Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 131209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 131209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 656(@200wpm)___ 525(@250wpm)___ 437(@300wpm)
“I understand,” I whispered.
“Brooke, it took me a long time of making mistakes, and I’m paying for it by fucking up my relationship with Devon. I won’t have you fuck up or hurt these men that are important in my life. The Brooke who was my best friend, wouldn’t push away the people she loves. I hope you realize that the people in this house love you so much, and it’s time for you to realize that, before you lose everything.”
She grabbed the glass and bottle away from me, and poured herself a drink. “Don’t hurt him, Brooke.”
“Trust me. It’s the last thing I want to do.”
She grabbed another glass, pouring another drink and handed it to me, raising her glass in the air. “A toast. To you not fucking this up, too.”
I clinked our glasses together and drank mine down…
Knowing what I had to do.
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
<>B<>
We drove in silence and I didn’t stop him, when he parked his car in my guest parking. He followed me up to my condo.
“We need to talk,” I announced as he closed the door behind me.
“Words every man loves to hear.”
“I’m serious,” I cautioned, staring at him.
He shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the door. “So am I.”
“Devon…” I sucked in a deep breath, trying to find the strength to say what I needed to. “I care about you. I care about you a lot. I never thought I would be able to think about someone, the way I do you. I would be lying if I said I didn’t wish things could be different. They can’t. We can’t.”
“What are you saying?” he interrogated, not moving away from the door.
“I’m saying. This.” I pointed between us. “It needs to end. We can’t do this anymore.”
“Don’t give me that shit, Brooke. We’re way past that,” he argued, stepping closer to me.
I put my hand up in the air in front of me. “No, we’re not, we’re still there. Nothing has changed. You need to know that.” My cellphone rang, but I ignored it. “It’s not right. What I’m doing to you, what you’re doing to me. It’s not right.”
“And what exactly is that, Bambi? Huh? Is it the fact that we love each other? Is that the problem?” he vowed, as if it were the easiest thing to say. The words just rolled off his tongue.
My jaw dropped. The sound of my cellphone ringing took me out of my coma-induced glare. It stopped ringing, but I could still hear the sound in my mind. Or maybe that was my hastily, beating heart that felt like it was bleeding out my ears, and onto the floor, for him to see.
“I don’t love you, Devon,” I lied and by the look on his face he knew it. It didn’t matter; I had to keep going. Whatever it took. “I’m sorry… I care deeply about you, but I don’t love you.”
He didn’t say anything, nor did he move or stop eyeing me with an unrecognizable stare. Both of us stood there contemplating what to do next, who would win this power struggle…
Heart over mind.
Body over soul.
Love over truth.
Hate…
It’s what makes the world go round.
The moment we heard my cellphone ring again, the shutters were opened and the light shined in, bright and blinding. I reached for it and the rest proceeded in slow motion, I observed it from an out of body experience. It was the only way I could go through it.
“Hey there, gorgeous,” my client huskily groaned into the phone.
“Hi,” I tempted like a woman possessed ready to destroy the only thing that made sense, but didn’t stand a chance.
The odds were against us since day one.
“I want to play… do you want to play?” he urged in a voice I recognized all too often.
Always the same…
I knew Devon could hear what he was saying, the room was that fucking silent. The stillness was as eerie as it was calming, the eye of the storm threatening to pour and take over.
“Of course I do. What did you have in mind?” I replied in a rehearsed, sultry tone that I had perfected over the years.
I walked over to my bay window that overlooked all of downtown Miami. It used to make me feel powerful, the world was my playground where I made the rules and set the guidelines. I didn’t think I’d ever feel that again, the emotions controlled me, where I was just another hopeless romantic that thought love would prevail.
It made me sick, as much as it made me whole.
It ended now.
“All of it. I want you to stay the night; I want to wake up to your pussy riding my cock. How do you feel about that? Gorgeous, I miss you.”
I nodded even though he couldn’t see me. “I miss you, too,” I recited the words that I knew by heart.