Read Online My Brother's Best Friend by Becky Andrews - Free Book Online Page A

practical joke.”
    I could tell Devin was upset by what I’d told him. He wanted to find Eric and kill him, but instead he stayed there and made me drink the glass of water he had the waiter bring.
    “Can we go home now?” I asked him.
    “Yeah, sure, CJ. Let’s go home. It’s late anyway, and you’re probably not going to want to go to work tomorrow with the headache you’ll have.”
    “You can call in sick for me,” I told him as he helped me off the couch. I leaned into him as we made our way through the club and out to the street. Once out of the club, Devin’s body stiffened, and I knew without turning around that he’d seen Eric.
    “Can you stand?” he asked me.
    “Don’t do it, Dev. He’s not worth it,” I pleaded.
    “I can’t just let him get away with what he did. Just wait here.”
    “At least don’t kill him. I can’t have you going to prison. What would I do without someone to verbally spar with?”
    Devin smiled, at least I think he did. “I’ll leave him alive. What would Mitch say if he came home and found you alone? That would never do. Besides, without me you might burn down the house.” He didn’t say anything further, he marched over to Eric and they exchanged a few heated words.
    Then, without warning, Devin pulled back his arm and punched Eric squarely in the jaw, or maybe the nose. Eric dropped like a rock.
    The security guard jumped forward and held Devin back.
    “Devin!” I cried, both horrified and thrilled by what he’d done.
    Both Devin and the security guard looked over and they exchanged a few words before Devin sprinted toward me.
    “Let’s go,” he said.
    “What happened?” I asked after we had gotten into the car and were driving home.
    “The security guard recognized you and asked if I was with you. He was going to call the police but when you called out and he saw you, he told me to just leave. I only wanted to hit the guy. Though I wish he didn’t go down so easily. I would have liked to throw a couple more.”
    We were silent the rest of the way home. It wasn’t until we opened the door that I finally said, “Thanks, Devin. You are always helping me one way or another.”
    “Then let me help you again,” he said.
    I must have been more inebriated than I realized because as we tried to climb the stairs he stopped us and picked me up, carrying me the rest of the way. “I’ll get you some water and Advil,” he told me as he set me on the bed.
     
    * * *
     
    I woke up with a killer headache.
    It was too bright, too loud and just too painful. I groaned and rolled over.
    “I put some Advil by your bed and some water,” Devin said, his voice muffled by my pillow.
    I groaned again and held out my hand. He laughed softly at my incapacitation, but I heard his footsteps come closer to my nightstand. A few seconds later, he closed my fingers around the pills. “You know you’ll have to at least move the pillow to drink the water.”
    “Fine. Should you die from looking at my hideous hung over self, I won’t try to save you. I am way too tired to even open my eyes,” I told him as I removed the pillow from my face.
    He handed me the glass as I sat up. “Your face, it’s blinding me,” Devin joked, throwing up his hands to shield his own.
    “Shut up.” I laughed, then regretted it. My head was throbbing.
    “Sorry, Chris. I didn’t mean to make it hurt more. Just lightening the mood. Oh, before I forget, I called your office and said you weren’t feeling well and wouldn’t be in today. So you have the whole morning to recuperate before I take you with me to the studio.”
    I groaned again and fell back against my pillow.
    “It’s not that horrible, is it?” he said.
    “I suppose not. It’s just if I’m not working because I’m sick then I should get a free day.”
    “You are getting a free day, with me at my studio. Besides, we need to tell Larissa and Zach that we aren’t really dating.”
    “Right, I forgot about that little detail.