Free Heat (Parker Reed Book 1) by J.M. Walker

his face falling when his gaze landed on us. “What’s wrong? Who died? Oh God. What show did they cancel?”
    I sighed and took his hand, leading him to the couch. “Sit.”
    Parker closed the door and joined us, sitting in the recliner.
    “Talk to me, baby girl.”
    “Parker knows Devin,” I said finally.
    Troy’s eyes widened, bouncing between Parker and I. “How?”
    “Grew up with him.” Parker leaned his elbows on his knees and scrubbed a hand through his short brown hair. “We lived in a shitty part of town. Got mixed up with a bad crowd but I was able to get out before I sunk in too deep.”
    “And Devin sank even further.” Troy leaned back and whistled. “Wow girl.” He looked at me. “You sure know how to pick ‘em.”
    “Parker isn’t Devin.” I knew I hadn’t known him for that long but I trusted him. Clearly my body did as well since before I even had a chance to decide; it liked to listen to his demands.
    “I should have stayed in,” Parker mumbled. “I should have gotten Devin out with me.”
    I knelt in front of him and pulled his hands away from his face. “I’m only going to say this once so you better damn well listen to me.”
    His eyes darkened. “You trying to tell me what to do, pet?”
    “Yes,” I said, lifting my chin defiantly. “It is not your fault that Devin Tate turned out how he did. He’s a domineering, abusive asshole and deserved to stay in jail for the rest of his fucking life but he knows people. I knew that it wouldn’t be permanent but I figured it would be some time. I just assumed that he would get bored of me, but...” I swallowed past the bile that had risen to my throat. “That clearly hasn’t happened yet. But there is nothing that you could have done to change him. He only showed you one side.”
    “I was his best friend,” Parker said softly. “I thought I knew him.”
    “I thought I knew him, too, until…well…Parker, he was screwed up long before you came around,” I reassured him.
    “What are you going to do?” Troy asked me.
    I looked up at Parker. “I don’t know.”
    He wrapped a hand around the base of my throat, his gaze locking with mine. “Right now I’m going to take care of our girl. I know some people. I’ll see if I can keep tabs on him.”
    “Has he contacted you since the letter?” Troy asked me.
    “What letter?”
    I grabbed the envelope from my purse and handed it to Parker. “The meeting distracted me today so I forgot to tell you about this.”
    He raised an eyebrow, as if to say it wasn’t the only thing that distracted me. He pulled out the letter and cursed to himself. “Keely, this isn’t the Devin I knew.”
    I scoffed. “Only I knew the real Devin, Parker. He was evil incarnate. You told me I made a deal with the devil when it came to you but Devin? He’s my worst fucking nightmare.” My body shook and I leaned back against the chair, wrapping my hand around Parker’s calf.
    “Keely, you need to call the cops,” Troy suggested.
    “And tell them what?” I snapped. “That my psycho ex-boyfriend is out of jail and sending me love notes that creep the shit out of me?”
    “Hey.” Parker squeezed my shoulder. “Tell me everything. I need to know. Please.”
    “Tell him, Keely.”
    “Everything Devin told you and bragged about was probably true. I was his toy to play with when he got bored. His pawn to use in his sick game,” I said all in one breath. “I should have gone to the police right away when the abuse started but I didn’t want to go through the trials and shit. So I…” I wrung my hands in my lap and looked away.
    “What? What did you do?”
    I took a breath. “I set him up.”
    “How did you do that?”
    “I made it so it looked like he hacked into a government office.” I shrugged. “But what scares me the most is not knowing where he is.” But I sure as hell could feel him. Watching me. Lurking in the dark corners of the city. I knew he would come back for me. It was