Page 41 of Wrecked By a Devil

Study. If that’s what we’re calling it.

“I’m glad,” she leans back on the wall, her legs crossed. “Let me know when you need my help again and I’ll be there to make up for it.”

“I will keep that in mind,” I toss her one of the protein bars from the desk. Lately I’ve been snacking on them a lot more than before. They do wonders for my low levels of energy. “Did you have fun with Steven?”

“Ugh,” she buries her head in the pillow, groaning. “I don’t want to see that son of a bitch ever again!”

A painful stab right through my chest takes me by surprise. “Why? What happened?”

Elena and Steven were the always-in-honey-moon-phase couple. They gave me hope about true love still existing and I need that more than I will ever admit.

“I found him jerking off to a photo of my sister!” She mumbles, her face buried in the pillow.

“Oh…” My illusion that true love exists ends up shattering to pieces like a crystal glass being thrown from the window of a fifth floor.

“Yeah, oh,” Elena sighs, lifting herself up. “Anyway, I confronted him, he said that it was normal to bring some ‘spice’ into our relationship. He was starting to feel bored… and then suggested we invited my sister for a threesome!”

“Get out!” My hands fly to cover my mouth, struggling to believe any of this is real life. A part of me desperately wants to believe she’s joking. “I assume that’s when you told him to fuck off?”

“I wish,” she cries out. “I still tried to smooth things over and save our relationship and try to find a compromise. But he just left and told me to find someone better.”

“Woah,” I take the last bite of my protein bar, taking my time to chew on it as I try to find the right words to say.

“I don’t know what to do, Riley,” she admits, finally picking up her protein bar and starting to play with it instead of opening the wrapper and eating it. “Maybe I was wrong. Maybe I should have agreed…”

“Or maybe you should have told him to go to hell a lot sooner,” I speak, leaning over to take her hand in mine. “Look at me.” My voice is soft.

She looks up and when our eyes meet, I can see that she’s barely holding back the tears. “I miss him.”

“I know,” I say, gently caressing her hand. “And I know this is a cliché and might annoy you to hear it, but give it time. A man like him does not deserve to be with an extraordinary, badass woman like you, Elena!”

She sobs. “You think so?”

“Absolutely!”

“How do you do it?” Elena asks. “How do you manage to stay single and prioritize yourself?”

I wish she had asked me this same question a few weeks ago because then I would have had a prepared answer for her. But now I don’t know what to say. Any advice I could try to give her would be a lie. Because now I am interested in someone.

While it might be true that our relationship, if I can even call it that, is certainly not going anywhere, Ezekiel is still making me feel and experience things that I never thought would happen to me.

He makes me feel alive in ways I didn’t know were possible. And I’m scared to admit it. Especially after hearing about Elena’s relationship despite it having looked like the perfect relationship from the outside. Despite Steven seeming like the sweetest guy ever on the outside.

If someone like Steven can screw his long-term girlfriend over…

I breathe, fighting the intrusive thought.

No! Don’t go there, Riley!

“I wouldn’t know the answer to that,” I finally say. “I guess I’m just used to it, I’ve been single my entire life…” At least it’s not a lie.

After that, Elena returns to her room to study, leaving me to overthink everything I’ve been feeling lately. After spending another hour forcing myself to focus on the book in front of me, I find myself happier than usual when the time to head to Eden comes.

“Did you see Ezekiel?” I ask Jena before getting on stage. He’s usually around at the time of the performances but tonight he’s nowhere to be seen.

“No, not tonight,” she responds, returning back to scrabble something in her notebook.

A part of me is tempted to go to his office and knock on the door. But I hold back, knowing he’s probably busy trying to solve the problems Eden has been facing. I don’t want to think about the possibility that maybe he’s avoiding me, despite the little annoying voice in my head whispering that might be the case.