Page 31 of The Devil

“I see,” he says softly but shows no sign of releasing my hand. “Well, then, can we maybe hang out?”

“Sure, I’d actually like that.”

Maybe Evan is the guy to help me get over my obsession with Lucius Hastings. I know what Jet said about him, but he seems genuine and extremely patient. Maybe what Jet has seen is just male bravado in front of his friends.

Making a decision to move forward, I agree to exchange numbers before I make a start to drive back home. I’m pleased. I’m beginning to evict the devil from my head, and I’m doing it at my own pace. So, patting myself on the back, I head home to see my brothers and to try and forget all about Lucius Hastings.

Helena

“Helena!” Cam and Nate simultaneously cry out when I let myself into the house.

They’re currently lying across the living room couches, playing Xbox and generally making the place look untidy. My big brother’s the first to get up and wrap his arms around me; he sure has bulked up over the last six months and Nate isn’t far behind. They’re both sinfully vain and remind me more and more of Lucius every day. He, too, liked to work out like a weightlifter on steroids and always looked immaculate, albeit in an effortless kind of way. I just hope they don’t break hearts in the same way that Lucius broke mine.

Nate hugs me after Cam does, then helps me with my bag. He then invites me to come and sit with them in the living room. It’s weird to begin with, like I’m a guest in my own home, but after a few games of Grand Theft Auto, where I gasp and berate them for their choice in games, they soon begin teasing me just like they used to. It finally feels like we’re back to being bickering siblings again.

After a while, I tell them that I’m heading up for a nap because after the late night and early morning drive, I’ll admit, I am exhausted. I put on my comfy, baggy, saggy PJs and slide into my bed, with its rich smell of home and nostalgia. I make a long ‘mmm’ sound while wriggling around like I’m trying to absorb all of my bediness in one hit. However, a knock at the door stops me in my make-out sesh with my bed and before I can yell at whoever to come in, Cam opens the door and invites himself in to lie on the bed with me.

“You do realize I could have been in a state of undress?” I utter, to which he laughs while shaking his head. I nudge him with my foot from beneath the covers. “What?”

“I’ve missed your old-fashioned turn of phrases,” he chuckles, “‘state of undress?’ No one your age talks like that. Besides, I already heard you getting into your bed, so I was pretty certain I was safe.”

“So,” I begin, ignoring his jibe, “how can I help you, big brother? Girls? School? Nate? Parents? Secret alien lifeform manifesting inside of your rectum?”

“Meri called to see if you were ok. So, are you ok?” His expression has turned serious all of a sudden, and I let out an exasperated sigh because he knows exactly why Meri might be worrying about me. “I warned you, didn’t I? I told you to stay away from that asshole.”

“You did,” I concede as I roll over onto my back to stare at the ceiling, if only so I can avoid his penetrating gaze. “And I should have listened. There, is that what you wanted to hear?”

“No, I wanted to hear that you’d forgotten about him and were moving on with your life,” he says in his big brotherly tone of voice. “When are you going to forget about Lucius damn Hastings?”

Mmm, never?

“I don’t know, soon I guess…I hope,” I reply with a smile, though it’s completely fake.

“Make sure you try real hard, Hels, I’ve had enough of seeing how sad he’s made you. You deserve happiness, you know that? You’re my favorite sister.”

“I’m your only sister, doofus,” I retort as I nudge him with my foot again.

“Have you met Nate?”

We both laugh at my poor baby brother’s expense before he kisses me on my forehead and leaves me to sleep. I decide, there and then, that I’m going to try really hard to let my guard down tonight; to let loose and go a little wild like they want me to. I need to remember I’m single and do not belong to Lucius in any kind of way. In fact, I need to forget he even exists.

Regardless of the little pep talk I had had with Cam earlier on, as soon as the party is in full swing, it’s as though I cease to exist. I watch both him and Nate from afar, fascinated by the posse of girls who are all fawning over them and their friends. It amazes me how high school students behave in this way, as though all common sense exits their brain for a few years. Hell, it turns out I was one of them. I, too, saw all the signs of a complete player and I still fell for Lucius. Here, I watch a gaggle of beautiful girls, all fopping over my brother because of how he looks. Each one is hoping he’s going to pick just one of them. Please, he’s not going to turn down what is being offered to him on a plate, is he.

I also watch Mason, Evan’s friend, with a vested interest. I figure, fairly or unfairly, that if he’s a dick then so too will Evan be. He’s loud and pretty obnoxious, but he seems to be nice enough to both the guys and the girls. However, if someone is monopolizing Cam’s attention, I notice he’ll sulk like a little kid. He’ll then say something inappropriate to grab back Cam’s focus. I guess he hasn’t outgrown the thinking that bad attention is better than no attention at all. Perhaps he has mommy issues?

My private thoughts have me giggling to myself until I feel the heat of someone pressing up behind me. I look up at the doorframe I’ve been leaning against and sure enough, there’s a hand hanging over me, a man’s hand.

“What are you laughing at?” whoever it is mutters inside of my ear, his breath causing a few loose curls to fly away from my neck. I slowly turn around, recognizing the voice and feeling surprisingly pleased about it being here.

“Just people-watching,” I reply. Evan’s smirk tells me he’s been doing the same, though, I think I’m the one he’s been studying. “What are you doing here? You didn’t mention coming this morning.”

“Well, I kinda thought…” He trails off, trying to think about his answer, all the while staring off into the distance, until eventually, he chuckles at me. “Mason mentioned it a few weeks ago and I wasn’t gonna come, but when you said you were, I thought it might be a good place for us to ‘hang out’.”

“’Hang out’?” I utter in a mock accusatory fashion, folding my arms in front of me but grinning all the same. “Just like we agreed, huh?”

“Exactly,” he says, pointing at me as if I’ve just given him the key to his explanation.

“Ok, then, Evan, let’s ‘hang out’.” We take a moment to smile at one another. “I need to refill anyway. This vodka is going down a little too easily, so I’m counting on you to not let me get into any mischief.”

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