Unbreakable Devotion: A New Adult Romance Novel (5 page)

Devon was finishing up his homework when he saw Kathy in the lib
rary. He didn’t know whether he was just feeling lonely for Erin, and at least seeing her best friend would make him feel a little better, or whether he was genuinely losing his mind.

“Kathy,
” Devon whispered and waved Erin’s best friend over.

“Hey
, Devon. What are you doing in the library?” Kathy flashed Devon a defiant look.

“
I’m studying, of course. I’ll have you know I’m almost a straight-A student,” Devon said, pointing his pen at Kathy.

“Almost,” Kathy
emphasized.

“
Sit down.” Devon pushed one of the chairs out from across the table with his long, sturdy leg.

“
Okay, what is this?” Kathy crossed her arms and squinted at Devon.

“I don’t bite, Kathy. I just want to talk.”
Devon blinked at Kathy, his demeanor unusually serious.

“Let me guess: our best friend?” Kathy
sat down and crossed her arms on the table, staring at Devon.

“Yeah, do you know what’s goin
g on with her? She seems to be…different.” Devon peered at Kathy, waiting for some clues. Kathy just sighed.

“I’m serious. I’ve known her my whole life, and I have never seen her act like this. I honestly don’t know what’s going on with her. Did I piss her off? Did she say anything to you?” Devon scanned Kathy’s face, waiting for her response.

“Guys really
are dumb.” Kathy glared at Devon and twisted her mouth in disapproval.

“That’s the second time I heard that this week. What exactly did I do?” Devon was watching Kathy, hoping she would tell him what Erin would not.

“You’re not getting anything from me. If she tells me something that’s bothering her, it’s between us.
”

“No, I understand. I respect that.” Devon looked at Kathy, a smile forming on his face.
“You know, once when we were kids, we were playing in the yard, and she asked me if I would always be her friend, if I would promise to never leave her. She just asked it out of the blue.” Devon twisted a pen in both hands and looked at the table, and then looked at Kathy. Her hazel eyes were warm with emotion, waiting for Devon’s next words.

“Even as a kid
, I thought that was really something odd to say, you know? As I got a bit older, I realized it had something to do with her dad leaving her when she was just a kid. She thought that I was going to leave her too. I told her that I would never leave her, that we would be friends forever.” Devon shook his head, looking through the table and into the past.

“She would look up at me with those big blue eyes, and say
‘Promise?’”

Kathy laughed, shaking her head. “She can be quite convincing.”

“No kidding. So I just said, ‘Erin, I will always be your friend. I promise.’ And she grabs me by the neck and kisses me right on the face.”

“That is so cute!” Kathy laughed out loud.

“Yeah, don’t tell her I told you. She would kill me—more than she wants to already. Anyway, when I promised her that, I meant it. I would never let her down, ever. That’s why I am telling you this. I will always be there for her, Kathy. Always.”

“
She knows that,” Kathy said in a warm tone.

“So why won’t she open up to me now?”
Devon asked, twisting his pen in both hands.

“Maybe you’re keeping your promise. I have to go to class.” Kathy gathered her books and stood up. “She cares about you
, Devon. You guys have to figure the rest out.”

Devon was glad to go to football practice to work off some of the stress he had been feeling. Today was a scrimmage day. He would be playing safety, and Matt would be playing his usual position as fullback. Matt was a rare combination of strength and speed that the coaches would use to plow through defenses for first downs and short distance touchdowns. Oftentimes Devon would be the last obstacle on the field to Matt scoring a touchdown. When Matt got the ball, it was a challenge for both of them to test each other. Devon had intercepted two passes already today, and had been called for pass interference. He was an aggressive player, but against Matt, he upped his game even more.

Matt had run over most of the defense
today for first downs, and Devon was the only player in the backfield preventing him from scoring. Devon had no intention of allowing Matt to break past him.

