Parahuman (Parahuman Series) Read online

  Hali dragged Laney’s hand away, her eyes wide. “Now I know you’re interested. You’re staking a claim. And really, when was the last time you left your hair down and wore makeup, because I can’t remember.” Hali got a faraway look in her eyes. “No, wait, it was the summer of 2000 when we raided my mom’s vanity and made ourselves up as clowns.”

  Before Laney could laugh that outrageous statement off, a green jeep pulled into the parking lot. Laney’s heart began to beat a little faster and her body temperature spiked uncomfortably. Thank god for deodorant!

  Both Hali’s and Laney’s heads swiveled, following the jeep as it drove around to the passenger side of Hali’s truck. Devan’s window was down, and Laney rolled down hers as he parked next to them. It was forty-two degrees, twilight shrouded the sky, and Devan was wearing a t-shirt with the window down and was still sporting his sunglasses.

  Did those things never come off?

  Laney couldn’t stop a grin seeing that Devan’s head was scrapping the top of the jeeps cover. An image of him stuffed into a little Fiat or Mazda flashed through her mind causing her grin to spread wider. She rested her arm on the truck door and leaned out the open window.

  “Six fifteen on the dot. I bet you’re a punctuality-holic.”

  Devan mirrored her move on his door frame. Disappointment shot through Laney that she wasn’t able to see his eyes. She knew he had to wear the glasses to protect his eye, but the sun was down now. How much of a foe-paw would it be to swipe them off his face?

  Devan’s head tilted in that oh so familiar way. She was really liking that gesture. “If you are implying that I’m compulsive, then yes, you would be correct.”

  Laney didn’t think her grin could get any bigger, but his complete seriousness caused it to notch a degree higher. Taking in his multi-colored, windblown hair and hard russet features Laney felt a foreign hitch in her chest. Was she interested?

  Hali suddenly leaned across her, sticking her face in the window. A faintly astounded expression rolled over her face but she quickly recovered and replaced it with her signature smile. “Hellllooo, I’m Hali, best friend, compadré, pseudo-sister, partner in crime, etc, etc.”

  Laney found herself watching Devan closely to see how he responded to her friend. Hali was shorter than Laney by four inches but really beautiful with long blonde hair, blue eyes, and a vivacious personality, which she demonstrated with a couple of pink stripes in her hair, and an outfit that consisted of an overly long pink sweater…to match her hair. She wore black yoga pants, and calf high black boots. Laney may have styled her hair and may have applied a touch of make-up, but she was wearing ordinary jeans and a green fitted shirt that some people might have mentioned brought out the green in her eyes. Over that she wore a tan spring jacket, because she felt the cold unlike some other people who wore only t-shirts.

  The sunglasses on Devan’s face concealed a lot, so Laney wasn’t able to get full insight into his feelings as his face remained expressionless.

  “Hello Hali.”

  So polite. So serious. Sooo…fascinating.

  Laney gripped Hali’s chin fondly between her thumb and forefinger. “This is my friend, Hali. You learn to love her.”

  “I’ll have you know that some people love me right off the bat.” Hali said in mock outrage.

  “Besides your mom and dad.” Laney replied dryly, pinching Hali’s chin.

  “Hey, there was that person who had to be institutionalized last year for stalking. He loved me whole lots.” Hali countered in a horrible Asian accent.

  “I have to apologize for her; she’s between meds at the moment.” Laney commented jokingly.

  “I’m not the one on the meds, that was my institutionalized friend,” Hali refuted.

  Laney rolled her eyes and gave Hali a small shove sending her back to her own seat, but before she went a mumbled ‘interested’ whispered from her lips. It was said so low that Laney was sure Devan couldn’t have possibly heard it, but when she looked his way there was a frown between his eyes and his head was tilted again.

  He couldn’t possibly have heard; although, he did seem to have exceptional hearing. Crap, she hoped he hadn’t heard Hali’s comment, or at least didn’t understand it. Laney could feel her face starting to heat up and was thankful for the darkness.

