Page 48 of Her Devils

I stifle the eye roll that comes naturally at his rhetorical question, because I know this has been one of the worst days of his career since he started competing. “I’m here to party just like you,” I offer cautiously.

He checks me out, his brown eyes roving over my short dress. “Let’s party then.” He nods. “What are you drinking?”

Despite how busy the bar is, the bartender comes to serve us as soon as Darrius lifts two fingers in the air.

“Yes, sir?” the man asks as Darrius throws back his drink with one single gulp.

“One triple scotch, neat, for me, and whatever the lady wants.”

I hesitate. With the long line, I hadn’t thought this far ahead when I approached the bar. “I’ll have a double shot of Jameson on the rocks, please,” I request without thinking.

Darrius’s penetrating gaze pins me down for a long moment as the bartender prepares our drinks. “Hmm, I hadn’t pegged you for a whiskey drinker, Len. The last time we really partied together, we were drinking vodka, if I recall correctly.”

He’s referring to the night of my eighteenth birthday, when he broke my heart for the first time.

“Yeah, well, it’s been a year, things have changed,” I reply, not adding that we’ve been to a few parties since I’ve been back, but he was too busy with his new girlfriend to hang out with me.

Yeah, I know, bitter as fuck. His and Kiara’s betrayal still stings. Sue me.

“We can hang out now,” he offers, downing half his drink in one go. “As you can see, no one wants to party with a fucking loser.”

My bitterness ebbs away at his tone. “Of course people want to party with you. They can’t if you sit all the way over here by yourself though.”

“No one even knows I’m here,” he scoffs. “They all want to hang out with your brother and his friends.”

Stepbrother, I think, but I don’t correct him. “Oh come on, D.” I try to cheer him up. “You know that’s total bullshit. You’re Darrius Penn, the captain of Cove Angels. Even the bartender ignored the line of people who have been waiting forever for a drink to serve you.”

His frown deepens. “That’s not because of who I am, Len.”

“No?”

His smirk is totally mirthless. “You’d be surprised how attentive bartenders are when you give them a couple of Benjamins.”

Okay, I guess my attempt to cheer him up didn’t go as planned. “It might be the case, but you need to shake today off, D. It was just the first event of the season, you’ll have plenty of chances to qualify for nationals. One bad day doesn’t mean anything at this point.”

He covers my hand with his as some of the tension in his shoulders seems to disappear. “Thank you, Len. You always know what to say to make me feel better. If only everyone was like you. But I’m surrounded by people who want to see me fail—from your mom’s new fucking husband and his team of amateurs to my bitch of a girlfriend, who decided to pick a fight with me just before I had to jump.”

I’m not surprised by the fact that Darrius is trying to shift the blame for his poor performance onto others. He’s never been a good loser, whether it was at a board game as kids or a varsity game in high school. Obviously nothing has changed when it comes to his diving career.

He doesn’t give me the opportunity to say anything before reacting to my silence. “What? Don’t tell me that you’re on Kiara’s side!”

Kind of?

For as much as my friendship with Kiara is unsalvageable, I don’t blame her completely. “Darrius, you must admit that she had a good reason to be upset. I saw that video of you and that girl last night.”

He doesn’t even try to argue with me or deny the evidence. “If only those fucking Cove Devils stayed away from my team and my fucking life, I wouldn’t have a furious girlfriend on my hands. Those assholes know how important it is to let off steam before a day of diving. They built their fucking name on it, but the second I do it, Cox tips off the queen of social media gossip. He was just fucking salty that he was trying to close the deal with that girl, but she lost interest the minute she saw me.”

I take a sip of my drink, trying to hide the sudden wave of jealousy that rears its ugly head at the thought of Peyton with someone else.

He might not be my boyfriend, but as long as our deal is on, he agreed to be exclusive.

Darrius’s eyes gleam with satisfaction, and that makes me reconsider my knee-jerk reaction. He and Peyton hate each other, so I can’t just take his word if he’s trying to make Peyton look bad.

“Yeah, that might be true,” I say, unable to bite my tongue, “but Peyton is single, you aren’t. Shouldn’t you ‘let off steam’ with your girlfriend?”

He empties his glass, signaling to the bartender for another drink. “You don’t understand, Lenley. The world I live in is exciting for sure, and always in the fast lane with trophies and sponsors, but with all that fame comes a lot of pressure to perform and be the best. My ex, Lisa, didn’t understand that a quickie in the bathroom with a groupie before a big event didn’t mean I didn’t care. That’s why we ended things right before you came back.”

I ignore his patronizing tone. “So the rumors about you cheating on her were true.”

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