CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Devlin openedthe door to his home and had to suppress the urge to slam the door shut. If it weren’t for Nanna standing next to Rob Walker on his doorstep, he would have done just that.
“What are you doin’ here?” Devlin spat at his father, the last person he’d ever wanted to see. It had been years. The last time he talked to the asshole was at the sweet sixteen party of the twins. Nora had pressed him to come, even though he’d already told her he wasn’t going to if his dad would show. Her crestfallen face had persuaded him to go.
He’d instantly regretted it when his father had wanted to hug him. Devlin had turned around and never seen him since. That had been almost five years ago.
“Please, sweetheart. May we come in?” Nanna asked.
“You can come in, Nanna. But you can leave the trash outside.”
He turned on his heel and walked through the living room and went outside to his backyard. He knew that by leaving the door open, that asshole would come inside. For this talk, he needed the fresh air, so he sat down in the rocking chair on his patio.
The squeaking from the chair almost drove him crazy.
“Okay, so talk,” Devlin said as they joined him outside.
Nanna sat down in a lounger and he wondered how she would ever get out of that thing without his help. He couldn’t walk away now, because he sure as hell didn’t trust his father to help her out.
“Your grandmother called me today. She asked me to come with her.”
Devlin rolled his eyes. Of course, the man needed his mother’s persuasion to see his own son.
“I’ll say what I need to say, and then you’ll never have to see me again.”
Devlin took in the man in front of him as he sat in the lounger next to his grandmother. The years hadn’t been kind on his father. His wrinkled face looked tired and his hair had turned more gray than black.
“I’ve made a lot of mistakes.” Devlin snorted at this useless statement from Rob.
“I know you’re most likely done with me. I understand, and I’m not here to restore a relationship between us. That ship has sailed and I get that.”
Devlin stopped rocking his chair and said, “Good. Then we can all agree that it’s time for you to leave my house.”
“The only thing I have to say for myself is that I fell in love with two women. I loved your mother first, but I fell for Joan Ryan not that long after. I’ve made mistakes and messed up the lives of you and your siblings and that of your half sisters. I’ve wanted to make things right for a long time, but I figured that there was no way out and so I did nothing.”
Devlin pinched the bridge of his nose. “Is there a point to any of this?”
Rob narrowed his eyes. “I’m here to tell you to do better than me.”
Devlin shot out of his chair and pointed his finger in his father’s face. “I’ll never be like you. I would rather die than to be such an egotistical jerk. You’re a fuckin’ narcissist. You don’t get to come into my home after all this time and tell me I should do better. Newsflash asshole: you ain’t telling me something I don’t know.”
“Calm down, Dev,” Nanna said.
“Sit down, Devlin. You’re upsetting your grandmother.”
Devlin really despised his father. He was about to throw up. The sight of that man alone made him nauseous. He retook his seat and folded his arms in front of his chest. He decided to let the asshole talk, so this would be over soon.
“I heard about Teagan.”
A feral growl escaped Devlin’s lips. He’d never made such a noise before in his life. “You say her name one more time and I’ll pick you up from my lounger and throw you head first out the door.”
“Your sisters and grandmother all said the same thing. You’re scared to give her your heart. They say that you’re obviously in love with this girl, but you kept certain walls around you and pushed her away.”
Teagan’s face on Gwenn’s phone flashed before his eyes. Devlin went home last night after seeing her and, for the first time in his life, he’d cried. He’d been miserable these past weeks. He couldn’t stand seeing the sweetbutts, let alone touch them. He’d spent every night thinking about Teagan.
“You know that I never cried?” he said to his father.
Rob blinked. “What?”