Page 33 of Duty Became Desire

“Own good, Demi? We hated each other!”

“Really?” I watched as Demi crossed her arms, with James right behind her. “Is that why it took so long to finally file divorce papers? Mind you, one’s that aren’t complete?”

“Don’t change the subject,” Skylar said, her voice raising. I rubbed her back to soothe her, not needing everyone to hear it. “I want the full story, now, Demi.”

Chapter twenty

Skylar

His touch was soothing, relaxing, calming. All things I have missed in the last month, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to tell him that.

Especially not as worked up as I was at the moment.

“You were drunk enough to be wild and carefree, Skylar. You both might have had too much, but there were no drugs, there was no trickery. I know you, Skylar, and I know when you get to the point of carefree enough with your drinking, you will give into your deep passions, the ones you block away.

“I know that you wanted Alec. I know he wanted you. But for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why you two never acted on it. Just because of one comment in the past? It was dumb, Skylar, and you know it. You went out of your way to make things horrible for him.

“But you can’t tell me that these last few months weren’t the best with him. That you didn’t see sides of him you liked or that you wanted to get to know on a deeper level. I just did the one thing to allow you to stop blocking yourself and to be happy.

“You weren’t ever going to give him a chance. And honestly, I’m not sure he would have taken it if you had. So, I paired up with my fiancé, telling him I would forgo the huge wedding, not that I wanted it, if he helped me plan this one. We both knew you’d be perfect together, so we had no problem helping fate along.

“We knew a celebration would be in order, and we figured it was the perfect time to get you hitched. Thereafter, we’d just keep throwing you together so that you could learn more about each other and see that you were the only ones stopping yourselves from giving into this inferno.

“And let me tell you, it’s hot.”

She paused, and with each word she spoke, I could feel my anger ebbing away. Oh, I was still upset with her that she took it upon herself, but I also can’t fault her logic.

Because she’s right.

I had liked spending time with him.

I had liked the sides he showed me.

And I had liked how he made me feel. Not just in the bedroom. But that was all a plus too because he had done things no one had done before.

“You have every right to be upset; I don’t blame you. We will own up to the mistake of not telling you, of really doing it behind your backs. But I want you to examine this one tidbit of information before we walk out that door.

“Those divorce papers aren’t fully signed. There are signatures missing from both of you. If, deep down, you truly wanted this to end, don’t you think you would have been more diligent in making sure every line was filled out like it needed to be.”

With that, she stepped over and kissed my cheek lightly.

“I just want you to be happy, Skylar. I did what I thought was best, as your best friend. What you do with it is all up to you.”

With that, both her and James walked out, leaving me alone with my racing thoughts, and Alec.

Alec, who was still holding me.

Who was still offering me comfort.

“Did you get the papers back?” I whispered, finally snapping my spine straight and turning to him.

“I did. It seemed she was right; I didn’t sign on every x. But then again, I didn’t want the divorce.”

I licked my lips, my heart pounding even faster now. I didn’t want to confess my feelings, but if he was offering the olive branch, I needed to accept it too. And offer my own in exchange.

“I didn’t either. I don’t agree with their tactics, and I think we need to make their life a living hell, but I can’t fault her. She knows me better than anyone.” I glanced down at the buttons on his shirt, wanting to touch him. “She wasn’t wrong,” I whispered.

“On what part?”

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