassels of her hair over Devon. Devon crouched from the cold water and grabbed Erin’s ankle. Erin laughed. Her laugh was like a melody soothing Devon’s entire body as she leaned against him to maintain her balance, now wringing the water on top of his head. Devon grabbed her bare leg and pulled her close to him, locking her thighs together with one long arm. Erin was determined to continue her playful attack to drench Devon, sitting on his shoulder now and still streaming water over him.

“God, you’re a brat.” Devon ran his long fingers through his hair and beads of water bounced and dashed from his hair in the sunlight.

“I told you not to call me that, Devon. Here, have some more.” Erin draped Devon’s head with her wet hair. Devon breathed in her sweet scent that smelled like wild strawberries, as her hair covered over him in luxurious, graceful tassels.

“You look good as a blonde, Devon.” Erin giggled as she wrapped her long hair around Devon. Devon grabbed her, sat her down, and pushed her hair back over her shoulders, looking into her bottomless blue eyes, his heart banging in his chest.

“Payback for giving you a free ride to the lake?” he asked her, feigning innocence.

“No, for throwing me in the water.” Erin’s pink lips curved upward. “Or maybe it’s payback for not giving me a ride back,” Erin said with a turn of her head and a dimpled smile that drove Devon crazy now. Devon stared into Erin’s soft eyes, scanning her tender face, the round tip of her dainty nose, her smooth golden skin and rose-flush cheekbones, and the tempting curve of her soft, full mouth.

Time stood still as he gazed into her deep blue eyes, wondering what she would do if he kissed her. Would it change everything? Would he lose her as a friend? Having Erin as a friend would be better than losing her completely. The thought made his stomach churn and his throat tighten, holding back the words and the kiss that he wanted so much to give to her.

We had spent time together every summer, but now Devon was getting the attention of the girls in the area and I wanted more time with him alone. I wanted to know whether what I felt when Devon held me close was real or whether I was just losing my mind.

Devon emerged from the shore as he walked towards the beach. I had noticed other girls watching him as he stretched his long, hard, muscled body over his towel, and leaned back on his elbows. I submerged myself in the water before coming ashore. I approached him with a mischievous grin and my thick, wet hair knitted together in my hands. It was payback time for throwing me in the water, or at least I would let him believe that. I felt heavenly sensations of electricity course through my body when Devon touched me now, and I secretly wanted that feeling again. I prepared my assault.

Devon’s green eyes narrowed in the summer sun, and his face visibly became flush as he watched me approach him. I wanted any excuse to fall into his strong arms again, while maintaining the cover of a playful friendship. I gathered my thick, wet hair into my hands and stood over Devon, still staring at me, and I wrung my hair out and streamed water all over his muscular torso.

Devon crouched and sat up, grabbed my leg and laughed a soothing and deep laugh that I had first noticed over the summer. His laugh reverberated throughout my body in deep and rich sensations. He grabbed my leg and pulled me close, and the familiar feelings overpowered me again, causing me to go off balance emotionally and physically as Devon pulled me close to him.

We leaned into each other and laughed as I continued to soak my lifelong friend with my drenched hair. When Devon grabbed me and trapped me in his long arm, I sat on his shoulder, continuing my playful onslaught. Devon sat me down, pulled me close, and pushed my hair back over my shoulders. He gazed into my eyes, and I was completely helpless. Just one kiss could change everything. But I could not risk losing him completely.

“Devon!” Laura was wearing a maroon and pink bikini that complimented her brown hair and hazel eyes against her tan skin. Laura’s long, athletic body had some of the boys playing Frisbee stopping the game. She ran up to Devon and planted a long kiss on the lips.

I sat back, and leaned on my hands, my wet hair flowing down the side of my body. “Hi, Laura.”

“Hi, Erin! What a beautiful day! You guys up for a game of beach volleyball?”

“Sure, who’s going to play?” I watched Laura place her slender arms around Devon’s broad shoulders. I dug my toes into the sand, and my breaths became coarser and faster as Laura drew Devon closer.