  “Sorry, we can get carried away sometimes.” Laney apologized.

  Devan’s head tilted the other way. It was enduring, the way he did that.

  “It was…entertaining.”

  Short, sweet, and totally sober; had to love it.

  Laney gave him a cheeky grin. “Why thank you sir.”

  Was that a slight quirk of his lips? She thought it just might have been and her heart lightened at the thought. Laney had a feeling that a genuine smile from Devan was a rare thing, and it just became her objective to get as many as she could.

  Hali leaned over Laney’s lap again. “Well kiddos, let’s get a move on. The entertainment doesn’t start until I get there.”

  Laney gave Hali another shove. “Duane’s house is only ten minutes from here, just follow us, okay?”

  Devan nodded his acceptance—although his expression might have appeared a somewhat pained. Laney frowned at the possibility and wondered why.

  Hali started the engine and began backing up. Laney gave one last look behind her before rolling up the window. She didn’t want a rat’s nest for hair when they reached Duane’s house.

  “Soooo…” Hali drawled, switching gears and speeding up.

  “Soooo, what? Laney drawled back, hanging on tight. Hali was a good driver but she liked to go fast.

  “I’m a little confused on the ‘not the usual standards’. A little quiet, a little tall, but where I was sitting he was at the least an eight. The glasses hid an essential asset, but ‘WOW’.” Hali shifted again, revving the engine.

  Laney grinned at the ‘little tall’ remark. Wait till she saw him standing.

  “Devan’s just different.” Laney commented vaguely. “He can’t be measured by normal standards.” Typically, Laney shared everything with Hali, but she’d held back on many of the details of what she had seen Devan do the other day, and her feelings about those details. The thoughts going through her head were a little far-fetched, but it didn’t stop her from ruminating on them.

  “Ohhh, you are sooo interested.” Hali snorted.

  “Maybe,” Laney replied as nonchalantly as she could.

  “Maybe my bum,” Hali retorted with a snicker. “Your face is as red as Sammy’s sunburn in July.”

  Laney’s hands flew to her cheeks. She thought her face had been getting warm. “You can’t even see my face. It’s totally dark in here.”

  “It can feel the heat radiating off of you.”

  “Shut up,” Laney retort irritably. She hated that she blushed so brightly.

  Hali was still teasing her as she pulled into Duane’s driveway her tires kicking up dirt as she braked abruptly behind several other vehicles lining the driveway. Laney breathed a sigh of relief at another safe journey.

  Laney and Hali had both hopped out of the truck by the time Devan parked next to them. They walked to the rear and waited for him to climb out and join them. When Devan opened his door and stood to his full height Hali gaped in astonishment.

  “Jeez, you said he was tall Laney, but I wasn’t expecting gi’normous.”

  Laney gave Hali a shove which sent her stumbling sideways.

  Hali only laughed. “What! He is gi’normous. Do you think he’s not aware of it?” Hali turned to Devan and looked up at him as he walked over. “You are aware that you’re gi’normous, right?”

  A small indent settled between Devan’s eyes. “If gi’normous is a contraction of the words giant and enormous, than I would have to consent that the description is nearly accurate.”

  Hali snorted and punched Devan in the arm…she was probably aiming for his shoulder, but couldn’t reach that far…then she patted it. “But I have to say you are a
gi’normous glass of ‘yum’.”

  Face red again Laney gave Hali another shove—more for her personal touching than the comment. “Hali, behave.” Turning her face up to Devan she gave him a sheepish grin. “That was a Hali compliment.”

  “Well of course it was.” Hali exclaimed in affront heading for the house. “By the way, love the hair.”

  Laney threw Hali a murderous look that she didn’t see as she was already half way to the house. “She’s a sweet heart, really.” Laney growled.

  “I’ll take your word on that.” Devan replied looking down at her and not after Hali’s retreating figure. That he didn’t watch Hali walk away lifted Laney’s heart. Hali was gorgeous, blonde, and bubbly, and a lot of guys went for that. In fact, a lot of guys in school tried to get with her, but she wasn’t interested in anyone at school that way.