Devon could see from the lineup that Matt would be getting the ball, so he
lined up closer. The ball snapped, and the quarterback handed Matt the ball. Matt barreled across the line, running over two defensive linemen and the middle linebacker, and heading straight towards Devon. Devon charged straight for Matt and rammed his shoulder into his waist, stopping him cold but unable to take him down from one hit. Two more defensive players piled on Matt to take him down.

“That’s the way to do it
, Devon. You see that defense? That is the way to stop him,” the defense coach hollered from the sidelines. “No fear, guys. No fear. Nice hit, Devon!”

“Nice gain
, Matt,” Devon said, shaking off the sting of the collision. It was no small feat to stop a six four, two hundred forty pound raging bull in his tracks.

“Devon, get in here!” The coach hollered from the sidelines. Devon sprinted to the sidelines. He could see this was no routine play check from the solemn look on the coach’s face. “Son, the school
just received a call from the hospital. Your mom was admitted to the hospital today. She collapsed at work earlier today,” he said placing his hand on his shoulder.

“Where is she?” Devon’s pulse raced as he slipped off his helmet. His hands were sweaty and shaking slightly.

“She’s at St. Mary’s Hospital.” The coach’s voice was gruff from years of yelling at players, but
he spoke in a softer tone as he told Devon the news.

“Devon, where are you going
?” Matt’s helmet was off, his sweaty brown hair plastered on his forehead, the black grease smeared under his eyes.

“Matt, I need a ride!” Devon was frantic. “Coach, can Matt get out of here?”

“Of course, son. Matt! Get over here.” The coached motioned with his fingers with a steely frown.

“Matt!” Devon waved his hand to his best friend.

Matt jogged across the field towards the sidelines. “What’s going on?”

“I need a ride. My
mom’s in the hospital.” Devon was gasping for air in his aching body.

“Shit! Yeah, of course, le
t’s go.”

Devon was at the hospital talking with the doctor. His mom had collapsed from exhaustion. The doctor asked Devon about her schedule. Devon told the doctor that she usually went to bed very late, and woke up very early to go to work. Sometimes she only got four or five hours of sleep. The doctor told him that her vital signs were good, but that she would need to rest up.

Devon walked into the room as Matt sat outside, giving them a
moment. His mom had been resting for a couple of hours. His mom glowed when Devon walked into the room, her eyes open.

“
Mom! How are you feeling?” Devon approached his mom, clasping her hand and tilting his head to meet her eyes.

“Oh sweetheart, everyone is overreacting. I just collapsed from lack of energy. I was hungry and skipped lunch to wait on some customers. My help called in sick. It was no big deal. You look wonderful.”
She smiled her sweet smile up at him.

“
Mom, you scared the heck out of me. I told you not to work those long hours. It’s too much, even for a healthy person like you.” Devon clasped his mom’s hand between his large hands.

“You mean a healthy old person?” Her eyes scanned Devon’s face
warmly. It wasn’t often she got to see him during the busy week.

“The doctor said all of your vital signs are fine, and that you just need to rest. We can consider this a lucky break. You have to cut back on your hours
, Mom. I’ll get a job, anything—just don’t work so many hours.”

“We’ll see what the store
says, dear.”

“I’ll talk to them myself.” Devon’s lips tightened and his eyebrows furrowed
as he looked down and back up as he held his mom’s hand. “They can’t tell you to work that many hours, Mom. We can get a doctor’s recommendation to stop this. Maybe some good can come out of this. I am going to talk to the doctor.”

Devon passed his friend Matt. “How is she?” Matt stood and pivoted towards his friend, making sure he was
okay.

“She’s going to be
all right. It’s exhaustion. She’s fine, though. Her vital signs are good.”

“That
’s great, man. Come here. Come here.” Matt gave his friend a rare hug.

“Thanks
, man.” Devon wiped tears from his eyes. “I have to see the doctor, and we can grab something to eat.”

“Sure, I’ll be here.”