“I invited some friends, including Taylor and Amber from the volleyball team.” Laura peered into Devon’s eyes and smiled.

“Cool. Well, it will be fun and good practice. Are you playing on the team this year?” I dug my toes deeper into the sand as my muscles tightened.

“I don’t know. There is a chance my dad is transferring. I may be moving.”

“What? You didn’t tell me!” Devon caressed Laura’s hands behind his neck as he spoke.

“I just found out today. I know, it sucks. This would be our third move.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Hopefully things will work out for the best.” I stared at my feet half buried in the sand now trying to stifle the smile tugging at my lips. Laura was fun to be around, and before today, I thought she and Devon were cute together. Now I did not know what I was feeling. I wanted to understand what was happening between us. Didn’t Devon feel what I was feeling?

I went to bed with Devon on my mind. The day had brought a sea change to our friendship. I was not the kind of girl to interfere with relationships. Devon and Laura seemed happy together, and I would not interfere with them. But I could not help wonder how Devon felt about me after today. Did he feel the same current when we touched? I fell asleep, knowing that this summer I would remain Devon’s friend. But I also knew that if Laura was moving, there would be nothing in our way for us to face how we really felt about each other.

Devon reached into the refrigerator for the dinner his mom had left for him. She always worked late, and he often wondered how he could change things before his mom ruined herself working too hard. For now, all he could do was work the yards in the neighborhood in the summer, and graduate from high school with good enough grades to get into a decent college.

His thoughts turned to Erin almost immediately. Her smile could light up any dark area in his life. It was true when they were kids, but it was even truer now. Devon tried to sort through what he was feeling. Most of the best days in his life were spent with Erin, but this—this topped them all. Devon was not prepared to see Erin the way he saw her today: her silky blonde hair cascading over her golden skin, her bright blue eyes laughing and filling him with delight. The smell of her sweetness still permeated his senses.

Devon prepared to get up early, his heart still pounding inside his chest. He still wanted to see Laura this summer. She was one of his first girlfriends, which put her in a special place in his heart in her own right. But now his heart was torn, and he began to think about Erin more and more. He would never hurt Laura, but his feelings for Erin had crept up on him suddenly and without warning. He was unsure of how to handle it. Should they just be friends like everything was normal? Devon was completely unprepared for the grace and overwhelming beauty that he had seen in Erin today. Devon sprawled across his bed, placed his hands behind his head, and stared at the ceiling. He could not pretend, at least convincingly, he thought, that things would ever be normal between them again.

Leaves
. Devon had to rake the leaves. They even did that together. That was the deal. Devon would help her rake the leaves in her yard, and she would help him rake the leaves in his yard. Then, they would probably have lunch and talk about whatever.

“Getting started without me, huh?”
Erin was wearing a red and black plaid fall jacket, her blonde hair in a ponytail, with a dark sweatband over her head.

Devon snapped the sweat
band on her head. “So you’re really going to work today?”

Erin
side kicked him in the behind, and jotted off to play in the leaves as if she had done nothing. “Oh, it’s so beautiful!” Erin was scooping leaves from the ground, spinning around, tossing them into the air; the colorful leaves mixed with the colors of her jacket.

Devon secretly loved the way she dressed up for every occasion, like it was a big deal. Today she looked like fall, the leaves falling around her as she spun and danced around, her smile too much for him to take.

“You’re such a girl,” Devon said, leaning on the rake.

”Where’s the rake
, smartypants?” Erin was bouncing from foot to foot with her hands clasped behind her back.

“Here, take this one. I’ll get another one in the garage.”

Devon grabbed another rake, his hands
slightly moist from seeing Erin again after this summer. The summer everything changed. The summer he wished he could skip and go back to feeling normal. Laura had moved away before school started. He missed her but now he had to face his feelings for Erin. Now he has to deal with his sweaty palms, flustered mind, and his pretending. Pretending he did not want to move his long fingers over the dimples on her face, over her soft rosy cheeks, savoring her soft skin, smelling her sweet scent, tasting her flush skin, kissing her moist teasing lips, her soft curls brushing over him.

