Devon

Zander arrived right on schedule—one hour before dinner.

Thank you, Cara!

Devon had begged his stepmother to invite Zander to dinner. He hadn’t told her the real reason, of course; only that he wanted to have the family together as much as possible while his father was well enough to enjoy it. It was no secret that Zander and Devon’s father didn’t get along. When Henry and Cara first announced their engagement, Zander had spouted off that his sister was only marrying Henry for his money. But yesterday, Devon told Cara that in light of Henry’s diminishing health, perhaps it was time for everyone to make peace.

Cara had reluctantly agreed to invite Zander to dinner, but Devon had feared he wouldn’t show up. Zander hadn’t been to Devon’s house since Cara married his father—Cara marrying Henry was another thing Devon routinely blamed himself for. If Zander and Devon weren’t friends, Cara never would have met his father. In grammar school, Devon and Zander used to hide when Cara came to pick Zander up. It was only because Devon was such a lonely child and never wanted his friends to leave, but that loneliness had brought Cara into his life—permanently. Henry spent hours entertaining her until Devon and Zander finally got bored of their games. It was right after Henry had divorced Devon’s mother and apparently he was lonely too. Lonely enough to fall for a nineteen-year-old, more than twenty years his junior.

Devon tried to shake the bitter memories from his head as he led Zander to the library. Zander was following him, smugly admiring the excessive wealth that lined the hallways.

“All of this will be mine someday,” Zander mused.

Devon knew Zander was trying to get under his skin, but he held his tongue. Devon was going to have to hold everything back if he was going to have a chance of succeeding. Zander was like a piranha—he could smell even the tiniest hint of blood.

When they were finally in the library, Devon shut the doors and locked them.

“How very cloak and dagger, Dev. What are you plotting?”

“I have an offer for you,” Devon said.

“What could you possibly have that I’d want?” Zander scoffed. “You’re off the team, I’m captain now, and I even have your girl. Sophie is quite a ride,” he sneered.

“I’m not talking about any of that boyhood shite, Zander. I’m talking about Cor-Tec.”

Zander’s eyebrows narrowed. “I’m listening.”

“If you’re still interested in Cor-Tec, I can put you on the board.”

After Cara married Devon’s father, Zander started sniffing around about the business. He was surprisingly techy and actually interested in the operation, but Devon’s father was good at holding grudges. He told Zander that he’d never touch Cor-Tec after the way he disgraced Cara and himself, saying his sister was only after Henry’s money. Gold-digging whore, were Zander’s exact words. Zander wasn’t the only one who thought that, of course, but he was apparently the only one stupid enough to say it straight to Henry’s face. Devon could hardly blame his father for shunning Zander after that.

“What do you say?” Devon asked, anxious to bait Zander.

“And what do you get out of it?” Zander asked.

“You call Sophie and her hens off Sam.”

“Connors? What’s she got to do with this?”

“She’s a guest here. And my friend. She doesn’t deserve to be treated rudely at Eddington because she’s associated with me. Get everyone to leave her alone, including if I’m around her or not, and I’ll put you on the board at Cor-Tec.”

Zander smirked. “How touching. You must really care for her, but I’m afraid you don’t have anything left to bargain with. Everyone knows it’s only a matter of time before your father dies. And when he does, my sister will inherit everything. So you see, I don’t need you, James. I never have.” Zander gave Devon a cunning grin and walked away.

“My father is leaving the company to me,” Devon called after Zander. “That’s why I quit the team. He’s grooming me to take over. So unless you take this deal you’ll never touch a piece of Cor-Tec.”

Zander was at the library doors. He turned and gave Devon a smooth smile. “We’ll see.” And then, he left.

* * *

Devon’s conversation with Zander hadn’t gone as planned and dinner wasn’t any better. At first, Sam seemed surprised to see Zander in the dining room along with the entire family, including Henry. It was rare that everyone made an appearance at dinner these days. Sam had taken to eating in her room, Henry was too ill to eat much and Mr. Connors usually worked through dinner—the man was a workaholic. But tonight, everyone was in attendance. And to Devon’s dismay, Cara had seated Sam right next to Zander, while Devon was seated across from them. There was only a table between them, but Devon felt like he was a million miles away as he watched Sam and Zander carry on a pleasant conversation—something to do with tryouts.

“How were tryouts today?” Devon asked, trying to steal Sam’s attention.