Devon returned with a broad smile and some flowers. “C’mon, Matt, my mom wants to see you too.”

Devon quietly knocked on the do
or. “Mom, it’s me. Matt’s here too.”

“Come in. Hi
, Matt.”

“Hi
, Ms. Coury. How are you feeling?”

“Oh, I am doing grea
t. This is just a big overreaction. This is the only way I could get a nap.” She laughed softly.

Devon looked at his mom with a set jaw of determination. He was not going to let this happen to her again. Not if he could help it.
“Mom, I have good news. The doctor can write a recommendation that you can only work a regular schedule with no overtime and with all of your breaks. Also, these recommendations come with some legal protections. They have to keep you on this schedule. They cannot ignore it or just lay you off because you don’t work overtime.”

“Oh, honey, I told you I love my job. They will work with me
, I am sure. I just wasn’t sleeping enough.”

“This doctor’s order will put a stop to that.” Devon was beaming. If this was what it took to slow his mother down, then so be it. It
was better than losing her. The thought shattered him inside.

“
Mom, Matt and I are going to grab something to eat. Don’t eat this hospital junk. You don’t know what’s in it. How about some soup?” Devon asked, moving his thumb over his mom’s hand.

“I don’t have a cold
, dear. How about what you are having?”

A big grin came over Devon
’s face. “I’m so glad you’re feeling well, Mom. I can get you a sandwich.”

“That would be fine
. Have you straightened things out with Erin, honey?” Ms. Coury propped herself up in the bed, placing the pillow between her and the bedframe.

Devon glanced at his friend Matt. Matt lifted h
is eyebrows at Devon, and smiled.

“
No, Mom, I haven’t straightened things out yet. I tried but she wouldn’t listen. What should I do?”

“Get another friend?”
Matt said dryly.

“Matt!”
Devon protested. Devon never told Matt how he really felt about Erin, so he could not expect much more from him.

“Matt, they have been friends all their lives. You should see them together. They are like
twins,” Devon’s mom said.

“Oh
, please, Mom,” Devon moaned.

“It seems like she’s always around, that’s for sure.”
Matt averted his eyes.

“Matt, I know that you and Devon are best friends, and that Erin may get in the way sometimes
, from your perspective. But Devon would not be who he is today without Erin.” Her expression was soft.

“Oh,
Mom, please.” Devon rolled his eyes and looked at his mom.

“
It’s true. They wouldn’t even be who they are today without each other. What these kids go through destroys some, but they had each other and it brought them through.”

“That is very touching
, Ms. Coury,” Matt said with a smirk.

“Shut up
, Matt. Don’t be an ass,” Devon said, shaking his head and placing his hands in his back pockets. “By the way, Mom, I left her a message. She is coming to see you tomorrow,” Devon said.

“Oh, I’m looking forward to that. She’s a wonderful girl.”

“That is pretty cool. You guys have been through a lot, and I respect you for it. I have known Devon since high school, and she’s known him forever. I get it. I mess with him but it’s only because I know he’s a good guy.” Matt glanced at Devon with a lopsided grin. “I mean, I don’t hang out with losers.”

“
That is very kind of you,” Devon said dryly.

“You’re welcome.” Matt folded his arms and looked at his friend with a sly smile.

“I know sometimes she may interfere with your friendship. But whatever they need to work out, please let them work it out. Devon is much better with Erin around, and she’s much better with him around. It’s the magic of their relationship. I’ve seen it myself.” Devon’s mom smiled at both of them.

“Yes
, ma’am. I certainly will. I promise.” Matt’s lips curled to the side, giving a resigned glance to his friend. “So you guys hungry? I’ll grab some food.”

“Thanks
, Matt. You’re awesome, even though you messed my shoulder up.”

Matt
peeked into the door. “That should teach you to stay out of the way next time,” Matt smirked.

“No w
ay. That would take all the fun out of it.” Devon waved off his friend, feeling the best he had in days, in spite of the traumatic day.