“Here, don’t hurt yourself.
” Devon handed her the rake, looking into her blue eyes momentarily and swallowing.

“Boo hoo. What’s wrong with you?
” Erin asked as she glanced his way while lightly leaning on the rake.

How does she do that!

“What do you mean?” Devon averted his gaze and dragged the rake across the yard.

“You look sad. Did someone steal your
porn?” Erin wanted to see him smile, or at least return the jab, but he just looked down and kept raking leaves.

“Ge
t to work, and stop being a brat,” Devon said while looking at the ground.

Erin
began slapping at the leaves with the rake. “Anything you want to talk about? You know you can tell me anything,” she said, raking a small pile of colorful leaves, her scent fresher than the autumn morning.

“Yeah, I know.” The words stabbed him in the heart like a knife. Devon’
s heart felt heavy, wondering whether he could ever tell her how he felt, that his feelings for her had changed, like a calm river that had suddenly been overtaken by a raging waterfall, swept up in a current he was helpless to resist. Devon raked the leaves and bagged them up, heading to Erin’s house to return the favor. He got to spend the entire afternoon with the only person who mattered to him right now. So why was he feeling so flustered?

I
was in bed, staring at the ceiling. I did not know why I had the image in my head over and over again, but there it was. Devon was a little scrawny kid, not even five feet tall and weighing less than a sack of potatoes. We were playing in a sandbox at my house, when he just leaned over and kissed me right on the cheek. I laughed and hit him playfully with the little plastic shovel.
Why would he do that?

D
evon was the one constant in my life, the one friend I could always rely on. If that changed, I did not know what I would do. I knew he would do anything for me, and I would do anything for him. All through school, we stuck together through the social jungle. We did not even need to say anything. Sometimes we just knew what the other was thinking.

That girl
wants you, Devon
.

This guy is trying to impress you
, Erin.

How do we lose this guy talking to us right now?

Over and over it happened. We had picked up on each other’s habits and thoughts so much that it was second nature to us. So why was this any different? Why couldn’t we talk about how we felt about each other now?

Probably because he is not the scrawny li
ttle boy anymore who kissed me on the cheek in a sandbox. This summer was when everything changed. The messy-haired little boy had become a six foot one strong, lean body of seething hotness, and I did not know how to sort it out. Everything happened so quickly, I couldn’t keep track of my feelings. Didn’t I always feel this way? I always loved him, didn’t I? Yes, but like a friend. Certainly not like this. I felt my affection for him deeply now and there was no denying that this summer things became different, at least for me.

I
flashed back to when we went swimming at the lake; he pressed his powerful, muscular body against mine to pick me up and toss me into the water. He jumped in after me, splashing me, his green eyes sparkling in the summer sun reflecting off the lake. If I could place one moment in time when things had changed, I guessed that would be it, and it took me off my feet and threw me in an unfamiliar place. Now I was lost in my feelings, unable to look at Devon the same way again. Oh, but I could put up an act, a facade with the best of them.

“Honey, don’t you have to h
elp Devon rake the leaves today? He is supposed to come over here and clean up the yard.” My mom enjoyed seeing me with a guy like Devon. Someone we knew our whole lives, someone we could trust, someone who could look after me, especially with no dad around. When my dad left when I was only two, we never saw him again. The pain was searing when I thought about it, which is why I avoided the subject altogether. Strangely enough, it was a powerful but rarely spoken bonding point between me and Devon. Because Devon’s dad had died when he was only four, his mom did not have much money. She worked her whole life to raise Devon, and to save money for him. My mom had done the same.

“Yea
h, Mom, I’m going. I just have to get ready and I’ll be right out.”

