Page 118 of Cuffed By Love

“You fucked my brother!” I gape at him, horrified.

“Why don’t you open up the window and scream it a little louder so the rest of the world can hear you.” I grouse hotly. “You have no right to be angry. You chose to walk out of my life and disappear without a word, so you’ve got no right to get your back up and start spewing venom like I did you dirty. If anyone should be pissed, it's Levi with you!”

Devin’s face twisted with rage. “I left you a letter. Is it my fault that you didn’t get it?”

“Is it my fault that you’re a fucking coward and chose to run away when you could have said goodbye to my face like a normal person?” I demand stormily. “Driver, can you stop the car, please?” I tell the driver, and he looks back at me from the mirror and nods. I’m pretty sure we’ve given the poor driver whiplash with the absolute chaos that is our relationship. We went from having hot and heavy sex to screaming at each other in less than ten minutes.

“Don’t stop; keep driving.” Devin orders, and I glare at him.

“I said stop the car!”

“No, he’s not going to stop the car. He’s going to keep driving until I tell him otherwise. It’s clear we’ve got a lot to discuss.”

“The hell we do.” I snarl, crossing my arms over my chest and glaring out the window.

“Mira, can you put yourself in my place for a fucking minute and try to empathise?”

I twist my head and look at him with a scowl. “You want me to empathise? Devin, are you hearing yourself? You’re raging over something that happened at a time when you weren’t in my life. I was single. Levi was single; we weren’t hurting anyone. That’s like me being angry with you for being in a relationship with Megan. How can you sit there and justify your anger? Please make it make sense because I’m not getting it!” I explain, turning in my seat to face him.

“It’s not the same thing, Mira! How can you compare Megan to Levi? He’s my brother, and you slept with him. Why didn’t you mention this before?”

I frown, “Why should I? Who I slept with a year ago is none of your business?” I tell him vehemently. “What, you’re suddenly repulsed by me? Wasn’t it just last week that you thought I was sleeping with him, and you were telling me how badly you wanted to fuck me—whilst you had a girlfriend, might I add? So what’s changed now?”

“You said you were just friends!”

“Don’t back track. You said yourself a moment ago that you knew there was something more between us. As you said, you’re not blind nor stupid, right? Deep down, you knew that Levi and I got up to stuff. What did you think we were doing, holding hands the whole time? You also knew that when you and I had sex the other night and every other night after that until ten minutes ago.” I explain with a shrug. “I was planning on talking to Levi and telling him that we need to cool things off.” The car rolls to a stop outside my house, and I sigh, looking at Devin one last time. “And the same applies to us, too,” I add. I open the door and step out before I slam it shut, leaving Devin watching me baffled.

I take my suitcase from the driver and walk up the driveway of the house. “Mira.” I stop as I reach the door, holding back the tears I can feel coming. “You can’t just say that and walk off.”

I bite the inside of my cheek and blink back the tears that gather in my eyes. “Let’s not make this a bigger deal than it has to be. You’re coming out of a five-year relationship and probably needed to blow off some steam. I get it. We gave into temptation, the sexual tension and had sex, that’s it. Let’s just leave it there before things get really messy. I’ll see you at the office tomorrow.” I tell him evenly and walk to the door. While I unlock the door, the stupid girl inside wishes for him to stop me, tell me it wasn’t just sex, and he wants more, but he doesn’t. So, without looking back, I leave my fractured heart lying on the ground beside my wounded pride and walk in, closing the door behind me.

I press myself against it and hold my breath, waiting for a knock, but a minute went by and the only thing I heard was the car door closing and it pulling away from the driveway. I close my eyes and release the quivering breath I was holding. I want to crumble to the floor in a heap and cry, but I lock my knees and stay upright. I did this to myself. I knew sleeping with Devin would come back and knock me on my arse, but I ignored it. What was I expecting? That he would want a relationship with me? That for once he would choose me? Wake up, Mira. You’re nothing but a glorified fuck to them.

Numbly, I make my way up the stairs. It was still early morning, and I think Ayla and Wyatt are asleep. I push Wy’s door open, poke my head in and sigh when I see him sleeping alone. I tiptoe over to his bed, slip my shoes off and slide into bed beside him. He’s lying on his front, so I curl up against his back. Wyatt’s used to me crawling into bed with him when I need comfort. Without a word, he rolls over and gathers me into his arms when he hears me sniffling.

“Peach?”

“Don’t ask me anything, just hold me, please.” I sniffle, sinking into him, burying my face into his neck, I weep. Wyatt presses his lips to my forehead and tightens his arms around me like a protective bear holding its helpless cub. How is it possible to feel so wanted yet so unloved at the same time?

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