Devyn Blair is just one of the five Blair children, and she's a third of the Blair triplets. She's stubborn, hotheaded, and strong-willed. Raised by a former Marine for a dad and a cowgirl for a mom, she doesn't take anyone's shit and she's not afra...
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The second they arrived at the dance, all eyes were on them. Hayes walked around the front of his car and opened the door for Devyn, giving her his hand and helping her out. Quiet gasps filled the parking lot at the sight of her exiting Hayes's recognizable Camaro.
She suddenly felt self-conscious with all eyes on her and lowered her head as a response. But then Hayes's hand found its way to her lower back. The warmth of his hand radiated through her, essentially calming her nerves.
Josh and Brynn, and Matt and Alex parked on either side of Hayes's car and exited their vehicles, as well. Alex and Brynn didn't waste any time before they looped their arms through their boyfriends' and headed inside.
Sparing a glance in their direction, Hayes held his arm out to Devyn. She eyed him for a moment before slowly looping her arm around his, and he lead them inside. With each step they took, Devyn became more and more aware of the intrigued stares she was receiving, no doubt because she arrived in Hayes's car and is walking inside with him.
Hayes is notorious for keeping girls at an arms length. He exudes a playboy persona but that couldn't be farther from the truth, which is he could care less. Sure, the girls at school throw themselves at him any chance they get but he doesn't entertain them. Devyn was fully intending on driving herself to the dance, but Hayes surprised her by escorting her to his car.
His behavior recently has Devyn's mind running at full speed as she tries to decipher his motives. First, he's kinder to her, then he practically orders her to let him help with her situation, and now he's walking her inside the venue for the homecoming dance.
No wonder she can feel a few stink eyes from a few girls lingering in the hall leading into the dance space; they want to be the ones on Hayes's arm.
The music was penetrating, the bass reverberating throughout the room. Devyn could feel the vibrations through her feet. She scanned the room and saw a snack and drink table to the left while the obvious dance floor was to the right. Several students were already jumping and dancing to the beat of the music, no doubt sweating already.
Devyn looked around for her siblings, and she spotted them making their way to the drinks table. She tugged on Hayes's arm and steered him towards them.
"So, what do you think, Dev?" Alex asked as soon as she saw her sister.
Devyn looked around, "It's loud."
"It's a dance." Josh laughed. "It's supposed to be loud, sis."
"Smartass," she mumbles, which has Hayes laughing under his breath.
Suddenly, Alex grabs Matt's hand and drags him away. "Let's dance!" she declares.
Matt barely has time to set his drink on a nearby table before he spills on the way to the dance floor. Josh follows his sister's idea; however, he's a little more docile about asking Brynn to dance. He holds out his arm again, and she slips hers through with a smile.
Devyn watches her siblings walk off with their significant others, a genuine and happy smile spread across her face. She's happy her siblings have found their desirable significant other; it brings her joy knowing they're happy with the ones they love.
The music shifts from fast and upbeat to something more slow. Time for a slow dance, Devyn realizes. Hayes is suddenly in front of her, snapping her attention away from her siblings to him. He offers her a soft smile and slowly extends his hand to her.
"Shall we dance, Miss Blair?" he asks in a formal manner.
She stares at his hand, counting the number of times she's grabbed his hand just tonight. If she takes his hand again, what number would that be? At this rate, she's lost count. But she hasn't forgotten the feel of her hand in his, the warmth she feels when his fingers intertwine with hers.
Raising her gaze to meet his soft eyes, Devyn slowly raises her hand and places it in his. Hayes rubs his thumb over the back of her hand, and the warmth she's becoming accustomed to spreads through her, sending another chill down her spine.
Hayes leads her to the dance floor. They stop almost in the middle of the floor, attracting more attention than Devyn would care for but being with him right now has her not caring at all what everyone might be saying and thinking.
