Page 26 of Creed (Satan’s Fury MC- Little Rock #6)

DEVIN

M ondays were the worst, especially when you have summer school.

I hadn’t planned on doing any summer classes, but the pay was good, and I couldn’t afford to turn them down. But now, I was stuck trying to get a room full of half-asleep college kids to care about procedure and reports.

It was going to be tough, but someone had to do it.

It was just before seven when I forced myself out of bed and dragged myself to the shower.

I’d just gotten out and had wrapped a towel around me when I heard my phone chime with a message.

Thinking it might be Jameson, I rushed into the bedroom.

My hair was dripping down my back, and the chill from the water brought goosebumps as I reached for my phone.

A smile was tugging at my lips as I glanced down at the screen, but that smile immediately vanished when I saw that the message was from Brian. Rage washed over me when I read:

Brian:

You told them about Brooklyn.

Real classy, Devin.

Me:

I didn’t tell them anything, Brian.

It had been weeks since my conversation with Austin, so I had no idea where this was coming from. But when those three dots appeared on the screen, I knew he was about to lay into me. Damn.

Brian:

Bullshit. They would’ve never known if you hadn’t told them.

Now they don’t want to come over this weekend.

You’re poisoning them against me.

Me:

You know what’s funny? For MONTHS, you let them think I left you for no reason.

That I was the villain. That I broke up the family for my own selfish reasons.

And I never said a damn word about you and your girlfriend.

I took the blame. I let them be mad at me, so they didn’t have to see you for what you really are.

Brian:

Don’t act like you’re some fucking martyr, Devin. You left. You broke this family. That’s on you. You had no right telling them about us.

I suddenly feel like the towel is strangling me. I yank it tighter, ignoring the drip of water down my legs as I sit down on the edge of the bed and type my response.

Me:

I hate to break it to you, but it wasn’t me.

It was you! They overheard you two talking. And when Austin asked me about it, I tried to make light of it. I even told him you had every right to be happy.

Brian:

You just love playing the victim, don’t you? It’s always the same with you.

You’re so self-righteous.

Me:

Says the man who moved his girlfriend in before the ink on the divorce was dry.

Brian:

Wouldn’t have had to move her in if you’d tried a little and stuck around.

Me:

While you banged your new girlfriend. Seriously?

And you told the kids I was the confused and unstable one. Priceless.

Brian:

You’re pathetic.

Me:

And yet you’re the one texting me at 7 in the morning trying to control what I say in my own house.

Brian:

You’re not getting away with this, Devin. You can count on that.

Me:

Don’t text me again, Brian. I’m done talking about the choices you made.

I hit send before I could think about what I was doing.

Before the guilt could sink in, I tossed my phone onto the bed and went back to the bathroom to dry off and get dressed.

I should’ve never read that first message. It was too early. I should’ve known that it was going to be something ridiculous, but I never would’ve imagined that he would go off the deep end like he did.

But he always has a way of surprising me, and never in a good way.

His words still lingered in my mind:

You did this. You left. You broke this family. That’s on you.

You’re pathetic.

He’d called me pathetic many times before.

I could almost hear him saying it. It was like he didn’t know that I hadn’t spent years swallowing every betrayal, every lie, and every long night he didn’t come home.

He knew I’d done it to keep the peace, and he knew, deep down, I simply didn’t care what he did. And that made me the villain.

My mind was a blur as I fixed my hair and put on my makeup.

I made myself a bite to eat and drank some coffee before going to check in on the kids.

They were on summer break and were both sleeping soundly and completely unaware of the conversation I’d just had with their father.

I wanted to crawl in with them, close my eyes, and forget everything.

Unfortunately, I had class in less than an hour and had to get moving.

I left them sleeping, turned on the alarm, and forced myself out the door. By the time I got to campus, I was a mess. I tried to shake it off and focus on getting the day started right.

Of course, the universe had other plans.

As soon as I pulled up my PowerPoint, the screen glitched and froze on the second slide.

No amount of clicking, unplugging, or silent cursing was going to fix it.

I muddled through the lesson, but it wasn’t easy.

My mind was still stuck on those stupid text messages.