“Good,” she said nonchalantly. “I made the team.”

“I knew you would,” Devon replied giving her a smile, even though she missed it.

“You should’ve seen her,” Zander bragged, putting his arm on the back of Sam’s chair. Devon wanted to smack it off. “The girl can play. She even scored on me. We’re still on for club this weekend, right?” Zander asked Sam.

“You’re playing weekend club together?” Devon asked nearly dropping his fork.

Sam shrugged. “I could use the extra practice. And you’re never available.”

Devon caught Sam’s eye, unable to hide his hurt. Sam only held his gaze for a moment before looking away.

When Devon recovered his hurt expression he caught Zander smirking at him. The bastard didn’t miss a thing.

“I’m afraid that’s my fault,” Mr. Connors said. “I’ve been keeping poor Devon busy with Cor-Tec. I’m sorry, Devon. It’s just that you’re such a valuable asset. And I’d say you’re really starting to get the hang of the new platform.”

“New platform?” Zander asked.

“Let’s not bore them with business,” Henry interrupted before Mr. Connors could reply. “Tonight, I’d like to enjoy a meal with my family and friends.”

* * *

After dinner, Devon was feeling dejected. His plan to win Zander over had backfired, and now Sam seemed farther away than ever. He excused himself and retreated to his room. He planned to take Eggsy for a walk to clear his head, because if he had to sit around listening to Zander flirt with Sam for another second he was liable to smash Zander’s face into a wall.

Devon was just leashing Eggsy when he heard a knock at his door. Zander stood in the hall and Eggsy growled.

“Heel,” Devon commanded.

“I’ve reconsidered,” Zander said, eyeing the wolfhound. “I’ll talk to Sophie and see what I can do.”

“Really? What do you want for it?”

Zander shrugged. “Nothing.”

Zander never did something for nothing. The whole time he and Devon had been friends Zander had made it clear that he’d come from nothing and clawed his way to the top. So why this sudden change of heart? What was his angle? “I don’t get it,” Devon said.

“Let’s just say our interests have aligned. Sam’s a special girl. I can see why you spend so much time with her.”

Devon’s hair rose on the back of his neck. He didn’t like this at all. He’d seen that look in Zander’s eyes before. He was on the chase, and Sam was in his sights. But there was no way in hell Devon was going to let that happen. Steal his team, steal Sophie, steal his God damned inheritance for all he cared, but not Sam. Sam was not negotiable.

But fine, if Zander wanted to think he had a chance with Sam, Devon would let him. He wasn’t worried. Sam wasn’t a game to him. He had real feelings for her and even Zander couldn’t challenge that. All Devon needed was assurance that Zander would call Sophie off.

“So you’ll tell Sophie to leave Sam alone. And that she doesn’t have to stay away from me?”

Zander nodded.

“Why?”

“So when I take everything you’ve ever wanted, I’ll have the satisfaction of knowing I beat you on my own. Just like everything else I’ve accomplished.”

Another pair of footsteps echoed down the hall. Both boys looked to see Sam approaching. Zander grinned and waved at her. Before he went to meet her, Zander turned back to Devon. “All is fair in love and war, mate.”

Devon scowled. War it would be.

* * *

It was well after dark by the time Zander finally left. He and Sam had been in the library for hours, their laughter wafting back to Devon from where he was spying in the drawing room. He didn’t even wait a heartbeat to knock on Sam’s door once Zander was gone.

Sam was smiling when she opened the door, but it faded when she saw it was Devon. Had she been hoping it was Zander knocking?

“Yes?” Sam said crossly.

Devon squashed his disappointment. “Hi,” he said nervously. “I was wondering if you wanted to go for a walk?”

“Now?”

“I know it’s late, but I really need to talk to you and it can’t wait.”

“Okay, but I don’t want to go for a walk. It’s cold out. Can we talk here?”

“Are you sure you’re from, Boston?”

“It’s colder here. And you don’t get to tease me. We’re not friends, remember?”

Devon bowed his head in shame. “About that, I was hoping I could make it up to you?”

“How?”

“Come with me.”

She rolled her eyes—Christ, he even missed her eye rolling. She followed him across the hall to his room. Eggsy was lying on the bed sniffing a pile of pizza boxes with two six-packs of beer on top. Once his dog saw Sam, he bounded off the bed and leapt up on her so she had to hug him to avoid being toppled over.