  “Just think how smooth our relationship would go if you took my word on everything.” Laney lifted one eyebrow and grinned.

  The corner of Devan’s mouth lifted slightly. “Dull and boring.”

  Laney’s smiled widened at Devan’s dry quip. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Who wants to hang around someone who agrees with everything you say. There’d be no excitement of a good argument or debate.”

  Devan’s brow creased. “Arguments are exciting?”

  Laney looked at him askance. “Stimulating, exciting, they get your blood pumping. Hali and I will argue for the heck of it sometimes when things are going just a little too blandly.”

  “And this doesn’t cause contention in your relationship.”

  The solemnity of Devan’s question made Laney wonder if Devan had ever had a true friendship with anyone. He had a very aloof personality so it wasn’t hard to imagine that he had difficulty opening up to others. It was a sad thought, the idea that he had no true friends.

  Laney gave him a smile and couldn’t help hoping that he would let down some of his defenses and open up with her. “No, our friendship is tight and we would never say anything to purposely hurt each other. It’s all done in fun.”

  The frown on Devan’s face smoothed faintly and he nodded as though Laney had imparted something significant.

  A loud bellow from inside the house had Devan’s gaze swinging in that direction.

  “Come on, let’s go in.” Laney said waving him forward.

  Not bothering to knock Laney walked right in through the front door. No one was in the atrium but the noise level coming from all the other rooms in the house was substantial. Devan hesitated in the doorway with a pained expression contorting his face. She wondered if he was nervous about meeting new people.

  “Come on, don’t be a scardy cat.” Laney chided, back tracking toward him.

  The look he threw her could only be called affronted. Men and their pride.

  “Is this the same guy who faced down a mountain lion yesterday?” Laney asked, raising one eyebrow mockingly.

  “I don’t do well in social settings.” Devan’s head cocked to the right and then to the left and his head tilted back and he actually seemed to sniff the air. His body stiffened and shifted to the right facing the living room access. Huh?

  “Laney, there you are, what are you…?”

  Laney automatically turned to face Jarrod as he called her name and stepped into the hallway from the…living room. Laney’s head swung Devan’s way in suspicious revelation; it had almost appeared as if Devan had known Jarrod was coming their way.

  “What are you doing here?”

  Laney’s attention moved summarily back to Jarrod at his angry tone, and immediately took note of his balled fists and aggressive stance as he faced Devan with an expression of extreme dislike. What in the heck was Jarrod’s problem?

  Stepping in front of Devan so Jarrod’s gaze settled on her Laney set her hand on her hips and glared at Jarrod. “I invited him. Why, is that a problem?”

  Jarrod’s face scrunched in confusion for a second as though he wasn’t sure how to respond to her announcement. “You invited him?”

  “Yes, I invited him.” Laney repeated heatedly.

  Jarrod’s confusion switched to belligerence as his eyes strayed over her head to glare at Devan. “What did you invite him for?”

  “What do you mean, ‘what I’d invite him for’? He’s new and I thought it would be a nice thing to do; that’s what most people would do.” She stated in irritation not understanding Jarrod hostility toward Devan. The two of them had only talked briefly this morning, and while Jarrod had been a ‘tool’ he hadn’t displayed anywhere near this level of antagonism. What was his deal?

  “Listen, if this is going to be an issue I’ll just go.” Devan spoke from behind her.

  Laney’s twisted back toward Devan. “No!” she cried.

  “Great,” Jarrod crowed.

  Laney threw him a lethal look, but he was smirking at Devan and didn’t catch it.

  “I don’t want to cause any problems.” Devan turned and walked out the door.

  Distress washed through Laney at Devan’s departure and she turned to Jarrod angrily. “I don’t know why you’re acting this way, but you’re being a jackass.” Spinning away from a shocked Jarrod who called after her, and whom she ignored, Laney raced after Devan.

