Page 99 of Not In The Contract

I chewed a mouthful of gnocchi so delicious, I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. Hayden really had an eye for food. Or a stomach, whatever.

“I overheard you talking to Elliot at brunch,” I said. “And I know we’ve already talked about it, but I was thinking about what you’ll be doing once you leave school.”

Devon’s face paled but she kept her gaze on her own food, waiting for me to continue.

“It’s a touchy subject,” I conceded, watching her carefully. “But I’d like to help, if I can. If you’d like me to.”

She slowly swallowed and rested her forearm on the counter, her fork hovering over her bowl. “How would you do that?”

“Help you?” I clarified. She nodded. “I’ve got a healthy network of good people who would look out for you. There are people you could talk to about career choices—which would be best long-term, which make the most money. I have resources I’d like to use to help.”

Devon set her fork down, her eyes pinned on a spot on the counter.

“If I’ve overstepped,” I began, “then we don’t have to talk about it at all.”

“No, you haven’t over-stepped.” She smiled. “It’s just unexpected—no, notunexpected, really. I’m not sure how to explain it.”

“I have time.” I smiled.

“It feels a little like cheating,” she confessed.

I blinked in shock. “Cheating?”

“Like I’m being offered a cheat code for life, or something.”

“It’s not a cheat code, Devon,” I assured her. “Just help. I don’t expect anything in return, either.”

“Can I ask why?”

“Of course.” I chuckled. “I figured that since I was already a part of your thesis, I may as well. Besides, I think that no matter what you choose to do, you could do some real good in the world. I want to make sure that happens.”

Devon’s cheeks darkened. “You might be biased there,” she said, her voice smaller than it usually was.

“I’ll have you know that I pride myself in my consistent lack of bias in most things,” I pointed out, relieved when her lips curved into a smile. “But I have had the privilege of getting to know you and seeing what you want for the world firsthand. You can’t blame me if I stand in your corner, can you?”

She looked at me for a long moment, her eyes darting from mine to my mouth and back. Her pulse thudded in her neck, and I’d have given away my fortune to know what she was thinking at that moment.

“I want to help kids in the system,” she said finally, the sound of her voice cracking through the silence like a clap of thunder and almost startling me.

“Yeah?”

She nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it since we first talked about it,” she said. “And when you took me to visit the orphanage site, it solidified a little more in my head.”

“Have you thought about how you’re going to do that?”

“I have.” She sighed. “But I haven’t landed on a single focus. I just know that I want to help the kids who are left behind; the ones forgotten by the system.”

“I think that’s beautiful.” I grinned, wanting to kiss the uncertainty from her voice. “I think if you give yourself some time, you’ll find exactly where you’re needed most.”

Devon smiled, loose and calm, and the knot in my chest eased. “Thank you, Alex,” she said, reaching across the space between us to squeeze my hand. “Really.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

33. The Proverbial Spanner

Devon

“Youlooklikeakicked puppy.”