Chapter 7
Eden
Ping.
I blink at the clock on my nightstand. It’s just after two a.m.
Even though I should know better, I open the Temptation app anyway.
I won’t respond, I tell myself. I just want to know what he has to say.
Devil: Happy birthday, beautiful.
My heart folds like a cheap lawn chair.
AngelBaby123: Fuck off.
Devil: You’re mad at me.
AngelBaby123: Wow, you don’t miss a thing.
Devil: Want me to kick his ass?
AngelBaby123: What I want is for you to stop hurting me.
Devil: I don’t mean to.
AngelBaby123: And yet you keep doing it.
Devil: I didn’t want to ignore you. I had some things to take care of.
AngelBaby123: This isn’t about ignoring me. This is about what happened tonight.
Devil: Tell me what hurt you the most so I can kiss it better.
AngelBaby123: You can’t this time. I’m not some little kid with a scraped knee.
I’m a girl with a permanent broken heart. Because I’m in love with a man I can never have.
Devil: I can if you let me. Give me your pain, Eden. Make me feel it so you don’t have to anymore.
Devil: I promise it won’t hurt so much once you do.
I wipe the tears dripping down my face with the back of my hand. This Cain always knows the right words to say.
But neither Cain knows how to prove it.
AngelBaby123: Don’t say things you don’t mean. And don’t make promises you’ll never keep.
AngelBaby123: And don’t tell me to give you my pain because unlike you, I would never hurt the person I love.
Devil: I don’t mean to hurt you.
AngelBaby123: Then why do you?
Devil: Because it’s easier to hurt the person you love when they’re not the person you should love. It’s easier to push them away because your life would be so much better if you did.
AngelBaby123: Then why do you keep pulling me back?
Keep giving me hope.
Devil: Because I’m sick and selfish. I should let you go, but I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to lose you because I don’t want anyone else to have you. This thing between us is terrifying. It’s ruining me.
AngelBaby123: So that makes it okay to ruin me?
The bottom of my screen says he’s typing, but then it goes blank. Like he erased everything he wanted to say.
AngelBaby123: I guess I have my answer. Have a nice night, Mayor.
Devil: Don’t hate me. I was only doing what I thought was right. The next two weeks will be the hardest of my life. So if I’m acting like an asshole to you, and I obviously am, it’s only because I’m scared about the future.
I’m scared about the future too.
AngelBaby123: I’m tired. I’m gonna go back to sleep.
Devil: I don’t want you going to bed upset with me. Can we start over?
AngelBaby123: How can we start over when we never began?
Devil: Don’t give up on us. Let me make this right.
AngelBaby123: How?
Devil: I’m sending you a surprise soon.
AngelBaby123: What kind of surprise?
Devil: I’m giving you everything you ever wanted. All you have to do is take it.
AngelBaby123: What? How?
His username turns gray.