Page 111 of Her Devils

22.

Not Worth The Hype

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Lenley

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IUSE BOTH PHONES PROVIDEDby Wild Horse to film the guys until the last possible minute, when everyone except the BASE jumpers and the safety officers in charge of the invitational are asked to leave the top floor.

I’m planning to watch from the cordoned area reserved for team members and accredited press by the landing spot.

I’ve done my job, but I’ve avoided Darrius the entire time. I’m furious with him because of what he did to Payton, but I don’t think this is the place or time to confront him.

I don’t know if it’s the tension about the men who mean the most in my life jumping from almost three hundred feet—or a thousand meters, but if I think of the height using the metric system, it sounds even scarier—or the many glasses of orange juice and cups of coffee I had at breakfast, but I leave the elevator on the first floor to use the bathroom before stepping outside.

I do my business quickly, relieved that the tower is closed to the public today and there are no lines.

I’m actually the only one here.

I check the time and decide that I have time to give my makeup a small touch up—I want to look good if I get caught on camera.

“Ah, my favorite person in this godforsaken country. I’m surprised you could get to the top of the tower without passing out.”

Speaking of favorite people, I frown when Kiara leaves the stall next to the one I just used and stops by the sinks to wash her hands and check her own makeup.

“What? You aren’t talking to me now?” she provokes me, leaning against the sink and resting her hand on her hip in her version of a power pose. “I should be the one who has a grudge against you.”

I turn to look at my ex-bestie, wondering if Peyton wasn’t the only one getting shit-faced last night, because Kiara sounds totally delusional. “What the fuck are you talking about?” I glare. “Last I checked, I wasn’t the one who went after my best friend’s lifelong crushandmanipulated him to get me a job at her family company. Or do I have the facts wrong?”

It’s unbelievable that I never noticed how selfish Kiara is before. Everything is always about her and what she wants. I guess it never hit me until what she wanted was the one thing I had wanted my whole life.

“You couldn’t even let me have this, huh?” she continues as if I hadn’t spoken. “Princess Lenley had to get her way even if she’s always had everything handed to her on a silver platter.”

I check the time on my phone. I’m not going to miss the jumps for whatever new beef Kiara has with me. “Sure. Whatever you say, Kiki. If you’ll excuse me, I’m here in a work capacity, not as a girlfriend, so I have actual work to do.”

I turn on my heel to leave, but her voice breaks, making me turn to look at her again. “He broke up with me. I hope you’re happy now.”

It takes me a second to make sense of her words. “He broke up—”

“Darrius!” she yells. “He broke up with me last night!”

Fuck.

“I know you don’t believe me, but I’m sorry.”

“Bullshit!” she bites out, her voice full of barely repressed anger.

“I’m not saying I’m going to come to your room with ice cream and rent us cheesy rom-coms. That part of our relationship is over for good. But I know how it feels to have your heart broken, especially by Darrius, so I know it doesn’t feel good.”

“You’re so full of shit!” she bellows. “Don’t act like you aren’t the reason why he dumped me, or do you think I don’t know what you’ve been doing? Fucking the Cove Devils and rubbing it in Darrius’s face every damn chance you got! You’re pathetic.”

I mean... okay. “I guess that part is true.” I nod. “I deserve it. But you’ve known I was in love with him since we were twelve, and you still fucked him, and then you made it so he got you a job with the team, so I couldn’t get away from seeing you together. Let’s be honest with each other for once in our lives, Kiki. If Darrius had really cared about you, if he had been in love with you, then he wouldn’t have ended things no matter who I fucked.”

To my surprise, she agrees, “I know, and I know I was a bitch to you.”

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