Stuck With Me - Melissa Brown Page 0,31

asked softly, still staring at his hand on mine.

“Why?”

“What?” I asked, feeling discombobulated, my pulse quickening.

“Why was he your favorite? Because you liked laughing at him?”

My lips parted and I stared at him, finally understanding what was going through his mind. He thought he was a joke to me.

“No.” I shook my head, then cleared my throat, feeling overwhelmed in Dev’s vulnerability. “He had the biggest heart of anyone on the show. He really did. He just didn’t know how to express himself in the right away all the time. He was a work in progress, but that’s not a bad thing. It’s endearing.”

“You’ve never found me endearing.”

“I’ll admit there were times you annoyed me.”

“Many times.” Dev narrowed his eyes.

“Sure, but, c’mon, you called me the freaking Mistress of Evil.” I raised one wicked eyebrow, driving home my point.

He grimaced, still gripping my hand. “Maren told you, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Shit.” He looked away, shaking his head, his thumb moving slowly over the top of my hand. A small shiver crawled down my spine. It was the slightest touch, but I liked it. I liked it a lot. “Our disdain was mutual, right?”

“Was?” I asked, swallowing hard.

Dev leaned toward me, hovering over the coffee table. His voice dropped an octave, his smile was warm yet seductive. “Definitely was.”

I could feel my heart pounding inside my chest as I stared at him. His deep brown eyes bored into mine as he continued to lean in. My lips parted and I mirrored his movements, moving to hover over the coffee table. I was about to kiss Dev, my sworn enemy, the thorn in my side, and right at that moment, the only man I desired.

I wanted him badly. And I knew the feeling was completely mutual.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

We both jumped at the loud noises coming from our door. Before Dev could even get the “What the fuck was that?” out of his mouth, the door opened.

“Surprise!”

Our mouths dropped as we took in the sight of our friends all plowing through the door and entering our suite. Maren, Peter, Scott, and Allison—they had all arrived. Quickly, Dev and I made eye contact, and I ripped my hand away from his. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t see his expression turn to stone.

My stomach clenched as I hopped to my feet, pulling myself together as quickly as possible to welcome our friends—the friends we had been begging to arrive just twenty-four hours prior. The friends we thought we couldn’t survive the trip without.

Turns out, we didn’t need them at all. In fact, if I was honest with myself, I would have been more than content to be with just one person for the rest of the trip.

Just one.

And I had just pissed him off.

What else is new?

Chapter 9

Dev

She let go.

She fucking let go.

The second she saw our friends enter the room, Lyra yanked her hand away and I felt a forceful punch in my gut.

Why did you let go, Lyra?

If I wanted to lie to myself, I’d make excuses for her—like she was so surprised by our friends showing up to the resort that it was an involuntary movement, an impulse. I could tell myself she realized in that instant that I was attached, that I had a girlfriend. I could tell myself she just wanted to avoid the questions.

But the truth was, I suspected the real reason was that despite all the tension that was building in that room—hell, the tension that started building since when we arrived at the damn resort—was that she was embarrassed to have any feelings for me. I was a loser to her, a joke. To her, I was Rogelio when I wanted to be Rafael.

“What are you guys doing here?” Lyra asked, jumping to her feet and running to Maren, pulling her in for a hug.

“They opened the roads this morning, so we thought we’d surprise you. Didn’t expect the hotel to lose power, though. How long has it been out?”

“A few hours, I think?” Lyra said, looking back at me, her expression soft with guilt. I looked away from her, too pissed to make eye contact.

“Yep,” I said, still sitting on the floor. “I’d get up, guys, but my ankle’s all jacked up.”

“I heard,” Pete said, tearing off his coat and walking to the living area, sitting on the couch. “I tried to warn you, man. How you doin’?”

“Oh just peachy,” I said, unable to hide my annoyance.

A few hours ago I would have been ecstatic to