Free Devon's Pair by Jayne Rylon Page B

to life in the form of two hot studs and an array of loyal, lifelong friends.
    When she crested the hill, dragging the blankets through the grass behind her, Devon’s shoulders slumped. Neil and James leaned against their truck as though they’d used their dynamic duo powers to leap up the hillside in a single bound.
    “How—?”
    “Not important.” James crossed his arms over his chest.
    “Where do you think you’re going like that?” Neil surveyed her from her damp hair to her bare, painted toes.
    “Home.” She hated how her teeth chattered.
    “Our home, sure.” James relaxed his stance, opening his arms. “I’m sorry you overheard us arguing before. I didn’t mean to scare you off.”
    “Does that mean your feelings have changed?” She allowed herself to lean on him, no matter how weak it made her. His arms came around her. He was so generous considering the depth of the despair she’d glimpsed in him earlier.
    “Why don’t we talk about that when we’re not all exhausted and hypothermia is less of a possibility?” He evaded her questions, killing her with kindness.
    “He’s right, Dev.” Neil opened the door to their truck and ushered them inside before rounding to the driver’s side. He trapped her between them. “Let’s figure things out in the morning.”
     
     
    69
     
     
    James cranked up the heat and sang softly to her while he rocked them both.
    Before they’d made it out of the driveway, her lids were unbearably heavy.
    70
     
     
     
    Chapter Six
    From the doorway of the walk-in closet he shared with his boyfriend, James’s peripheral vision treated him to a glimpse of Neil exiting the shower. He refused to stare though Neil ruffled his hair with a thick gray towel, and then slung it low around his waist. The dreamy smile he wore as he sank to the edge of their bed beside Devon looked even finer on him than the tux he’d rented for Mike and Kate’s wedding. And that was saying something.
    James couldn’t bear to spend the night pretending not to notice such blatant gooeyness. He reached for the duffel he’d packed and stashed beneath the neat row of the few button-up shirts he owned. After tugging on a fitted T-shirt, he slipped the strap of the bag crosswise over his chest.
    He rehearsed his departure announcement several times before he shut the door behind him, determined to keep calm.
    A deep breath didn’t do him any good when he spun around and caught the pale, hollow cast to Neil’s cheeks, devoid of the dimples he’d so recently sported.
    Air lodged in James’s throat, choking him. Still, he managed to spit out his decision. “Gonna bunk over at Joe and Morgan’s tonight.”
    “Are you leaving me?” Neil tried to stand. He lost his balance and plopped onto the mattress once more. The gap in his towel wrap widened.
    For once, the flash of bronzed skin didn’t entice James. He rubbed the ache in his chest. A heart attack couldn’t hurt this much. “I’m giving you room to take what you need.”
    “I need you ,” Neil whispered.
     
     
    “You need her too.”
    Even now, Neil’s fingers rubbed the crook of her knee as though he could leech strength from their cute, tomboyish assistant.
    “Too. As in both . Not one or the other.” It sounded as though every syllable cost Neil a year of his life. The scratchy, desperate pleas were foreign territory for James’s confident lover.
    “Are you sure? Maybe you should spend time alone with her and see.” It killed James to offer. But he wouldn’t risk what they had by allowing Neil to develop a sliver of regret. It’d be better to sell out on an amazing high than tarnish their gleaming relationship by dragging it through the muck of a prolonged degradation.
    “I’m positive.” Neil glanced from where Devon had crashed on their bed.
    Tiny and angelic, she nestled in the chocolate and sky-blue, satin-covered pillows. “Look at her.”
    James did. He cleared his mind and opened his eyes.
    Something in him