Page 26 of Inseparable
He looks up at me with bloodshot glassy eyes. “Please, Ange. Don’t shut me out. I need you.”
I beseech Ayden with my eyes. I can’t fold, and I’m too afraid that I’m going to. I need his strength to help me do the right thing. “That’s enough,” Ayden says, cutting in. He grabs Devin by the shoulders, yanking him off me. Devin drops to his butt, pulling his knees up to his chest. Ayden wraps his arm around my waist from behind, and the movement pushes the open shirt wider, exposing my undies. I clutch onto his forearms, and the feel of his skin under my fingertips and his body pressed against mine reinforces my determination.
Devin’s eyes narrow and his nostrils flare as his gaze jumps from Ayden to me and back again. He staggers to his feet, sneering as he straightens up. He glares at me, his eyes trailing up and down my body, noticing Ayden’s shirt and our joint state of undress. “You fucked him?”
“What? No! I…”
He stalks toward me, and Ayden pulls me tighter to his body. “You gavehimyour virginity?”
My cheeks flare up. “Screw you! Whether I did or didn’t is none of your business. I said get the hell out and I meant it.”
“I bet you’re loving this.” Dev glowers at Ayden.
“There isn’t any part of this I’m loving, and I don’t want to beat your ass, but I will if you don’t leave. You’ve done enough damage. Just go.”
Dev throws his leather jacket on the floor, flexing his fists. “Make me.” He moves into a fighting stance.
Ayden steps in front of me, gently nudging me back. “Stay out of this.” He cricks his neck, and his hands ball into fists.
I jump in between them, slamming a hand into each of their chests. “Stop. No fighting.”
“It’s too late for that,” Dev says. “Step aside, Ange. This is between me and Ayd now.”
“The hell I will.” I cross my arms and glare at him. Superfast—especially in his inebriated state—he lifts me up, throwing me over his shoulder and dumping me on the bed. Then Ayden charges him, and they go down, wrestling on the floor. They throw punches at one another, and I wince as flesh impacts flesh, bone crunches, and blood starts flying. I sit cross-legged on the bed, in a sort of daze. When we were kids, Ayden and Devin were always play fighting, and as I watch them throw savage anger-driven punches at one another, I wonder how the hell we got to this place, hating how far we’ve fallen. Still, I can’t make my body move to put a stop to this, so I sit there, morbidly fascinated as they beat the living crap out of one another.
They roll around the floor, crashing into my bedside table, knocking the contents over. Still, they don’t stop, lashing out with their fists, grunting and groaning as they release months of pent-up frustration.
Ayden is heavier and broader than Devin, but Dev is the one skilled with his fists, and it doesn’t take much for him to gain the upper hand. He sits on top of Ayden, holding him down with his thighs as he rains blows on his face. Ayden’s head flips from side to side with each successive punch, and he raises his arm to try to shove Devin off. Devin presses down on his arm, slamming it to the floor, repeatedly smashing his fist into the bone. Ayden lets out an almighty roar as a ripping, creaking sound reverberates around the room. That breaks me out of my daze, and I jump up at the same time Mom comes running into the room.
“Jesus Christ! Boys! Stop it!” She grabs Devin by the shoulders and hauls him off Ayden.
I race to Ayden as he rolls on his side, clutching his arm and wailing.
“Oh my God, Ayd. Are you okay?”
“Ambulance,” he moans, cradling his arm to his chest. “My arm.”
I kiss his cheek, smoothing hair back off his bloody, bruised face, before I hop up and grab my purse, rummaging for my cell. I punch the buttons with trembling fingers.
Mom holds Devin back, glancing at Ayden with a horror-struck look. “What did you do?” she whispers, shock layering her tone.
Devin shucks out of her embrace, dropping to his knees beside Ayden. I talk to the operator, watching as tears spill down his cheeks.
“I’m sorry, Ayden. I’m so sorry.”
I end the call and stomp to Devin’s side. “I want you out of my house. Right now. That’s his throwing arm and I think you’ve just broken it.” Mom is crouched by Ayden’s side, gently examining his arm with a worried expression.
The look of remorse on Devin’s face is genuine, but I’m too mad to care. “You ruin everything, Devin, and I can’t do this anymore.” I yank him up by his shirt. “Get out of my house, and get out of my life.”
He opens his mouth to offer more empty apologies and false promises, no doubt, but I shake my head. “There is nothing left to be said. I don’t want to see you anymore. From now on, you are dead to me.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Devin
I’m standing in our decrepit bathroom, under the dim light, naked from the waist up, washing the blood from my skin, and wondering how I’ve sunk so low. That night in Ange’s bedroom replays in my mind, like it has fifty thousand other times since it happened.
I didn’t want it to happen. Didn’t mean for it to happen.
