Page 102 of Cuffed By Love

Four days.

That’s how long it’s been since I’ve seen Mira properly. As much as I love Megan, I honestly cannot wait for her to go back home. I’m fucking exhausted. Her visit was only supposed to last a week, but now she’s moved things around to stay three more days. I’m due to fly to Italy for the conference with Mira in six days. That’s the only thing that’s keeping me sane right now. Two days alone with Mira. I’ve missed spending time with her, and after the emotional talk we had, I’ve been bursting to see her. The way she was crying damn near wrecked me. I don’t want to be the reason she sheds a tear.

Levi is spending less and less time here. I can only assume he’s with her or hauled up with his idiot friends.

Speaking of friends, I need to see Logan. I met up with him briefly after I came back, but it’s been one thing after another since then. So much has happened in a month. I feel like I’ve been back a year already.

It’s four in the morning, and I’m wide awake. My throat feels parched. I lean up to drink from the water bottle next to my bed but find it’s empty. With a sigh, I push the covers off and walk out of the bedroom toward the kitchen to grab another one from the fridge. Just as I round the corner, I crash into something warm in the dark. I hear a little squeak and recognise the sound instantly. Mira.

My arm goes around her waist to steady her when she almost goes tumbling back from the force she hit me. She’s only a tiny thing, so it doesn’t take much to knock her over. Mira’s hands come up, and she rests them on my bare chest. “Tinks?”

“Dev?” The way she says my name so softly causes every hair on my body to go up.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, surprised and almost instantly regret it. She’s here with Levi. What else?

“Uhm, Levi and I were at the cinema with Lex and Logan. It was close by, and the movie ran late, so he suggested I stay here.” She explains, almost breathlessly.

I drop my arm from around her and step back. I hadn’t realised I clenched my jaw till it ached and throbbed. “Right,” I respond curtly and walk around her, moving further into the kitchen.

“I hope it’s not a problem?” I hear her say from behind me, and I shake my head. “I did try to tell hi—”

“It’s fine, Mira.” I open the fridge. The light illuminates the room a little, and I see her. She’s wearing a t-shirt… my t-shirt while she slips into bed with my brother. I didn’t realise I was staring at her until she shifts awkwardly, her lower lip between her teeth. I grab a bottle of water and close the fridge—harder than I intended. The bottles rattle inside. I walk over to her and stop just as I pass her by. “My shirt looks good on you,” I murmur in her ear. Mira looks down at herself, and she slowly lifts her head to look up at me. I couldn’t see her face properly. I can only make out her silhouette, feel her breath on my face. As much as it pisses me off to see her with my bother, I need to learn to deal with it. How many times are we going to have the same argument? I want her, and I can’t do shit about it. They’re both insisting they’re just friends and expect me to believe it. What are they, fuck buddies?

“I didn’t know it was yours. I just picked up the first thing I found.”

I scoff. “Don’t worry, if I know my brother, it won’t stay on very long,” I utter caustically and go to walk off, but stop when Mira grabs hold of my wrist, stopping me.

“I’m not so crude that I would sleep with your brother under your roof, Dev.” She declares stiffly, and I bite my lip and nod.

“Well, thank you very much for being ever so considerate,” I say bleakly. “I can’t, however, promise to be as considerate,” I add suggestively. Mira drops my hand like it scalded her, and she curls her fingers into a ball.

Low blow, Devin.

“Good for you.” She hisses and walks off toward Levi’s bedroom. I keep my eyes on her, my chest rising and falling with the rage simmering inside me. Mira turns as she goes to close the door and looks at me. I don’t look away, neither does she. She eventually pushes the door shut, and the click is almost as deafening as a roar of thunder to me.

I almost hurled the bottle of water in my hand across the room but caught myself just in time. My lungs burned, my hands shook. I want to fucking scream. I want to storm over to that bedroom, kick the door down and drag her as far away as it takes for us to be alone. Just us. She doesn’t belong with him, in his bed, in his arms. Mira fit’s perfectly with me. We’re like two puzzle pieces that fit together and with no other. We just can’t seem to find our way to each other.

I place my hands on the kitchen island and bow my head, trying urgently to calm the fury flaming in my gut. When I eventually made it to bed, I didn’t sleep a wink. Images of my brother touching and kissing her were running riot in my head. I was dreading the morning and hoped Mira would leave by the time Megan woke up. I don’t want them to meet. I’ve successfully kept Mira secreted all these years. I’m also worried Megan will take one look at me watching Mira and see all the conflicting feeling’s I’ve been fighting all these years.

But of course, me and my stupid luck, Megan, woke up early. I’m sitting at the kitchen island, staring at the newspaper but not reading anything. My eyes keep shifting over to Levi’s bedroom door, my heart up in my throat. My nightmare becoming a reality when the door opens, and Levi walks out laughing.

“Shut up.” Comes Mira’s voice from behind him. They halt at the entryway to the kitchen when they see Megan and me in the kitchen.

“Good Morning.” Megan chirps excitedly when she sees Levi and Mira. Mira’s startled gaze finds mine, and she shifts behind Levi. Thankfully, she’s fully dressed in a black leather skirt and white tank top and not in my shirt.

“Morning,” Levi greets, rubbing the back of his neck, looking every bit as awkward as Mira, who was standing behind him.

“I didn’t know you had company, Levi,” Megan says, putting down her cup of coffee and moving toward Mira, who sends me a fleeting look. “Aren’t you going to introduce your friend?”

Levi looks back at Mira and nods. His hand slips into hers, and he pulls her to his side. “Mira, this is Megan, Devin’s girlfriend. Megan, this is Mira.”

“Soon to be, fiancée, thank you very much.” I grate my teeth. My jaw tightens when Mira looks over at me. Fucking hell! We spoke about marriage once, and she keeps saying that. I don’t even want to get married. Her father is the one pushing the issue. “Hi Mira, it’s so nice to meet you. I’ve never met one of Levi’s girlfriends before.”

“I’m not his girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” they say at the same time. Megan blinks and looks from Levi to Mira.

“Oh,” she utters, bewildered. “I just assumed when you came out of his room you were…together.”

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