Page 24 of Inseparable
I gulp over the acidic taste in my mouth. Adrenaline courses through my veins, and butterflies have taken up residence in my stomach. My limbs are almost visibly trembling as I open the door.
I make no sound, even though I’m dying inside. Devin is nude, flat on his back, on the large bed, and a naked blonde is on top of him, riding him energetically like she’s on a bucking bronco. I’m rooted to the spot, unable to tear my eyes away even though I already want to erase the image from my mind. Devin grabs her hips, grunting as he urges her to move faster, completely oblivious to my presence.
Nothing new there.
Nausea swims up my throat, and I think I might be sick. Becky turns around, still bouncing up and down on him, grinning manically when she sees me. “Here for some tips, Mary?” She winks, reaching behind her and cupping Devin as she continues to ride him.
His eyes blink open, and he notices us for the first time. “What the fuck?” His words are slurred, his gaze unfocused.
A tear trickles down my cheek as unrestrained heartache plugs every empty space inside me. “How could you do this?”
“Not everything revolves around you, Ange,” he snarls, lifting Becky off him and depositing her on the bed beside him. She starts mouthing off, but he glares at her and she clams up, tugging the covers up under her arms. I want to avert my eyes, not to look at the sight of the love of my life naked beside my archenemy, but it’s like my eyes are superglued to his. I can’t look anywhere but at him. He wraps a hand around his erection, stroking up and down. “Liking what you see, Ange?” He winks, and my mouth floods with bile.
“You make me sick.”
He snorts, continuing to stroke himself as his gaze lands on my chest. “Showing a lot of skin there, baby doll.” He slurs his words. “Was that for my benefit orAyden’s?” He spits the word out like it physically hurts him to say it.
“Screw you, asshole.”
He laughs again, and my hands clench into fists at my side. Sounds of voices behind me draw my attention to the growing crowd. Devin notices too, finally dragging a sheet over himself. He sits up straighter in the bed. “Now, now. Don’t be so flippant, not when we both know how much you want that. You’re just pissed because I turned you down.”
Becky bursts out laughing, and a few titters erupt from the crowd at my back. My cheeks inflame.
Mariah tugs on my elbow. “We’re leaving,” she whispers furiously, glowering at Devin.
“What happened to you?” I shake my head. “I don’t even know you at all.”
His face contorts, and he sneers at me. “Know me as in the biblical sense?” He smirks. “No…you’re right. You don’t know me in that way, and you never will. Girls like you don’t know how to please guys like me. Unlike”—he frowns, pausing for a second as he drunkenly stares at Becky—“uh, Becky here.” She shoots him a withering look as he slings his arm around her neck, smacking a loud kiss off her cheek. “Becky knows how to fuck like a porn star, and I don’t get any of the grief. You, on the other hand, are all about feelings and hearts and love and shit. Kill me fucking now. Couldn’t you just be happy with the orgasm I gave you? Nah, you had to whine and moan and beg for more.” The crowd erupts in laughter, and more tears slide silently down my face.
It’s that exact moment when my heart ruptures in my chest. I can almost physically feel it. The splintering and cracking, the breaking apart of my heart and my soul. The death of something vital inside me.
Strong arms wrap around my waist, and I’m lifted from behind. “Let’s not do this here,” Ayden says calmly, tucking me under his arm. He levels a vicious look at Devin. “We’re done. And if you ever go near Lina again, I will personally beat you to within an inch of your life.”
“Fuck you, douche.” Devin flips Ayden the bird as Becky nestles into his side, cooing and smiling like the cat that got the cream.
Ayden shields me protectively as we make our way out of the house. He settles me in the car first, buckling my belt, and staring at me with wide-eyed concern. I’m rocking back and forth in the seat when he cranks up the engine.
The sobs start in earnest the second he pulls away from Zach’s house, and once the dam is breached, there’s no stopping it.
CHAPTER TEN
I’m still sobbing when we arrive back home. The lights are out in both our houses, so Ayden parks in my driveway and carries me to the front door. My face is buried in his neck as I cry.
“I know you’re upset, Lina, but you’re gonna wake your mom, and I know you don’t want that,” he whispers.
I sniffle, swiping at the hot tears coursing down my cheeks. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I cling to him as I attempt to stifle my cries. We enter the house and he closes the door carefully while keeping one arm underneath me, holding me up. Silently, we go to my room, and he places me on the bed, stroking my face with immense tenderness. “Do you want me to stay or go?”
“Stay,” I sniffle. “Please.” I turn my back to him, yanking my clothes off and tossing them on the ground. I scrape my hair back off my face and tie it into a messy ponytail before sliding under the covers in my undies. I don’t even have the energy to pull on my pajamas, let alone wash my face free of makeup. Ayden has stripped down to his boxer briefs, and he climbs in beside me.
We face one another, on our sides, and he reaches out, twining our hands. “He’s an asshole, Lina, but I know he cares about you. That wasn’t him speaking tonight. He was wasted.”
“Don’t make excuses for him.”
“I’m not. It doesn’t excuse his behavior, and I’m not saying it for his benefit. I’m saying it for yours because I’ve never seen you look so distraught, and I know how much he means to you. I… I know you love him.” His face contorts unpleasantly.
“I don’t want to love him if that counts for anything.” Truth. In this moment, I would give anything to have my heart belong toanyonebut Devin.
“In his own way, he loves you too.”
