He slowly stood up, wavering a bit on his feet. If anyone was wasted, it was Brennan. Devon was feeling surprisingly sober after her rendezvous in the restroom.
“Yes,” she said, looking down at his arm, “I’m going home alone.”
“No way.” He shook his head. “The city isn’t safe at this hour.”
“And you’re going to do what?” she asked, looking him up and down. “You can barely walk.”
He blinked a few times and then straightened. He was clearly trying to make himself look more stable, but Devon wasn’t fooled. She had been drunk enough before to know that look in his eye was far from sobriety. And she wasn’t going to have some drunk guy she had only known for a week help her home. That offer didn’t sound like it promised anything but mayhem.
“Seriously, I’ll be fine,” she told him.
Though, to be honest, the thought of going out in the city by herself was daunting. As it was, her nightmares left her running through unfamiliar dark streets. She didn’t want to live her nightmares in real life.
“No, you won’t. Not in Chicago, Belle,” he said, slurring her nickname.
“Brennan, you’re drunk. Pretty much wasted. You’re going to be no help on the streets tonight,” Devon said.
“Plan on getting on a train tomorrow? Well, you walk around Chicago by yourself, and you won’t be,” he told her.
Devon swallowed hard. She didn’t want to be on a train tomorrow. In fact, she wanted nothing less than to not return to St. Louis. She just hadn’t figured out how to stay.
“What do you suggest then?” she demanded, wanting to get out of here.
He smiled lazily. “My place is just around the corner. You can crash there.”
Devon flushed. “I think I’ll just find a cab or something.”
“Hey, guys!” Hadley cried, crashing back into the party. “Let’s do some shots!”
“I think I’m going to go back,” Devon said, crossing her arms.
“What? No, you just got here, and you’re leaving tomorrow,” Hadley said.
Devon didn’t want to make a scene in the middle of the bar, but she was becoming more and more irritated because Hadley was treating her like an idiot. Devon was far from an idiot.
“I just think it’s time to leave,” she said.
“Nope, nope,” Hadley said, hanging on Devon’s arm and leaning on her shoulder. “This is your party. You’re staying.”
Devon pulled Hadley out of earshot. “It stopped being my party when you and your friends went into the restroom to snort cocaine. Hadley, what the fuck?”
Devon wasn’t going to ask. She had never thought that it would happen, but she was worried about her friend. Ironic, to say the least, but the last thing she wanted was for Hadley to get addicted to drugs and give up everything she had been working toward.
Hadley’s face paled. “What?”
“You heard me. I was there.”
“I didn’t—”
“Hadley, please,” Devon said, holding up her hand.
“It’s only been once or twice, Devon,” she said, realizing she wasn’t getting out of it.
“I don’t care. It’s addictive for a reason. It could ruin your life.”
“It’s not going to ruin my life,” Hadley said, rolling her eyes. “We’re just having a good time.”
“I’ve heard that before,” Devon said.
“So, what? You’re leaving because you’re judging me and my friends?” Hadley asked.
Devon watched Hadley’s pupils visibly dilate before her eyes. Yeah, as if she hadn’t taken cocaine.
“I don’t care about your friends. I care about you.”
“Well, don’t worry about me,” Hadley said with a shrug. “Will I see you later at the apartment?”
It was a dismissal. She was riding into her high, and likely, she wouldn’t care about much.
“No,” Devon said with a shake of her head. “I’m leaving with Brennan.”
“Ohhh,” Hadley said, raising her eyebrows. “Now, who is the rebel? Does he know about Reid? I say fuck him anyway. Brennan’s gorgeous.”
Devon rolled her eyes. In the morning, Hadley would realize that Devon wasn’t there, and that would do enough to freak her out. She was too far-gone for Devon to reach anything logical.
“Bye, Hadley. Get home safe,” Devon said sadly.
Maybe she should have waited with Hadley or should have said something more to get her to go home. Maybe she should have done more in general. But Devon felt completely defeated. If Hadley was this messed up, then what did it say about her?
Devon walked away from Hadley and back to where she had left Brennan.
“I’m going to find Garrett. Just give me a minute, and then we’ll go,” she told Brennan.
He seemed to find this acceptable. She left him standing there with his arms crossed over his chest. Garrett’s bulky form was easy to locate in the crowd. He was talking with the husbands and fiancés of Hadley’s friends. Devon couldn’t even begin to remember their names.
Garrett smiled as she approached. “Hey, Dev. Are you enjoying your party?”
“I’m getting tired actually,” she said, yawning. “Going to call it an early night.”
“Oh, alright,” he said, sounding a bit disappointed. “Have you told Hadley?”
“Yeah, she’s pretty messed up though. Just wanted to make sure you knew to take extra care of her.”
“I always do, but thank you. Do you need help getting home? Need me to hail you a cab or anything?”
“No, I’m fine. Brennan is going to help me out,” she told him.
Garrett frowned at that. He clearly was more concerned. “I think he’s pretty gone, too. Are you sure you don’t want me to help?”
She did want his help, but she didn’t want to go back to the place he shared with Hadley. She wanted to be angry with Hadley for her stupidity, and she couldn’t do that if she were surrounded by her hospitality. She couldn’t face Hadley the next morning when she would wake up and go about her life like she wasn’t destroying it.
Devon declined his help once more and then left as quickly as she could extract herself. Garrett was too nice, too caring. Devon had never once thought that someone would be too good for Hadley…until this moment.
“I’m ready,” she told Brennan when she reached him.
IT WAS A chilly night, and Devon hugged herself against the wind as they headed to Brennan’s place. He hadn’t been lying when he said he lived right around the corner. His apartment was no more than two or three blocks from the John Hancock Center. They took the elevator up to his apartment where it was thankfully warm.
She was surprised by the interior. She knew he probably made good money as a bartender in this part of the city, but she wouldn’t have thought his apartment would be so nice. It was a one bedroom with a full kitchen with adjoined dining room, and spacious living room. The apartment was clean with relatively new furniture. It wasn’t what she would have considered Brennan to have, being a bachelor and all.
Devon set her purse on a side table. “Nice place.”
“Thanks,” he said, walking into the kitchen and pulling out a beer. “Want anything?”
“No, thanks. I think I’m done.”
“You didn’t have much to drink for being so done.” He was clearly more comfortable in his own home than at Jenn’s or the bar.
“Just a long night is all.”
“We left early.”
“Yeah. Long in a different way then.”
Devon sat down on the sofa and got comfortable amid the throw pillows. Brennan took a seat next to her and flipped on the television.
“You want to talk about it?” he asked, putting on ESPN as background noise.
“No,” she said instantly.
“Alright.”
The conversation ended, and Devon sat there frozen, watching baseball highlights. She felt bad for cutting him off so abruptly. Maybe she was being ridiculous.
“How do you afford this place bartending?” she asked, hoping that the subject was neutral enough.