Hayes steps closer, his grip on her hand tightening as he slips his other around her waist, tugging her closer in the process. Devyn thought they were close to each other at her house when her mom was taking pictures, but they are certainly closer than that now.
His hand on her back has goosebumps rising on her bare shoulder, and she inhales a sharp breath as a result, their eyes never leaving each other's. She's not even sure what song is playing right now; that's the last thing she's worried about right now.
They sway together to the rhythm of the song, playing off each other's movement almost perfectly. Every so often, Hayes's fingers rub her back, the sequins doing little to dampen the pressure of his hand.
"I can't figure you out," Devyn says quietly, her eyes never tearing away from his.
"How do you mean?" he asks.
"Just...you. One minute you and I are at each other's throats and the next you're asking me to dance. To a slow song, no less." Hayes huffs at her explanation. "I'm getting whiplash because of your strange behavior."
Hayes smiles and looks around the dance floor. "I don't think my behavior is any more strange than yours, sunshine."
"Meaning?"
"One minute you show up at my house soaking wet and the next you're acting as if nothing happened," he elaborates.
"That's different," she tells him, finally looking away.
"I'm not downplaying what may or may not have happened that night," he says. Devyn shakes her head in response, so Hayes places his index finger under her chin and forces her to look at him. "I meant what I said before, Devyn. I'm going to help you remember that night, and if the worst case scenario actually happened, then I'm going to help you with that, too."
She darts her eyes back and forth between his eyes as he drops his finger and places his hand back on her waist. "Why? Why are you helping me when you have every reason not to?"
"What reasons would those be?" he counters, dodging her question again.
"Well for starters, you hate me—"
"I don't hate you, Devyn," he says quickly, cutting her off.
She scoffs with a roll of her eyes. "Well you don't like me."
He tightens his hold on her hand even more as he asks, "Says who?"
She quirks a brow at him. "Says you. You've teased and tormented me for years, Hayes. You even ganged up on me with Josh our freshman year and pulled crazy, elaborate pranks on me but never Alex. A clear indication you don't like me."
The corners of his lips turn up, a glint in his eyes. "I like you, Devyn."
She stops short in the middle of the dance floor, her heart skipping a beat. "No, you don't," she argues despite what her gut tells her.
He tugs her closer, if that was even possible. He brushes a strand of hair out of her eye and leans in to whisper in her ear. "If I didn't like you, would I have asked you to dance? Would I be willingly spending time with you?"
"To stay on Josh's good side maybe—"
He locks eyes with her, his face inches from hers. "Would I be willing to risk kissing you in front of everyone—including your brother and sister—if I didn't like you?"
Devyn was stunned into silence. Her mouth parted and formed syllables but nothing came out. Nothing but air. "W-what?" she finally managed.
Before Hayes could answer, the music picked up and everyone on the dance floor resumed jumping and dancing. He smiled deviously at her, then dropped her hand and left the floor, leaving her behind in a confused daze as she watched him walk away.
It took someone bumping into her as they danced to snap her out of her daze. Devyn walked off the dance floor and back to the table she set her phone and clutch on. She looked around for Hayes but couldn't see him, so she pulled her phone from her clutch and unlocked it.
And waiting on the screen for her was another text message.
You look absolutely beautiful tonight.
Her heart sped up, and she looked around the venue. She knows everyone dancing on the floor, or at the very least, has seen them around school, enough so they don't warrant any suspicious attention; however, she suddenly feels confined, like she's suffocating in these four walls, the new message having something to do with it.
Devyn grabs her phone and clutch and stalks out of the room, her heels clacking on the floor the second she steps into the hallway while she ignores the stares she feels on her. She's not sure where she's going until she winds up at Hayes's car, the parking lot lights reflecting off the black surface.
She saunters up to the hood and leans against it, her breathing ragged. A little voice in the back of her head tells her she shouldn't be outside in the dark by herself, especially after receiving a message like that, but what else was she suppose to do? She didn't know herself, so she did the only thing she thought she could do.