  Pee-ode didn’t even come close to her emotions at the moment. The next time she saw Jarrod he was going to get a hefty piece of her mind along with a kick in his sagging pants.

  Devan was already at his jeep and opening the door, but must have heard her running after him because he turned as she raced down the steps.

  “Devan, wait!” Laney jogged around the back of his jeep to stand in front of him. His face was expressionless and Laney wondered what he was thinking. “You don’t have to go. I don’t know what’s going on with Jarrod right now, but this isn’t his house and he doesn’t have a say on who’s invited.”

  Devan looked toward the house and Laney followed his gaze to see Jarrod standing on the porch with a rather nasty expression on his face. Laney remained stumped at his behavior.

  “I don’t want to be the cause for any upheaval tonight. It’s better if I just leave.” Devan pushed a hand through his already disarrayed hair and this at least gave her some hint to his agitated emotions.

  Laney relaxed her face into a smile. “You know what, why don’t we go do something else tonight? Just you, me, and mother nature.”

  One of Devan’s brows twitched above his lenses. “Just you and me?”

  Laney’s dad would kill her if he found out she went off alone with Devan; mostly because he didn’t know anything about him, but Laney felt completely comfortable with Devan. Many people would call her foolish after only a couple hours of acquaintance, but the feeling was strong that she had nothing to fear from him.

  “There’s something I’d like to show you. I think you’d like it.”

  Devan’s other brow twitched. “Uh…okay.”

  Laney couldn’t hold back her smile. “Well, okay. Let’s go than.” She skipped around to the other side. The idea of having him all to herself held way more appeal than sharing him with a house full of people.

  “Laney, where the hell are you going?” Jarrod moved down the steps toward her.

  Devan had climbed in and was starting the jeep as Laney opened the passenger door and jumped in hurriedly closing the door. The window was already opened so she stuck her head out and yelled...with more restraint this time in her language. “Since your being such a jackhole, Jarrod, Devan and I are going to hang out somewhere else.” Raising the window cutting off any other replies Jarrod might say she turned to Devan. “Let’s go.”

  CHAPTER NINE

  Devan obeyed Laney’s command without thought at first; her tone was authoritative and even after six years it was hard to break that part of him that followed directions without question. He switched to his own control a second later as he swung the jeep in reverse, a furious looking Jarrod materializing in the review mirror.

  At the end of the driveway Devan was
n’t sure in which direction to go.

  “The place I want to show you is about twenty minutes from here.” She gave Devan that sweet, gut wrenching smile of hers. He was starting to realize he would go anywhere or do anything for that smile.

  “Okay.”

  “Okay,” she echoed, her smiling getting bigger, “turn left then.”

  He obeyed.

  “I’m just to text Hali and tell her what I’m doing.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and typed something before setting it her lap.

  Devan noted that she pulled her coat tighter around her and realized that his window was down. The cool air didn’t bother him, but it would her. He raised the window feeling stupid for not realizing it sooner. She threw him a smile and it lightened the feeling somewhat.

  “I’m really sorry for the way Jarrod behaved back there. I don’t know where it was coming from.” The expression on her face became apologetic.

  Devan, of course, knew where it came from, he had been told in no uncertain terms that Laney was Jarrod’s, and Jarrod didn’t want Devan anywhere near her.

  “He seems to be threatened by me.” Devan stated. He didn’t want her thinking it was because of something he did.

  “He’s always been competitive, but I can’t see him getting that hostile with you over our climb this afternoon.”

  She didn’t seem to understand what Devan was trying to convey.

  “The job isn’t all he is competitive over.”

  Her head swiveled so fast in his direction Devan was afraid she might have gave herself whiplash.

  “What do you mean?” Her expression was completely stupefied. “What exactly did he tell you,” she muttered in a threatening tone.

  Devan recognized that the ire wasn’t directed at him, but it still sent a buzz down his spine. Aggression of any kind raised his hackles.

  “He implied that you two were together and that I should keep my distance.” Devan gave her a quick glance, wanting to observe her reaction to those words.