My knees gave way, and I sank to the sofa just behind me. Mom came and sat down next to me, and Seth sat down on the coffee table so that he was face to face.
“Zo—”
“My boyfriend’s name is not Dave,” I said before he could finish talking. “It’s Devlin.”
Seth was silent for a second, but I knew he understood what I was telling him. “Why did you lie?”
“Because I thought that you worked with him and I thought you’d freak out and be the protective big brother and I wanted to feel… independent and in control and… I wanted to handle things on my own. I just wanted to figure out what Devlin and I had before I told anyone… I… I had no idea—”
“How did you even meet him?” Seth asked.
“At the station,” I said.
“The day you brought over those cupcakes,” Seth sighed, nodding with remembrance.
“It was just the one meeting… and then I didn’t see him again until weeks later when I came to this apartment to try and see if I could move in.”
“And he never told you why he was really at the station?”
“No,” I said. “I assumed he was a fireman and he never corrected me. He never told me about the community service or the… drugs.”
Seth shook his head and sighed. “I expected more from him… he seemed like such a good guy.”
“Hold on,” mom said, rubbing my back soothingly. “We don’t know the whole story. Maybe he has a good reason for keeping this from you—”
“For this long?” I demanded. “He had months and months to come clean with me. He had plenty of opportunities to tell me the truth. But he never did and—”
I heard the key turn in the lock, and I realized with a start that Devlin had just arrived. Seth jumped to his feet and turned in the direction of the door, and mom and I both froze in place. Devlin walked in and stopped short as he caught sight of all of us. Then his eyes fell on Seth, and he paled visibly.
I got to my feet slowly, and I looked at him with accusing eyes. “Do you know how stupid I feel right now?” I asked him. “For having believed you all this time.”
Devlin took a step towards me. “Zoey—”
“I wanted to
introduce you to my mother and brother,” I said, raising my voice above his. “But I think my brother knows you better than I do.”
Devlin sighed, and I saw his gaze turn to Seth’s. “I know how this looks,” he said, with a shaky voice.
Seth shook his head at Devlin. “I thought you were a good guy.”
“I am,” Devlin insisted. “I just… I’m so sorry… I made a mistake.”
“You’re a piece of—”
“Seth!” I said, interrupting him and stepping in between Devlin and Seth. “Please… Devlin and I need to talk. Can we do this another day please?”
Mom got up and grabbed Seth by the arm. “Come on.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about leaving you alone with him,” Seth said.
“I can take care of myself, Seth,” I said. “If I need you, I’ll call.”
Seth looked at me for a moment and then nodded. “Ok…”
The moment the door shut on mom and Seth, Devlin turned to me with pleading eyes. “Please, Zoey… just let me explain.”
“Good, because that’s exactly what I want,” I said. “An explanation.”