I hated that Brian still had that kind of effect on me, and I hated it even more that, even after all this time, Brian was still trying to control the narrative.

By the end of class, my throat was raw, and my head was pounding. Thankfully, my students didn’t seem to notice and filed out of the room like it was any other day. Feeling defeated, I gathered my notes and retreated to my office, shutting the door and collapsing into my chair.

I took out my phone and started looking through the messages again, hoping it might give me a sense of clarity. It didn’t. Instead, it frustrated me even more. I was so lost in it that I didn’t even hear the knock.

It wasn’t until I felt the shift of the air that I bothered to look up.

And there he was, all handsome in his cut and sexy smirk. He was leaning in my doorway with a cup of coffee in one hand and a brown paper bag in the other, and he was looking at me like I’d just made his day. I smiled and said, “I didn’t know you were coming by.”

“I wasn’t planning on it, but I drove by that coffee shop you used to like and figured I’d grab you some coffee. Thought you could use some after the long weekend, and it gave me an excuse to come by and see you.”

“You don’ t need an excuse.”

“It’s your job. I don’t want to overstep.”

“Well, I’m glad you came by. It’s only ten, and it’s already one of those days.”

“Rough morning?”

“Yeah, you could say that.”

“What’s going on?”

I swallowed, blinking back the sting in my eyes. I didn’t want him to see me upset, especially over my stupid ex. I tried to think of something to say, anything, but nothing came out.

When tears started streaming down my face, he stepped in and closed the door behind him.

He placed the coffee and bag on my desk, then sat down in the empty chair in front of me.

He didn’t push. He just sat there, watching me with that patient, steady look that made the storm in my chest start to slow.

I wiped the tears from my cheek as I told him, “It’s so stupid.”

“What’s stupid?”

“More like who?” I rolled my eyes. “Brian’s mad at me.”

“Okay. And what’s he mad about?”

“I’m sure I told you, but he was seeing his girlfriend back when we were still married. I didn’t care. The marriage was over for me long before that. Austin confronted him about Brooklyn and their affair, and it’s all my fault that he’s upset with him.”

“Wow. How the fuck did he manage to spin that?”

“Apparently, I manipulated the situation and twisted things in my favor, which I did not do. If anything, I tried to make it all okay. Not for Brian’s sake, but for Austin.”

He listened to me, really listened, and it made me feel safe to fall apart. It was exactly what I needed, and something Brian could never give me. He sounded so sure when he said, “The kid’s smart enough to know that cheating’s cheating, and it’s wrong no matter how you slice it.”

“Yeah, well, tell Brian that.”

“Since when do you care what he says anyway?”

“Because he’s the kids’ father, and…”

“And nothing. Let that motherfucker choke on his own bullshit. You don’t owe him a damn thing.

” It was clear his patience with Brian was running thin when he growled, “He’s a spineless prick who twists the truth to fit his sob story, and it isn’t working anymore.

Everyone sees through his shit, including the kids. ”

“I just don’t want to make matters worse. If he gets mad at me, he’ll just make it harder on the kids.”

“The kids can handle themselves. It’s time for you to stop worrying about his fragile ego and tell him to fuck off.”

Jameson was right.

It was time to stop the nonsense.

I had to stop letting Brian make me the bad guy so he could keep being the hero in his own story. It was time to stop letting his lies define me. He could only get to me if I let him, so I was done. Absolutely, positively done.

I let out a breath before telling him, “You’re right. It’s stupid that I let myself get this wound up over him in the first place.”

“It’s not stupid. You’re concerned for your kids.” He chuckled as he added, “And you hate confrontation.”

“Yes, I do.”

“Better now?”

“I am, thanks to you.” I couldn’t help but smile as I stood and walked over to him, hugging him tightly. “I don’t know how I got so lucky, but I definitely am. You’re the absolute best.”

I was tempted to tell him how I really felt. I wanted him to know that I was madly, deeply, and unapologetically in love with him, but now wasn’t the time. I wanted to wait for a special moment when I wasn’t a blubbering mess with tear-stained cheeks and messy hair, so I kept those words to myself.

But it didn’t make them any less true.

I loved him twenty years ago, and I loved him now.

And deep down, I knew I always would.