“I guess I can talk to Drake to see what has to be done,” I say. “I’m sure there’s some legal shit like transfer of property.”
Devin’s face darkens. “Let me call him,” he says.
“No, its fine,” I say. I want to call Drake and talk to him again. The way he left me the other night, well, it left me feeling…something. Devin can tell. Why can’t I fucking hide anything from him? “You want me to grow up, so let me handle this for once. You just sit and look pretty or something.”
“Okay,” Devin agrees, but he isn’t happy. “I’ll let you handle things. Just be careful, Jenna.”
“And why would you say that?” I ask coyly.
“Because,” Devin says. “Men like him have had real relationships with women who aren’t anything like you, Jenna.” He shakes his head. “Whatever I say is going to sound shitty, but you know what I mean. He probably hooks up with women all of the time. I saw him taking you in at Jack’s funeral. You’re beautiful, Jenna, and men will look at you, but let him know he can’t touch. You’re an emotional person who isn’t meant to be used and thrown away.”
“Now you just sound like an overprotective big brother,” I say. “I’m fine. And how do you know that I haven’t hooked up with men like him before?”
“You haven’t,” Devin says, and of course he’s right, but sometimes I wish he didn’t know everything about me. “Is Kate still around?” he asks.
“Sometimes,” I say. “She comes and goes as she pleases. Sometimes I don’t even know she’s there. I open the fridge and find all of the food gone and don’t remember eating it, or I wake up and I’m out of cigarettes after I just bought a pack.”
Devin cringes. “I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to move to Jack’s house with you because I wasn’t worried.”
“I know,” I say. “And I do love you for it, but you have to let me be a little bit annoyed about it, too.”
Now he grins. “Fair enough.”
We pay the bill and he walks me to my apartment where his bike is parked out front. “Let me know what happens after you talk to Drake,” he says. “And seriously, if you need me to call for you, I will.”
“I know you will,” I say. “But let me handle this.” Devin nods. We hug and I watch him get on his bike. As a final act of stubbornness he waits for me to get inside instead of letting me watch him drive away. I watch him take off from my front room window. When he’s gone, I take Drake’s card out of my purse and dial him on the phone. He answers on the second ring.
“Jenna,” he purrs. “So nice to hear from you.”
“Devin and I want to move into Jack’s house,” I say. “Can we meet to discuss the details about property transfer of ownership or whatever.”
“Sure,” he says. My heart flips around in my chest and practically climbs up my throat. Who knew his voice could turn me on? “I’ll pick you up tonight at 8:00. Wear a dress. Preferably a nicer one than you wore the other night.” He hangs up immediately. I am completely taken aback but flattered and excited. He doesn’t ask for my address or anything, but I suppose since he’s a lawyer handling my father’s estate he would have that information and don’t think much of it.
Chapter 6
I’m wearing a dress as ordered. It’s yellow, short, strapless, and transparent to the point where I have to change my underwear four times in order to get it to where you can’t see my panty lines because of the way the material clings to my skin. On my left thigh is a spray of pink embroidered flowers and that is pretty much the entire design of the dress. It’s definitely one of my more expensive pieces of clothing. I blew nearly an entire paycheck on it at a little boutique in one of the nicer Chicago neighborhoods where there’s a Starbucks on every corner where blonde girls triple park their VW Jettas to run in but they always take their dog that fits perfectly inside of their purse. That’s the kind of girl I imagine Drake Carroll taking out to dinner, not me, so at least I can look the part for tonight, minus the blonde hair. It’s nearly 90 degrees outside and the sun is down. I won’t freeze despite my lack of material to cover me up. My shoes are an afterthought, which are gold strappy four inch heels that I can barely walk in. I intend to carry them most of the evening if I have to, but they match and I find a gold purse that I happened to buy the exact same day in case of emergency. I’d deem tonight an emergency.