Page 68 of Cuffed By Love

Oh my God,is this happening? We're about to kiss.

My mind kicks into overdrive, and everything rapidly fizzles away, leaving only the two of us. Time stood still, and Devin's lips inching closer to mine send my pulse racing.

Mira, pull away. What are you doing?!

The heavy thrashing of my heart pounding against my ribs drowns out the noise in my head. My eyes close, and I curl my fingers around the bottom of his shirt where they were resting on his hips to stop them from quivering. I feel like I morphed back into my fifteen-year-old self, and I'm about to have my first kiss with him all over again. "We should go."

My eyes flutter open, and I peer up at him when I hear him whisper. Devin's eyes are closed, his jaw set so tight it’s twitching, but he had yet to pull away, his soft lips almost brushed mine as he spoke. I'm the one to break away from him by taking a giant step back.

"Sure, let's go," I respond and turn to pull the driver's side door open, so I can climb in, all the while cursing myself for being so fucking imprudent. What the hell is wrong with me? I almost kissed another girl’s boyfriend for fuck’s sake.

The drive to my parent's house was a quiet one. I sit watching the world go by pensively out of the window, chewing on my lip apprehensively, replaying that moment in my head repeatedly, each time making me feel worse. Devin keeps his eye on the road the entire drive. When I manage to steal a look at him, it's apparent his mind is off someplace else. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what he's thinking, especially with how tense his entire demeanour is. I could practically sense the guilt exuding off of him.

I must commend him, though, for finding the strength to stop himself before any lines were crossed—even though the intention was there. It was just a momentary lapse of judgement, that's all, and it won't be happening again. The air is heavy between us, that big fat elephant is just chilling in the back seat, waiting for us to bring him up and talk about what happened back there, but I don't think either of us is prepared to go down that road.

We finally make it to my parents. My mother is elated to see Devin, and he seems to be equally happy to see her. "Look at you, you handsome devil." She gushes, pushing up on her tiptoes to cup his face tenderly. Much to my dismay, I get my short stature from my mother. Actually, I snatched pretty much everything from her gene pool. She always teases that I stripped her of her beauty and soaked up my smarts from my dad. I am a carbon copy of my mother, same hair type and colour, same light brown eyes, same petite frame. Ayla looks more like my dad but has my mother’s persona.

"It's so good to see you, Aunt Kate. I'm sorry I've not come over to see you sooner." Dev tells her ruefully, but my mother waves him off.

"Don't be silly. I know you've got a lot going on." She smiles lovingly, her eyes gleaming while Devin nods in response.

"No kidding." He chuckles and holds up our cuffed hands. My mother chucklesand looks over at me.

"Mimi, how are you, honey?"

"Oh, you finally acknowledge your daughter is here too, do you?" I utter, feigning being wounded, and she grins and squeezes my cheek affectionately. God damnit, why is everyone squeezing my cheeks all the damn time like I'm a pudgy five-year-old, for goodness sake? I pull my face out of her hold, glowering at her, and she blows a kiss at me in return. Devin sniggers beside me, and I elbow him. "Zip it you."

He groans, "I didn't say anything."

"Your little snigger said plenty."

"Devin, come, sweetheart, we have some catching up to do. I even got your favourite sushi." My mother gestures for him to follow her toward the kitchen. Devin flashes me a goofy grin when I make gagging noises at the mention of sushi. Yeah, I've never been a fan of sushi. I tried it once, and almost projectile vomited all over myself at the taste and texture. Devin, however, can happily live off the stuff.

"Gross."

* * *

It was sucha nice feeling watching Devin interacting with my mother. When she's not in her 'shrink mode' and trying to psychoanalyse me every five minutes, she's actually a lot of fun. While Devin and my mother converse about his life in Singapore, I admire Devin. The way his eyes gleam and crinkle at the corners when he smiles. The deep throaty sound he emits when he laughs draws me in. His laughter is full of warmth and life and invites people in. It meshes well with his easy-going nature and makes him seem that much more approachable. Every time he laughs, it's genuine and earnest.

And now I'm staring at him like a fanatical teenager pitifully swooning over her crush. Eventually, I shake off my thoughts and sit up straight in my seat, thankful that he didn't catch me gawping at him.

After we left my parent’s place, we drive to Devin's gym. I'm currently standing in the changing room with my back to him while he changes out of his jeans and into the grey jogging bottoms he purchased so he could work out.

"I am so bloated after all that Sushi your mum forced me to eat," Devin complains, rubbing his belly.

I grimace, recalling what happened the last time he had sushi, "I swear to God Devin, if you get the shits again, I'm going to throttle you." I forewarn him and hear him laugh in response.

"Sushi just doesn't agree with me, Tinks, not a whole lot I can do about that. It's got to come out, I'm afraid."

I frown, "Well, there is actually. Just don't eat it if it messes up your stomach. The last thing you want to do is get buttworms."

Devin cracks up laughing, "Buttworms?" he gasps in between peals of laughter. I turn and face him, watching him as he kneels over to hold his knees while he chortles.

"Yes, buttworms, also known as threadworm they're tiny little worms that can infect your intestines if you eat contaminated raw food, such as sushi. They lay thousands of eggs around the skin of your butthole, and it causes itching and inflammation." I explain to him with a shudder, and he almost cries with laughter. "I don't know why you're laughing. It's a serious disease!"

"Well, if I do get 'buttworms', guess who is getting them with me." He states with a grin while I watch him warily. "All those worms will slither their way from my butthole to yours while you sleep, Tinks." He tantalises me while inching close, wiggling his fingers toward my bum.

"Stop, stop it, stop that!" I yelp, horrified and slap his hands away while he cackles wickedly. He's such a bastard. He knows how much I hate germs and still continues to taunt me about it. I can't exactly help that I'm fucking terrified of the mere notion of little creatures living in my skin or in my home. It freaks me out.

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