Page 49 of Her Devils

He shakes his head as he takes another triple serving of scotch from the bartender. “It isn’t cheating. Sex with someone I’ll never see again before a day like today is meaningless.”

“Yeah, tell that to Kiara.” I snort.

Darrius doesn’t pick up on my sarcasm, so his tone is dead serious. “I tried to explain it to her after the event was over. Now it’s up to her. If she doesn’t understand what my world is like, then we’re not going to last.”

It’s hard to explain the tight feeling in my chest at his words. It’s not like I want to defend Kiara after the way she betrayed me, but the words leave my mouth before I can think better of it. “That’s a pretty shitty deal though, D. What you’re saying is that if a woman wants to be with you, she has to accept that you’ll step out on her every time you’re competing.”

He sets his glass down on the tempered glass of the bar. “I’m not the only one, Len. Look around. It isn’t hard to see that it’s how it works in our world. Why do you think my parents got divorced? Because Dad couldn’t keep it in his pants, especially once Anna and I were born and Mom couldn’t follow him all around the world for exhibitions and official competitions. Patrick had that terrible accident, but do you think he and Gina would have gone the distance if he lived and kept competing?”

I bristle at the mention of mypapà. “I think they would have,” I bite out, not even trying to hide the heat in my tone. “Mom was the love ofPapà’s life, and I saw how happy my parents were together every day. If you want to fuck around, I won’t judge you, D, but you shouldn’t expect anyone to accept your shitty behavior. Not even Kiara.”

His reaction to the disappointment in my tone is the same as it’s always been every time Darrius and I ever had a disagreement and I didn’t let him win.

“Grow up, Len!” He laughs. “Looking at the world through rose-colored glasses was cute when you were a tween. Relationships are hard, and you’re only going to get hurt if you expect a knight on a white horse or whatever the heroes of your romance novels do. People cheat and bonds break. It’s life.”

I’m not even angry about the way he’s speaking to me, I’m just really, really disappointed. “You never used to be like this, D. You’ve changed.”

He shrugs. “I’ve grown up, Len. That’s another reason why I didn’t find you attractive. You’re still a little girl dreaming about knights in shining armor and grand romantic gestures. That’s all bullshit, baby girl. And maybe I was blind and never noticed your hot body, but if we’d ever tried to be more than friends, it would have been a disaster. I’m not a one-woman kind of man, at least not yet.”

I don’t know what to say. “Sure, whatever you say, Darrius. If you want to be a shitty boyfriend, go ahead, but don’t try to make it look like it’s normal. I don’t know what Kiara will decide to do, but I wouldn’t stay in a relationship where my man doesn’t even want to try to be faithful. I don’t believe that relationships are easy, but I think you’re wrong, and men like mypapàare proof of that.”

Darrius’s eyes are focused behind me, and when I turn, I see that he’s looking at Peyton, who’s at a table with Channing, Jameson, Sarah, and a few skydivers from different teams, including Trent and Niko.

Everyone is drinking and laughing, but his blue eyes are fixed on Darrius and me.

“Seriously, Len, grow up. After all, your newfriendsare the fucking champions at fucking around with groupies. They have built their entire image on it, but they are shitty divers, and being fuckboys is all they are good at.”

I swear I wanted to comfort him when I saw how sad he was, but I can’t help my reaction to the way he’s talking about the guys. “I know you and the Cove Devils hate each other, but jealousy doesn’t become you, D. They still won every event today fair and square.”

I walk away before he can react to my words.

I join the guys at their table, slipping into a seat next to Sarah. We drink and party the night away, and the entire time, I have four sets of eyes on me—my three Devils and Darrius, who looks like a fallen angel tonight.

11.

Pierced Dicks, Flowers, And Booty Calls

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