“Don’t use Eggsy to win me over,” Sam reprimanded after she’d ruffled the dog’s fur.

“That’s why I got beer and pizza too,” Devon replied trying not to grin too wide.

Sam wasn’t buying it. Her face was set to perma-scowl—which was quite adorable, actually. She looked like an angry kitten. But Devon knew under that adorable exterior was the spirit of a lion, so he needed to tread lightly.

“Look, Sam. I’m sorry. I was wrong. You were right. I just want to go back to being friends with you.”

“Oh, so now you want to be my friend? Now that I’m not a social pariah and I’ve managed to actually have a good day at Eddington?”

“No, that’s not what it’s about. I told you from the beginning I was just trying to protect you by keeping my distance. I knew things would calm down and you’d win everyone over. And you have. So we don’t have to pretend anymore.”

“Oh, I’m not pretending, Devon. I’m actually mad at you.”

“Sam, please. I miss you. You said you’d always be there for me. This is me, saying I need you.”

“That’s not fair, Devon. You can’t just turn friendship on and off like that. That’s not how it works.”

“Sam, you’re the only thing that matters to me. And you were right from day one. It doesn’t matter what we do. People are gonna believe what they want to. So who cares?”

“You do! You obviously care what people think or you wouldn’t have ditched me.”

“I didn’t ditch you at home.”

“That makes it worse, Devon!”

Devon loosed a frustrated breath and ran his hands through his hair. He’d been pacing his room and finally gave up. He sank onto his bed. Nothing was going as planned. How could he care so much for Sam, but never find a way to express it with words? Words just screwed everything up. What he really wanted to do was kiss her. But the way things were going she’d probably punch him.

He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands until he saw stars. Fuck! Even stars made him think of Sam. When his vision cleared he looked at Sam, his heart heavy. She was frowning at him from the doorway. Her arms were folded and she looked like she already had one foot out the door. Eggsy was sitting at her feet. Traitor. Even he was against Devon.

Devon stood up and tried again. This time he tugged one of Sam’s hands loose so he could hold it while he talked to her. Touching her seemed to help loosen his heart. “I’m sorry, Sam. I’m an idiot. I’m no good at being friends with you. But I don’t know how to stop.”

Her frown vanished. “That’s the first thing you’ve said that doesn’t make me want to kick you.”

He smiled. “That’s something, no?”

She didn’t answer.

“I swear my intentions were never to hurt you, but obviously I suck at being friends with a girl. Can you just be in charge from now on?”

She smiled—an actual smile. “You don’t totally suck. You knew to get beer and pizza.”

“Want to give me some more pointers on not sucking while we have said pizza and beer?” he asked with mild hope.

“Come on, you big idiot. But this is your last chance, so don’t blow it.”

Sam

Sam sat in Devon’s room all night, eating pizza, drinking beer and catching up on what they’d missed in each other’s lives over that past few weeks. She told him everything about soccer tryouts. And he actually cheered when she told him about scoring on Zander. He ran around the room screaming GOOAAALLLL like a proper Premier League fanatic. Eggsy had gone insane and overturned her can of beer trying to tackle Devon. The beer casualty was totally worth it to be laughing with Devon again.

In just that one night, Sam learned more about Devon than she had in nearly a month. His favorite soccer—sorry, football—team was Arsenal. Which was apparently disgraceful because Arsenal was an English team. He had to hide all his Arsenal jerseys because his father was a diehard Galway United fan. Growing up they used to steal each other’s jerseys and tear them to pieces. To Sam, it sounded horrendous, but Devon seemed to think it was the best thing ever. He recounted endless stories of shenanigans, as he called it, with his father and jersey pranks.

Six beers and too many slices of pizza later, she and Devon were right back where they started before that awful first day at Eddington. Maybe they were even closer. When Sam thought about it, fighting and making up only made friendships stronger. She and Megan used to fight all the time growing up. Every time had seemed like the end of the world, and she’d vowed she would never forgive Megan for whatever it was they were fighting about. But they would always end up patching things up over ice cream. Sam secretly wondered if she should share her weakness for chocolate chip mint—the white kind with candy cane chips—but she figured Devon would use it against her in their next fight. He already knew about the pizza and beer.

Regardless, Sam was glad to have Devon back in her life.