Deal Breakers (Dealing with Love 1)

She scoots away from me and slides her finger across the screen to answer. “Hi.” She turns her head away as she listens to whatever the fuck he’s saying. She lowers her voice. “No, there’s been a slight change in plans.”

I tune out their conversation as I feel my face getting red. I know I have no right to be jealous but that doesn’t stop me from feeling it. I can’t stop thinking about the smug look on his face when he took her in his arm and walked away. He said he was taking her home which implies familiarity. I don’t like it. Not one bit.

Devyn glances at me over her shoulder. “Mmm hmm. You too. Bye, Jackson.”

You too? Did she just tell him that she loved him? Oh Christ, this situation is shittier than I thought.

DEVYN

THANK GOD JACKSON CALLED when he did. I’m pretty sure Riley was about to kiss me. And I honestly don’t know how I would’ve responded to that. Hearing Jackson’s voice helped bring me back into the present. Riley is my past. I simply got caught up in my emotions talking about it with him.

“Riley, I have to get going.”

He frowns. “Back to Jackson?”

I bite my lip. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no. I need to get home to Nathan.”

“What’s the story with you and that guy?”

“Jackson?”

“No, the fucking Dalai Lama.”

I glare. “You don’t need to be so rude.”

“Answer the question, Dev.”

“I really don’t think that’s any of your business.”

“Of course it’s my business!” he shouts. “If this guy is going to be spending time around my son, I have the right to know.”

I clench my fists. “He’s been spending time with our son for over two years! Are you saying you don’t trust my judgment?”

He stiffens. “Give me your phone.”

What? Is he going to call Jackson? “No.”

He rolls his eyes. “I’m not going to do anything stupid, Devyn. I want to program my number into it.”

I hand it to him hesitantly. I watch as he opens the text window and types something real quick before hitting send. His phone beeps a second later.

He pulls it out of his pocket and looks at the display. “There. Now we both know how to reach each other. And for the record, I changed my number when I moved to Georgia. I had planned on settling there and wanted a local number. It had nothing to do with running away.”

“You lived in Georgia? When?”

“After grad school,” he replies. “I took a job in Savannah designing private aircrafts.”

“Oh,” I whisper. “Then why are you in Seattle?”

He gulps. “That’s a story for another day. You need to get home, remember?”

I stand and walk to the door. “Yeah, I do.”

He follows me and opens the door. As I step into the hallway he says, “Dev, we’ll figure this out, okay? I’m not going anywhere.”

I nod. “Okay.”

RILEY