Deal Breakers (Dealing with Love 1)

“Dev, are you there?”

She blows out a breath. “Yeah, I’m here.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Do you really need to ask that, Rye? My head is messed up. This probably isn’t the best time to talk. I need to sort through some things.”

Is she crying? “Devyn, talk to me.”

She sighs. “Jackson and I broke up.”

Did I seriously just hear that? “So you’re not going to marry him?”

“What? Who said that I was ever going to marry him?”

“He did,” I reply. “Well, not exactly. But he told me that he proposed and then implied that you said yes.”

She groans. “I’m such a horrible person.”

“Why would you say that? He’s the asshole who lied!”

“Don’t call him names, Rye. I’m the one who lied to him for two and a half years. It’s bad enough that I’ve been lying to myself. He didn’t need to be dragged into it. He’s a good man. He’s just not the right man.”

My ears perk up. “And who is?”

She ignores my question. “I need you to do me a favor.”

“Name it.”

“I need you to call your realtor. I want to show Nathan his new bedroom this weekend.”

I’m smiling so wide my cheeks hurt. “Does that mean what I think it means? Are you agreeing to move in with me?”

“Yeah, Riley...I am. Balls to the wall, baby.”

DEVYN

“HERE IT IS,” RILEY says.

We just pulled in the driveway of Riley’s new home. Our new home, rather. God, that’s so strange to say but at the same time, it feels so right. The house is a Craftsman style, painted light blue with white trim. I smile when I see the white wooden swing hanging by some chains. I can easily picture relaxing on it under the covered porch, lying on Riley’s lap, with a cold beer in hand. The yard is meticulously landscaped and has a few mature trees offering shade.

“It’s perfect,” I say.

Riley smiles as he exits the vehicle. “Wait until you see the inside.”

I get out of the car and open the back door to help Nathan out. He immediately runs up the stairs and tries the front door.

Riley laughs. “Whoa, slow down there, buddy. I need to enter the code to get the key.”

Nathan scrunches his brow. “How come we hafta have a secret code?”

Riley looks at his phone and punches in the combo his realtor gave him to unlock the key box. “This funny looking thing is just temporary. It will be gone once the sale of the house is final.”

Nate bounces on the balls of his feet as he waits for Riley to open the door. As soon as the lock unlatches, Nathan sprints inside.

“Nathan! Wait for us!” I say.

Riley takes my hand and leads me inside. He grabs the back of Nathan’s shirt as he runs by. “Hold up, dude.”