My
mom smiled at me, and I couldn’t help smiling back. My mom believed in me. She gave me a ring when I was in sixth grade that her mom had also given to her. It was my mom’s way of saying no matter what happens, no matter how difficult life gets, I was the most special person in the world to her. I almost lost this ring forever when I forgot to take it out of my lunch sack, and Devon rummaged through the trash in back of the school for over an hour to bring it back to me. I was now trying to sort everything out. Things had changed. I was in turmoil, pretending I was going to see my kid friend. But at least I was going to look good.

Devon had already been raking the leaves, his jacket off and long
-sleeved gray shirt outlining his wide, muscled chest. I had first noticed that body over the summer. Lord, had I noticed. He scooped up leaves to toss into the bag. I eyed his sinewy back and muscular arms extending from his tall frame as he scooped up the leaves into the bag. My heart pounded as I walked closer to him.

“Getti
ng started without me, huh?” I said, remaining casual.

Devon smiled a half
-smile, happy to see her but concealing the tension of sheer delight that was pouring through him at the sight of her. He snapped her headband, if only to let her know she was still a little brat, or maybe to convince himself that nothing had changed. When he saw her smile, he knew he could not convince himself of anything except he wanted to kiss her long and hard right there. For now, he was content working in the yard with her, her sweet scent mixing with the smell of autumn leaves, making small talk with his best friend in the world.

Two hours had passed as the last bag of leaves was filled up at Erin’s house, until Erin dumped the bag over Devon to celebrate the morning
’s accomplishment. Devon immediately turned on Erin, heading full steam ahead with a handful of leaves to stuff down her back. Erin screamed her delightful scream that soothed and caressed Devon’s entire body. Her voice was the sweetest sound in the world, especially her laugh. It caressed his body like a melody.

Devon’s strides were too long for Erin, and he caugh
t her, falling onto the ground. Devon instinctively shielded her with his body, with Erin falling on top of him. He stuffed the leaves in her collar, laughing as they threw leaves at each other on the ground. Devon turned onto his back, looking into the most beautiful sight in the world: the sight of Erin’s creamy, smooth face, outlined by the colorful trees; her smile bright as the sun; her supple skin inches from his face; her scent sweet and strong; her moist lips luscious and sweet. Devon basked in the warmth of the moment.

Erin moved on top of him, playfully pushing up on him
and intentionally putting all of her weight into him to get up.

“God
, you weigh a ton,” Devon teased.

“Yeah,
it’s all this junk you stuffed in my jacket,” she huffed as she took her jacket off, releasing the leaves and twigs. Devon looked at Erin, leaning on his elbows behind his back as he sat up. She shook her jacket out and placed it back on. One leaf caught and fluttered in thick blonde wisps of her hair. She turned to look at him, her hand on one hip. Her scent was still fresh on him, and her little pout made him want to tell her that what he really meant to say was she was the most beautiful…

“C’mon, let’s go, slowpoke. I didn’
t hurt you, did I?” She smiled her wonderful, sweet smile. “You’re so fragile.”

Devon knew he was not going to make it much longer without
telling her he was falling for her.

I
wanted to see Devon as his old playful self. What had gotten into him? I picked up the bag of leaves and threw them over Devon, shaking him out of his morass, and hoping he would give chase. Maybe he would run after me and pick me up and hold me in his powerful arms, and we might even kiss? Devon ran after me, his long legs easily outstriding me, and lifted me up. I felt electricity course through my body as Devon lifted me, briefly looking into my eyes, smiling his wide, striking smile, before bringing me down and breaking my fall with his body, and stuffing a handful of leaves down my jacket.

I
lay on top of him, our bodies touching, looking into his big green eyes shining bright, his breath on me, his smile so familiar, and now so irresistible, both of us basking in the moment, both of us wanting to be nowhere else in the world with anyone else, just us right here right now. What if he doesn’t feel the same way? The tension was too much, and I had to break the spell before it was too late. I got up, weighing heavily into him, playfully trying to press into his powerful frame, and trying to snap out of the desires that overwhelmed me.