Page 94 of Bought and Broken

Devon weaseled her way under my skin again. I fell for it all too easily, the same way I did last time. So no, I’m not mad that I’m here, but I can’t trust her enough to be in a relationship with her. Not officially. So where does that leave us?

“I think there is a lot going on right now and bringing it up to your brother won’t be a good idea.”

“We don’t need his permission,” she says, reaching for her wine.

“I didn’t say we did. But I already told you my reservations about him finding out. I don’t want to put you in the middle. I don’t want you to have to choose.”

Because she’ll choose him.

“We don’t have to tell him, Tate.”

“I don’t want to hide you, Devon.”

“I’m already doing that!” Her frustration is evident in her tone, but also in the way her eyes water.

“We both knew this wouldn’t be easy. We—”

“It is easy, Tate. You’re the one making it difficult.” She gets up, grabbing her plate and glass. “What do I have to do for you to pick me for once in your life?”

She storms off, and I let those words sit with me. My hand clenches around my fork and I grab my wine, emptying the glass.

She thinks I’ve never chosen her? Is this a joke? Did she so casually forget what she did to me, and who was the one not picking the other? Because she sure as fuck wasn’t picking me when she was fucking someone else. The way that infuriates me is scary. It’s always made me mad, but right now? Fuck, it’s bad.

I take a deep and slow breath, which does nothing to calm me down. So, I do it a few more times before getting up and going to fix this.

I find her on the patio, wineglass in hand and dinner plate on the table beside her. I take the glass from her and put it on the table. With my hands on her shoulders, I make her look at me.

“Don’t you understand that I just want you to be happy?” Truth. “There is nothing in this world that would make me happier than knowing you’re mine. That you’re happy with me.” Way too much truth. “Now isn’t the right time for us to figure this out. It’s still new to us. We could make a mess of this again.” Truth—though, I’m sure we already have.

“We won’t,” she says shakily. Putting her hands on top of mine. “We’re different, Tate. Things will be different this time. Won’t they?”

I’d like to think they will be, but I can’t be sure. Because I still don’t feel like I can trust her the way I need to. I’m not sure I ever will. Meaning all I’ve done is make a disaster out of us. We’re a ticking time bomb.

Chapter Forty-Four

Devon

I hate having to pretend I hate Tate in front of my brother. Being next to him and not being able to touch him is the worst kind of torture. And to think, I so badly wanted nothing to do with him the night of the auction, yet look how things have turned out? Now and then I still wonder if this is all some big trick, if I’m an idiot for trusting him. He broke my heart once, he can easily do it again. Especially when he keeps giving excuses about why we can’t officially be together and why we can’t tell my brother. The problem is they make sense.

But none of this should matter. Everything for my house went through. It’s final. I’m an official home owner. All I need to do now is figure out when I’m leaving.

“Dev, make sure you stick by my side tonight, okay?” Dane says as the limo pulls into the drop off line. He hasn’t moved more than a foot from me since I showed up at home to get ready. I had to scream at him to leave me alone so I could get dressed because I wasn’t doing it in front of him.

“I’m not five, Dane, and this isn’t a prison block. I’ll be fine.” I roll my eyes.

“I don’t like the idea of all these guys with egos the size of Canada being on the loose.”

“Perhaps you should have suggested I take a date with me, then?” I say, and I swear I hear Tatum growl.

“You bring a date?” Dane says. “That’s funny.”

I scoff, bringing my attention to my phone. I’ve wanted to text Summer for days. We haven’t talked, and it’s killing me. But I’m not ready to talk to her. She and Dane seemed to work things out—according to him. I haven’t asked what they decided because I can’t talk about any of that yet. That’s their business, and I’ll ask about it later. I’m still hurt by Summer lying to me and feeling like she doesn’t know me like I thought she did.

Tate is the first one out of the limo. He steps to the side, fixing his jacket as Dane gets out and offers me his hand. I get out and am immediately dizzied by the bright flashes from the cameras. This event is a huge charity event that anyone and everyone with money in the area attends. Dad will be around here somewhere with whatever date he found for the night. Likely one of his models.

Dane and I walk first, people shouting questions at us and snapping photos. I hear comments about the new fashion line, the issue with the model stealing stuff, and other things that I have no clue about and ignore. I so badly want to turn around as we reach the end to watch Tate walk. I get a glimpse of him and regret it when I see the way the women are drooling over him.

My blood boils.

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